Tim Walz and the legacy of 'weird': Democrats embrace VP pick's one-word insult for MAGA

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who was officially tapped as Kamala Harris' running mate, has already drawn eyes in recent weeks thanks to comments he's made about the GOP.

You may remember Walz for popularizing the use of the term "weird" to describe the Republican party and its leaders, including Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, who has been the subject of some bizarre rumors since becoming the Republican VP pick.

An interview Walz gave to MSNBC shortly after Biden dropped out of the race appears to be the genesis of the now-heavily-memeified insult, which has since been used not only by Harris' campaign but her political proponents as well, sparking a surprisingly bitter debate between the parties.

How did Walz generate the insult of this election cycle? Here's where it started.

Walz says 'These are weird people on the other side'

Days after Biden dropped out of the race, Walz shared a clip from an interview with MSNBC on X.

"These are weird people on the other side," Walz says in the interview. "They wanna take books away, they wanna be in your exam room, that's what it comes down to and don't, you know, get sugar-coating this, these are weird ideas. Listen to them speak, listen to how they talk about things."

The following day, the Harris campaign posted an edited video of Vance's viral remarks about Diet Mountain Dew and racism, with the caption "It's getting weird...". Since then, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and others in the Democratic Party have mirrored the message in news interviews.

Walz explained why he uses "weird" to attack Republicans in an interview on CNN's "State of the Union":

"Listen to the guy, he's talking about Hannibal Lecter, and shocking sharks, and just whatever crazy thing pops into his mind, and I thought we just give him way too much credit," referring to some of the alarm bells Democrats have raised on Trump's threats to democracy. "When you just ratchet down some of the, you know the scariness or whatever, and just name it what it is...my observation on this is, have you ever seen the guy laugh?"

Vivek Ramaswamy, a conservative who ran for the Republican nomination in this year's presidential election, took to X to hit back at the "weird" insults, calling them "dumb and juvenile."

"This is a presidential election, not a high school prom queen contest," Ramaswamy said in an X post. "It’s also a tad ironic coming from the party that preaches 'diversity & inclusion.' Win on policy if you can, but cut the crap please."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: VP pick Tim Walz's 'weird' insult of MAGA sticks with Democrats