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Walz Gives Comments During Rally

Walz Gives Comments During Rally

We’ve got some spicy political drama coming out of Philadelphia, where Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, the newly announced running mate for Vice President Kamala Harris, decided to kick off his campaign with a controversial joke. During a rally on Tuesday, Walz took a jab at his Republican rival, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, but the joke he chose has stirred up quite a bit of controversy.

Here’s what happened: Walz, clearly energized by the crowd, said, “I can’t wait to debate the guy,” referring to Vance. Then, with a grin, he added, “That is, if he’s willing to get off the couch and show up.” The crowd erupted in laughter, and Walz followed up by saying, “You see what I did there?” indicating that he knew exactly what he was referencing.

So, what’s the joke about? It’s tied to a crude meme that falsely claims Vance had sex with a couch—a meme that’s based on a fake citation from his memoir, Hillbilly Elegy. The meme was created as a hoax but quickly gained traction among some progressives who were eager to use it as a way to discredit Vance.

The author of the original hoax even admitted to Business Insider that the ease with which people believed the fake citation made him question the critical-thinking skills of the electorate.

Now, you might expect a candidate like Walz, who’s supposed to bring a sense of Midwest decency to the ticket, to steer clear of such lowbrow humor, especially when it’s based on deliberate misinformation. But instead, he leaned into it, using the joke to score points with the crowd, even though it was rooted in a false and crude smear.

This move has sparked some criticism, not just for the nature of the joke itself, but for what it says about the tone of Walz’s campaign. By starting off with a crude sexual joke based on a fake meme, Walz is opening himself up to questions about whether he’s really bringing the kind of decency and integrity that voters might expect from someone vying for the second-highest office in the land.

For his part, JD Vance hasn’t responded publicly to the joke, but it’s likely that his campaign will have something to say about it soon. In the rough-and-tumble world of politics, jokes like these can sometimes backfire, especially when they’re seen as crossing a line.

Written by Mark Stevens - August 7, 2024