Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate is involved in yet another controversy after a video of him and his special needs son immediately went viral at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. On Wednesday, what was otherwise a celebratory evening for Democrats was briefly disrupted when Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was seen aggressively pulling his son towards him with noticeable force while the family was onstage.
The Minnesota governor appeared far from nice after his speech, scowling as he tugged on the arm of Gus, 17, who has both a nonverbal learning disorder and an anxiety disorder.
Tim Walz is under fire for aggressively pulling his son Gus Walz’s arm on stage at the Democratic National Convention.
The incident was apparently filmed on the third day of the event (Wednesday), the same day Walz gave his speech.
Gus is 17-years-old and reportedly has a… pic.twitter.com/5yMWpgy8Ur
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) August 23, 2024
Commentators quickly weighed in on Gov. Walz’s actions toward his son, who had earlier been seen dabbing his teary eyes and gesturing affectionately at his father from the crowd. Some defended Walz, while others criticized the move. Critics argue that this incident is consistent with their view of Walz as a politician who has misrepresented his military service and perpetuated false claims about his wife using IVF to conceive. “You just saw the REAL fake coach Tim Walz for who he is, an absolutely disgusting and sorry excuse for a human being,” one X user wrote. Another said he suspects the whole family knows. “Narcissistic, controlling POS. So many skeletons in that closet! His wife looks beat down.”
Others speculated that Waltz, who ascended from a congressman to Minnesota’s governor in 2018, is not the affable, down-to-earth man he portrays to the public. “Imagine how he treats him in private,” one person replied. One user, a nurse, wrote that she has guardianship of her older brother suffering from his own disorders. “I cannot imagine treating him that way,” she wrote in shock.
The governor has also been criticized for “stolen valor”—making false claims about his military service. He claimed that he was in combat but wasn’t; claimed to have achieved the rank of command sergeant major when he hadn’t; and was accused of running out on his men by retiring when his unit was scheduled to deploy to Iraq.
Former President Donald Trump responded shortly after Vice President Kamala Harris delivered her speech on Thursday evening to close out the convention. He called into Fox News and bashing the vice president for a lack of record to run on after three and a half years in the White House. “All of these things that she talked about — ‘We are going to do this, we are going to do that, we are going to do everything’ — but she didn’t do any of it!” Trump said on the air.
“She didn’t talk about China, she didn’t talk about fracking, she didn’t talk about crime.” In a series of stream-of-consciousness late-night posts, Trump poked holes in Harris’s claims that America has made progress under President Joe Biden. “SHE HAS LED US INTO FAILING NATION STATUS!” he wrote on Truth Social afterward. Less than a minute later, he added, “She didn’t mention China, she didn’t mention fracking, she didn’t mention Energy, she didn’t mention, meaningfully, Russia and Ukraine, she didn’t mention the big subjects of the day, that are destroying our Country. There are 60 million people in poverty in the U.S., under their watch, and she doesn’t even talk about them!”
Disclaimer: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.