Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz waltzed into the bleachers at Mankato West High School Friday night as he watched the team he once coached as an assistant play a major rival.
Walz's appearance coincided with a protest at the high school, where pro-Palestinian supporters were seen standing outside the venue.
Reel footage of Walz interacting with family members in the stands at the game showed the crowd gathered behind him.
Many people were clearly uninterested in the presence of a running mate. Several attendees could be seen staring in silence. However, some participants spoke with the governor and even hugged him.
The only time Walz drew cheers from the crowd was when he joined both teams to help with the coin toss just before the game.
When his name was announced over the loudspeaker, a few soft cheers could be heard from the Mankato West bleachers.
Walz's appearance in the game caused controversy among local residents.
Former Republican Minnesota Congressman Jeremy Munson showed up a few days before the game and urged people to boo Waltz. Post to X.
Meanwhile, Yvonne Simon, chairwoman of the Blue Earth County Republican Party, said: told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Walz said he participated in the game out of desperation.
“They're becoming more desperate to get the word out,” Simon said.
The Harris Walz campaign's latest effort is to tie his candidacy for Minnesota governor to his stint as an assistant coach for the Mankato West High School football team in the 1990s.
During Walz's tenure as an assistant on the staff, the team won a state championship in 1999.
Walz first worked as a teacher in China after college, then was hired by Mankato West in 1996 to teach geography.
He was also the founding teacher of Mankato West High School's first Gay and Straight Alliance and was instrumental in organizing a summer educational trip to China for high school students.
Walz's short tenure as assistant football coach has been a talking point in the Harris campaign since he was announced as Harris' running mate on Aug. 7.
During his speech at the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 21, when Walz formally accepted the nomination, he also brought up members of Mankato West's 1999 state championship team.
During the speech, former US ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell criticized the display in a post about X.
“He was an assistant coach, not a coach,” Grenell wrote.
The lukewarm reception Walz received at Mankato West was actually warmer than he's received at a football game since joining the ticket.
When Walz attended the Minnesota-Michigan game in Ann Arbor, Michigan on September 28, fans waited outside after the game to bid him a tough farewell. Several attendees booed him, and another fan yelled, “Get out of here!”
Even though Walz has never coached beyond high school and has never been a head coach at a high school, he began his career as a football coach by serving as a head coach at four different NCAA powers. He compared it to the career of Congressman Tommy Tuberville. Five football programs from 1995 to 2016.
Tuberville led Ole Miss, Auburn, Texas Tech and Cincinnati as a head coach and won the SEC Championship with Auburn in 2004.
“I feel like part of my role in this issue is to be the anti-Tommy Tuberville and to show that football coaches aren't the stupidest people,” Walz said in early August when he spoke to Boston. He spoke at a fundraising event held at
