‘These are weird people’: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz went viral as he stumped for Kamala Harris

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is having an internet moment.

The second-term Democrat has spent much of the last week doing quick-hit interviews on TV news shows in support of Vice President Kamala Harris’ bid for the White House as she’s racked up support from the party and become the presumptive nominee ahead of next month’s convention.

Walz, who chairs the Democratic Governors Association, has been identified as the running mate for Harris and his frequent appearances on major networks have turned him into a bit of an internet darling. Like other Democrats, Walz has taken aim both at Republican policies and smeared the opposing party as “weird people.”

Many see Walz’s quotable clips as his audition for the No. 2 spot on the Democratic presidential ticket. While the Harris campaign asked the Minnesota governor for vetting material as she mulled her options, Walz has among the lowest name recognition and delegate support of the other Democrats she considered. (Among them: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.)

Walz, for his part, remained demure amid questions about his desire to run alongside Harris. Asked about whether he wants to be second on the ticket, he told MPR’s Cathy Wurzer that “if that’s the direction she goes, I guess that’s fine.”

Still, Walz has seen plenty of breakout moments over the last few days. Here are a few of them:

David Hogg, a prominent gun control activist who survived a 2017 school shooting in Parkland, Fla., on Thursday shared video of Walz on MSNBC where the governor summed up the Democratic strategy in eight words: “These are weird people on the other side.”

“He’s been an extremely productive governor, he’s a total midwestern dad, he’s hilarious and genuine,” Hogg wrote.

Earlier in the week, Walz went on MSNBC’s “11th Hour” broadcast and riffed on Vance’s 2021 comments calling Democrats “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable too.”

“Go ahead and continue to denigrate people,” Walz told host Stephanie Ruhle. “My god, they went after cat people. Good luck with that. Turn on the internet and see what cat people do when you go after ‘em.”

The White House has long dispatched Harris to push its agenda on reproductive rights, even going so far as having her visit a Planned Parenthood in St. Paul earlier this year. Walz, who signed a law strengthening abortion rights in Minnesota last year, has touted the topic as well and framed it as an issue of individual rights.

“The golden rule that makes small towns work so we’re not at each others’ throats all the time in a little town is: Mind your own damn business,” Walz said.

While Walz isn’t as well-known as some of the others Harris is considering as a running mate, several people online have marveled at his “favorite uncle” energy and even one person has asked, “Did Joe Biden have Tim Walz locked in the basement of the White House? Where has this man been?”