Minnesota Gov. and Democrat vice presidential candidate Tim Walz seems to enjoy calling people names. With junior high-school glee, he issues sixth-grade-level word jabs as though he is rattling off Shakesperean prose. In the week since the announcement of Walz as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate pick, Walz’s verbal “witticisms” have become a regular part of his campaign schtick.
It was Walz who proudly proclaimed that he coined the term “weird” to describe former President Donald Trump and running mate J. D. Vance, thinking it would make a mark. All it has accomplished is exposing just how “weird” the Democrat Party platform has become, with their demands for transgender rights over parental rights, abortions post-birth, and antisemitic, pro-Hamas sympathies.
Walz’s own mouth also misrepresented his military service, causing his fellow veterans to accuse him of Stolen Valor. As The Federalist noted:
There is no question that Walz bailed on his National Guard unit when it was called up for deployment to Iraq. But it also appears that he has been mischaracterizing his military service since at least 2005. The Harris campaign tacitly acknowledged as much by correcting the record this week. As first reported in Politico on Thursday, the Harris campaign quietly revised their campaign website to remove references of Walz being a ‘retired Command Sergeant Major’ in lieu of the more technically accurate claim that ‘he once served at the Command Sergeant Major rank.’
An industrious videographer even created a supercut of the more than 20 times that Walz and others verbally misrepresented his military service.
Now Walz is using his mouth to malign a sitting U.S. senator. 1819 News’ Editor-in-Chief Jeff Poor reported that while speaking at a high-end Democrat fundraiser, Walz again employed his middle school verbosity to disparage Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, invoked Alabama's senior U.S. Senator at a fundraiser on Wednesday, according to a report from the Huffington Post's Igor Bobic.
Walz, who is under fire for a stolen valor claim, mentioned U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) at a $25,000-and-up fundraiser in Boston.
‘I feel like one of my roles in this now is to be the anti-Tommy Tuberville, to show that football coaches are not the dumbest people,’ Walz said per Bobic's tweet.
Tuberville, whose vocabulary comes off much more expansive (and mature) than Walz’s, fired back immediately:
Why does Walz feel he can speak on behalf of coaches? Frankly, Walz seems to choose the wrong targets to malign. He knew that he embellished and misrepresented his own record of military service for decades, yet he attacks J. D. Vance, whose military service in the U.S. Marines – where he actually served in Iraq – is a confirmed and established fact. Knowing that he was never a career or head coach, Walz now decides to attack Tuberville, who rightly earned his title.
Before serving in the U.S. Senate, Tuberville was the head coach at Hermitage High School in Hermitage, Ark., then went on to coach Division I college football. Tuberville was assistant coach and defensive coordinator at University of Miami and defensive coordinator at Texas A&M when he was named head coach for the University of Mississippi. Tuberville ended his coaching career with laurels and championships at Auburn University.
Walz’s “coaching” career? Not so illustrious. In the ’90s, Walz taught and coached at Alliance High School in Alliance, Nebr., until arrested for a DUI. After Walz led the officer on a bit of a high-speed chase, Walz was apprehended, his blood alcohol clocking in at .128. After the arrest, Walz resigned from his coaching duties, and tried to resign his teaching position, but was talked out of it by the school’s principal. In the end, Walz lost his license for 90 days, and was fined $200 plus court fees. After that incident, he quickly moved to Minnesota.
Walz then taught geography and social studies at Mankato West High School in Mankato, Minn., and was one of a team of coaches, holding the title of defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. This did not stop Walz from insinuating that the team moved into state championship victories after he came on board. Correlation or causation? Records can be assessed and investigative interviews conducted to prove or disprove this, but if Walz misrepresents his record in other areas of his life and career, then how do we know he is not doing the same with coaching? With his recent attacks on Tuberville and his own past inflated background claims, Walz seems to want to dare people to scratch below the surface by challenging and maligning Tuberville, who has a proven track record of not only success, but honorable service to his players and his community.
Harris and Walz keep pushing a “bringing back the JOY” campaign, but there is nothing joyful about unprovoked attacks. Every time Walz chooses to point the finger of accusation at someone, he ends up with four fingers pointed back at him.
There’s an aphorism that applies here: Don’t let your mouth write checks that your ass can’t cash.
Tim Walz would do well to take this to heart.
Jennifer Oliver O'Connell, As the Girl Turns, is an investigative journalist, author, opinion analyst, and contributor to 1819 News, Redstate, and other publications. Jennifer writes on Politics and Pop Culture, with occasional detours into Reinvention, Yoga, and Food. You can read more about Jennifer's world at her As the Girl Turns website. You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Telegram.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to Commentary@1819news.com.
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