Behind Tim Walz's "weird"-to-VP pipeline
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Minnesota Governor Tim Walz arrives a press conference on Aug. 1 in Bloomington, Minnesota. Photo: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz went viral weeks ago after dubbing former President Trump and his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), "just weird" during an appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." He quickly ascended on Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate shortlist.
Why it matters: Walz, now Harris' VP pick, helped manifest Democrats' 2024 buzz word. His plainspoken manner of talking about Trump made him an effective messenger for the campaign, which likely hopes Walz will boost the ticket's appeal with rural voters.
- "Get out there and talk like a Minnesota dad ... To have something like that take off in that way was kudos to Governor Walz," Brian McClung, a former top aide to ex-GOP presidential candidate and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, told Axios' Torey Van Oot.
What he said: "You know there's something wrong with people when they talk about freedom: freedom to be in your bedroom, freedom to be in your exam room, freedom to tell your kids what they can read. That stuff is weird," Walz told MSNBC's "Inside with Jen Psaki" last month.
- Walz told The New York Times last week that his critique was aimed at Trump, not at Republicans at large or the people who attend Trump's rallies.
State of play: Pretty soon, other Democrats were picking up and deploying Walz' "weird" attack line against Trump.
- The Harris campaign has used the term in multiple press releases, Politico reported. One release, focused on Vance's anti-abortion views, began with the simple sentence: "JD Vance is weird."
- Another, outlining takeaways from a Trump appearance on Fox News last month, included a line that read: "Trump is old and quite weird?"
- Even Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro — who was also on Harris' VP shortlist — got in on the trend. During a rally for Harris last month, Shapiro poked fun at Trump's habit of hugging the U.S. flag, saying "it's a weird thing he does."
Between the lines: Walz's ability to go viral was a matter "right place, right time," McClung said.
- "Walz was able to seize that moment and find a way to message for Democrats when they're so desperately seeking a newer and clearer way to push back on Trump-Vance," he added.
Zoom out: Though Walz burst onto the national scene with the onset Harris' expedited search for a vice presidential candidate, he has been steadily growing his national profile for several years.
- After Democrats won control of the Minnesota state government in 2022, they notched a series of progressive wins that attracted national interest — including adding the right to an abortion to state law, expanding background checks for gun sales, and legalizing recreational marijuana.
- Walz's role as the chair of the Democratic Governors Association — which he was tapped to lead in Dec. 2023 — helped raise his national profile even before his TV appearances went viral.
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