Say this for Tim Walz – unlike Kamala Harris, he is at least doing what his running mate promised to do but hasn’t since the 2024 presidential election, namely “staying in the fight.” Of course, the problem is that, as he conducted a national town hall tour of Republican-controlled congressional districts this month, the Minnesota governor demonstrated afresh just why he was so widely panned as the Democratic vice-presidential nominee last year.
Doubling Down
As former VP Harris seemingly falls into the witness protection program, all but disappearing over the four and a half months since her defeat at the hands of Donald Trump, Walz has apparently convinced himself that he is a figure of great national stature. And while he is certainly more well-known than when he was plucked from relative obscurity to help rescue his flailing party, it is increasingly clear that his newfound fame more closely resembles infamy.
As crazed leftists terrorize Tesla owners across the land, Walz publicly celebrated the collapsing value of Elon Musk’s iconic company, once celebrated for advancing the green agenda but now targeted for destruction by progressive hoodlums. Strutting across a town hall stage, Walz crowed, "Some of you know this. On the iPhone, they’ve got that little stock app. I added Tesla to it to give me a little boost during the day — $225 and dropping … And if you own one, we’re not blaming you. You can take dental floss and pull the Tesla thing off."
Yes, as hard as it is to believe, a sitting governor and former VP nominee openly celebrated the collapsing value of one of America’s legendary companies. Next up, perhaps Walz will root for a crash of the entire stock market because it will damage Trump. Oh, by the way, Tesla shares were down 41% since January, when he made the remark, but have since rebounded by more than 20%. Talk about a backfire.
Evidently, the Minnesota governor either forgot, never knew, or didn’t care that his state's pension fund was invested in Tesla to the tune of 1.6 million shares. It is also estimated that more than 1 million Minnesotans hold Tesla stock in their retirement accounts. Walz was predictably castigated, with billionaire investor Kevin O’Leary saying on CNN, “What’s the matter with that guy? He doesn’t check the well-being of his own constituents … What a bozo.”
But a cheesy political gag was apparently more important to the man who seems to have grand illusions of a presidential run in 2028. The president’s rapid response team offered a quick, mocking retort to Walz’ “little boost”: "When we need a little boost during the day at the White House, we walk around the corner from our office and admire these beautiful portraits."
Tim Walz, He-Man
Once the self-imposed damage to his already flagging reputation had already been done, the man cruelly labeled “Tampon Tim” tried to backtrack and “clarify” his misplaced braggadocio about Musk: "This guy bugs me in a way that’s probably unhealthy … I have to be careful about being a smarta--. I was making a joke. These people have no sense of humor. They are the most literal people."
There you go, blaming the object of your derision by issuing a classic political non-apology apology. But if that wasn’t enough, Walz went on California Governor Gavin Newsom’s new podcast and spoke about a subject for which he was widely mocked during the presidential campaign, his masculinity: "I think I scare them a little bit, [which is] why they spend so much time on me." After Newsom responded with laughter, Walz added, "No, I’m serious, because I can fix a truck, they know I’m not bulls----ing on this." The host of a successful podcast, the most popular in the country, Joe Rogan, weighed in with, "'I know how to fix a truck' … Do you? I bet you don't! I bet if I bring a broken truck to you, and a bag of tools, you're f---ed!" Rogan carried on with his mockery of today’s left: “You can't like fast cars. You’re not even allowed to like Teslas anymore, which are the fastest cars … You're a misogynist, you're probably racist, maybe a Nazi.”
But the most amusing part of Walz’ appearance on the Newsom podcast was when, referring to MAGA supporters, he said, “I think I could kick most of their a--es.” Well, WWE Hall-of-Famer-turned-GOP Mayor of Tennessee's Knox County, Glenn Jacobs, took up the challenge, offering to get in the ring with the Minnesota governor. No response from Walz has yet been registered.
The Perfect Choice for VP
Hard as it may be to remember, it wasn’t long ago that Walz was being hailed in big media as the ideal new-age masculine figure to complement Harris. As summarized in coverage about Walz in National Review, The New York Times headlined one piece, “Tim Walz Is an Absolute Balm for My Country Heart,” and another, “Democrats Have Needed Someone Like Tim Walz for Decades.” The New Yorker portrayed him as a man who “brings small-town bona fides” to the Democratic ticket. The Guardian reported that he “comes across as what he is: a straight-talking teacher, America’s youth football coach.” And the Associated Press weighed in with, “It would be hard to find a more vivid representative of the American heartland than Walz.”
That was all before he hit the campaign trail with often near-manic displays of two-handed waving and namaste bows, claiming false credentials that were easily unmasked. He went on camera and demonstrated an inability to load a shotgun properly and even swapped out a virgin oil filter in a car for another new one. Once again, his inauthenticity was just too easy to detect and ridicule.
In fairness, one admirable thing Walz did during the campaign was debate GOP VP nominee JD Vance with civility, even agreeing on some points. But he was attacked by Democrats who wanted their nominee to tear Vance apart. The poor guy can’t win for losing.
Maybe Walz would have been better off following Kamala’s lead and disappearing from the national stage. But now that he has re-emerged in a cringeworthy fashion, it is too late to shove the toothpaste back in the tube. Nevertheless, he still appears to be seeking the presidency in 2028. Good luck with that, governor.
