'Boring' vs 'weird': Trump campaign tries to define Walz after his Vance criticism stuck
Boring, incompetent, radical, and weird – these are some of the early lines of attack former President Donald Trump's allies are lobbing at Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz after Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris tapped him as her running mate Tuesday.
Walz is the one who first labeled Trump's VP pick, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, as weird, and now Trump world is trying to define the little-known governor before Harris' campaign has a chance to introduce him.
Vance will help lead the GOP effort this week as he shadows the Harris campaign, holding counterprogramming events in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and other states around Harris/Walz rallies.
Vance and Walz are also expected to square off in a debate before Election Day. Both are military veterans and midwesterners who have served in Congress, but the similarities end there.
Walz is 20 years older than Vance and came to politics after working as a teacher and football coach. He was viewed as a moderate when he served in the U.S. House of Representatives, earning an endorsement from the National Rifle Association and holding onto a congressional seat that Trump easily carried.
But the former president's allies are arguing he has since embraced positions that are further left since leaving Washington.
For example, Walz signed legislation last year protecting transgender health care, and conservatives have seized on that bill in attacking the governor.
"Walz has creepy far-left views," the Trump-aligned super PAC MAGA Inc. alleged in a statement Tuesday, targeting the legislation.
MAGA Inc. also pointed to the riot in Minneapolis after the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man killed by police, in trying to paint Walz as incompetent. And Walz's record on criminal justice issues, education and climate change policies were quickly trotted out by the Trump campaign and its allies.
Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt sought to tie Walz to the heavily Democratic state of California, Harris' home base, by saying that the governor has tried "to reshape Minnesota in the image of the Golden State."
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has banned transgender care in his state and passed anti-protest legislation in response to the riots after Floyd's death, also knocked his fellow governor on Tuesday, saying he "sat by and let Minneapolis burn" in 2020.
Following the day-long lead of aides and allies, Trump issued a statement Tuesday afternoon denouncing the newly minted Harris-Walz ticket as "the most Radical Left duo in American history."
"There has never been anything like it, and there never will be again," Trump said in a Truth Social post.
Longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone was more personal in his Walz criticism, calling him "not the ideal running mate" and "old" in a race that once centered around Trump and President Joe Biden's ages.
"In Tim Walz Kamala has chosen a candidate who offends no one," Stone told USA TODAY. "Unfortunately, the guy is so boring he dyes his Easter eggs white... the only thing worse in politics than being wrong is being boring, and Tim Walz is extremely boring."
It's not guaranteed that Americans will agree with these criticisms. But if Republicans do stick with Stone's line of attack, it could set up a contrast between the "boring" candidate and the "weird" candidate in 2024. Walz is credited with first using the term "weird" to described Trump and Vance, doing so during a July 23 interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
“We do not like what has happened, when you can’t even go to Thanksgiving dinner with your uncle because you end up in some weird fight that is unnecessary,” Walz said. “Well, it’s true. These guys are just weird.”
Since that interview, "weird" has caught on as a Democratic talking point. It's prompted Vance and other Republicans to try and turn it around on Democrats.
"Have you ever heard Kamala laugh now that's weird," Stone said when asked about Walz's criticism, a jab that Trump himself has made several times in recent weeks.
But Walz's opening offensive against Republicans – and his profile as a white, 60-year-old midwestern dad – could help Democrats drive their message of normalcy versus what's they've dubbed MAGA weirdness.
Sen. Joe Manchin, who left the Democratic Party over ideological differences and now identifies as an independent, endorsed Walz by saying he would bring normalcy back to Washington: “All of the candidates were strong and any one of them would have been a great pick, but I can think of no one better than Governor Walz to help bring our country closer together and bring balance back to the Democratic Party."
Harris' campaign did not immediately respond to questions about Trump world's attacks on Walz. But they said in a statement announcing his selection that the 2024 race presents a choice between "Vice President Harris and Governor Walz, who are running to move the country forward" or Trump and Vance, who the campaign alleged are focused on enacting the conservative agenda known as Project 2025 and hitting the middle class.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump allies attack Kamala Harris VP pick Tim Walz
