Newly minted Democratic running mate and Twitter-anointed "vibes" king Tim Walz made his first appearance and delivered his first speech as the potential Vice President yesterday at Kamala Harris's rally in Philadelphia. While much of his speech was received with uproarious applause, perhaps the biggest pop of the evening came when he addressed his counterpart, J.D. Vance.

"I can't wait to debate the guy," Walz said. "That is if he's willing to get off the couch and show up." As the crowd erupted in laughter, Walz winked to the audience and let out a "See what I did there?"

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

Walz was making a mild crack about a widely circulated hoax that alleged J.D. Vance wrote about sexually gratifying himself with a couch and a latex glove in Hillbilly Elegy. As Know Your Meme was first to point out (never forget!), the story was merely a joke tweeted by a mid-sized Twitter / X account that spiraled completely out of control.

Walz's joke was widely celebrated by a contingent that could be described as the "very online left," but some, particularly on the right, vocally clutched their pearls about it, taking exception with the Democratic VP candidate cracking a joke about a completely baseless hoax about the Republican VP candidate.

In response to the scandalized takes from right-leaning pundits, many pointed out that Republican politicians have been pushing baseless lies about Democrats at an exorbitant clip, particularly since Donald Trump became the face of the party in 2016.

Trump rose to prominence in the party by pushing birtherism attacks on Barack Obama and last week seemed to dip into that well again by calling into question Kamala Harris's ethnicity.

Furthermore, many argued that Walz's joke was just that – a joke – while Republican attacks can veer into baseless conspiracies that the base takes more seriously.

While Twitter debates what is "fair game" for political jokes, the fact remains it's surreal to see how one tossed-off joke from a wrestling fan on Twitter has made such a monumental impact on the 2024 United States Presidential Election.