Topline
Former President Donald Trump claimed Wednesday the estranged brother of Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz endorsed him, regardless of Jeff Walz saying hours earlier he didn’t plan to publicly again the ex-president—claims Trump bolstered with an unverified viral picture purporting to indicate Walz members of the family carrying pro-Trump T-shirts.
Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz speaks throughout a marketing campaign rally on … [+]
Getty Pictures
Key Details
Trump thanked “Jeff” for his endorsement in a Reality Social submit on Wednesday and stated they deliberate to satisfy “quickly,” together with within the submit a photograph of eight individuals carrying T-shirts printed with the slogan “Walz’s [sic] for Trump.”
The picture was initially shared on X Wednesday by Charles Herbster, the chairman of Rural Individuals for Trump and a former Nebraska GOP gubernatorial candidate, and later made the rounds amongst pro-Trump social media customers.
The members of the family pictured are descendants of Francis Walz, the brother of Tim Walz’s grandfather, Herbster’s spokesperson Rod Edwards informed Forbes, including {that a} buddy of the Walz household supplied Herbster’s group with the picture and one of many people verified the picture’s legitimacy to Edwards immediately.
Edwards didn’t specify the members of the family’ names, however stated the Minnesota governor’s older brother Jeff Walz—the topic of Trump’s submit—was not within the picture.
Trump’s declare that Jeff Walz endorsed him got here hours after the older Walz—who donated $20 to Trump’s 2016 marketing campaign—informed NewsNation he “thought lengthy and exhausting” about endorsing Trump, however doesn’t wish to “put one thing on the market to affect most of the people.”
Jeff Walz’s political beliefs first made waves after The New York Publish unearthed a sequence of Fb posts he made final week denouncing his brother’s politics and warning he isn’t the “kind of character you need making selections about your future,” cryptically citing “tales [he] might inform” (he later informed NewsNation the “tales” have been innocuous accounts of rising up collectively, like Tim Walz’s tendency to turn into automotive sick).
Forbes has reached out to Trump and Harris’s campaigns for remark.
Key Background
Jeff Walz wrote on Fb and later informed NewsNation his household wasn’t given any warning that his brother had been tapped as Vice President Kamala Harris’ operating mate. He informed NewsNation he wrote the posts to clarify his political beliefs to his buddies and acquaintances, and acknowledged Fb “wasn’t the best platform to try this for.” Jeff Walz stated he and his brother haven’t spoken for the reason that funeral of their youthful brother, Craig, in 2016, except for a short dialog when he requested his older brother for tax info sought by Harris’s vetting group, which Jeff Walz stated he declined to offer.
Tangent
Walz, who was tapped as Harris’ VP decide early final month, is in his second time period as Minnesota governor and beforehand represented a rural Minnesota Home district for 12 years. He’s a retired highschool instructor and soccer coach who spent 24 years serving within the Nationwide Guard. Walz grew up in Nebraska earlier than shifting to Minnesota together with his spouse, Gwen, within the Nineteen Nineties.
Huge Quantity
36%. That’s the share of U.S. adults who view Walz favorably, in accordance with an Related Press/NORC ballot that discovered 25% view him unfavorably. Republican VP candidate, Sen. JD Vance’s, has a 27% favorability ranking, whereas 44% of respondents view him unfavorably.
Additional Studying
Every thing You Want To Know About Tim Walz Forward Of DNC Speech (Forbes)
Kamala Harris Picks Tim Walz As Operating Mate: Right here’s What To Know About Him (Forbes)
Tim Walz-JD Vance Polls: Walz Extra Fashionable Than Vance In Early Surveys (Forbes)