When Kamala Harris chose Tim Walz to be her running mate for this November’s presidential election, most Americans had no idea who the Minnesota governor actually was. But as people outside of Minnesota get to know Walz, it’s becoming clear through a torrent of stories shared online that he’s one of the most likable politicians around. Why? He just seems like a very normal and kind person. And it’s hard to find a sharper contrast between Donald Trump and his vice presidential running mate JD Vance than “normal and kind.”
Yes, Trump and Vance are clearly frustrated with being called “weird,” a verbal jab against modern Republicans that was first popularized by Walz. But Trump and Vance are clearly stumped about how to hit back. Because every new day online seems to deliver an anecdote or story from Walz that makes him seem both relatable and caring. And after years of Trumpism dominating the headlines with an ideology built on cruelty and humiliation, a guy like Walz is extremely refreshing.
Take an old story about Walz that started going viral on Wednesday. Peggy Flanagan, the lieutenant governor of Minnesota, was interviewed by Politico about the fact that she would become the first Native American woman to be governor of any state. At the end of the interview, Flanagan told a story about how Walz helped her when her child got lice.
From Politico:
I heard you say that your daughter was discovered to have lice the day after the 2018 election. Can you share how the newly elected Walz-Flanagan ticket handled that early crisis?
My first instinct was to call Congressman Tim Walz, also governor-elect Tim Walz, to say, “Help, my child has lice, and I don’t know what to do.” So that was interesting. But he was amazing. I was super freaked out. We’d never dealt with it before. Siobhan was a total trooper.
He said, “Go to Target, and then FaceTime me from the aisle.” And so I did. He had me show all the different shampoos and stuff. He was like, “This is the one that you get.” And then he’s like, “Once you get home, FaceTime me again.” So I FaceTimed him again from the bathroom, as I’m picking nits out of my child’s hair. And he was amazing and coached me through the whole thing, and that is who Tim Walz is.
It’s the kind of story that we’re hearing more and more about Walz over the years. As a teacher and coach, he touched the lives of so many people as a helpful father figure, as so many of his former students tell it. And the army of pro-Trump trolls who are trying to take him down just don’t understand his appeal.
The other thing that’s been going viral this week involving Walz is his interview with Subway Takes on TikTok. Walz discusses how important he thinks good gutter maintenance is. And it’s just the latest example of Walz talking about normal things that normal people discuss in their everyday lives.
Meanwhile, Trump continues to post the most vile things imaginable on social media. For example, Trump retweeted an image on Truth Social that showed Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris with the caption, “Funny how blowjobs impacted both of their careers differently.” The “joke” as it were is that Clinton’s husband was involved with a White House intern in the 1990s and Harris was dating Willie Brown. The right has repeatedly tried to claim, without any evidence, that she only succeeded professionally because she was dating Brown. It’s a common attack from retrograde assholes. But normal people don’t find it amusing. At least they don’t anymore.
The late-night comedians of the 1990s tore Monica Lewinsky to shreds with those kinds of jokes. But here in the 2020s, the U.S. public sees Lewinsky much differently than she was depicted in late 20th-century news and comedy programs. And that’s probably why these assholes don’t understand that they’re the weird ones. Guys like Trump and Vance are trying to bring America back to the 1990s, back when Trump thought he was hot shit and Vance was a kid. Both men are trying to turn back the clock, from their stupid jokes to their ideas about reproductive health. But there’s a reason that Harris has embraced a slogan that really seems to resonate with most people: We’re not going back.
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