Tim Walz

About

Tim Walz is an American politician, retired educator and former U.S. Army non-commissioned officer (NCO). A member of the Democratic Party, he is the current governor of Minnesota and the running mate of Kamala Harris on the Democratic ticket in the 2024 United States Presidential Election. Following his selection as Harris's Vice President, media coverage, discourse and memes notably increased online surrounding Walz.

History

Tim Walz was born on April 6th, 1964, in Nebraska.^[1] When he turned 17 in 1981, Walz enlisted in the Army National Guard and served for 24 years (seen below). Though he never saw combat, Walz earned the title of "Nebraska Citizen-Soldier of the Year" in 1989. He taught high school in Nebraska and later, Minnesota after marrying Minnesotan Gwen Whipple.^[2] In 1995, he was arrested for a DUI and since then has lived sober.

He was inspired to go into politics after taking students to a George W. Bush rally in 2004 and his students, who were supporting Bush's opponent, John Kerry, were questioned at the rally about their politics. After the incident, Walz volunteered for the Kerry campaign.

He served in the United States Congress representing Minnesota's 1st district from 2007-2019. At the end of his service in Congress, he was elected Governor of Minnesota. During his time as governor, he notably condemned the killing of George Floyd. He pushed for and eventually signed a police reform bill in the state in 2020.^[3][4]

2024 Democratic Running Mate Selection

On August 6th, 2024, it was announced that Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee for President in the 2024 election, had selected Tim Walz as her running mate.^[5] Walz was selected over other rumored candidates like Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear.

Prior to his selection, Walz notably kickstarted the "Republicans Are Weird" messaging tactic by using the line in an appearance on MSNBC (shown below).

I’m telling you: these guys are weird. pic.twitter.com/fvNRNf7T7T

— Tim Walz (@Tim_Walz) July 24, 2024

Online Presence

Tim Walz is most active on his Twitter / X account, which has over 245,000 followers as of August 6th, 2024.^[6]

On the site, he was largely celebrated by progressive Democrats, and multiple wholesome stories and photographs about Walz went viral in the weeks before and shortly after his selection as running mate.

On August 4th, 2024, the Twitter account @PopulismUpdates^[7] tweeted a picture of Walz holding a piglet, gaining over 1,700 retweets and 29,000 likes in two days (shown below, left). On August 6th, shortly after Walz was announced as the running mate, Twitter user @ElizaOrlins^[8] highlighted 2023 tweets from when Walz's dog locked itself in his home's bedroom, gaining over 1,200 retweets and 17,000 likes in a matter of hours (shown below, right).

J.D. Vance Couch Cushion Story Joke

At his first rally as the Democratic running mate, Walz made a crack about the J.D. Vance couch cushion story, saying of Vance, "I can't wait to debate the guy… That is if he's willing to get off the couch and show up."

Walz: And I got to tell you, I can't wait to debate the guy. That is if he's willing to get off the couch and show up. pic.twitter.com/sz7qkFIFFg

— Acyn (@Acyn) August 6, 2024

The joke led to discourse online, as some right-leaning pundits expressed displeasure with the reference to a salacious hoax, causing left-leaning posters to recall many baseless lies and conspiracies pushed by right-wing politicians in the Donald Trump era.

Search Interest

External References