Editor’s Note: This article covers viral yet demonstrably false claims about Tim Walz that some readers may find disturbing.
(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) It’s a lot to take in. Will Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz swallow his pride or spit out a response to the accusations that he once drank horse semen?
This may be the question on Americans’ minds as some Twitter users continue to joke about the rumor—paralleling the demonstrably fake claims that Sen. JD Vance, Donald Trump’s running mate, once had sex with a “couch.”
It isn’t immediately clear who originated the claims about Walz, the Daily Dot reported on Wednesday.
The meme appeared online shortly after Walz jested about debating Vance “if he’s willing to get off the couch,” seemingly referencing the Vance couch sex claims.
“See what I did there?” Walz joked during a Philadelphia rally on Tuesday as Harris stood back and laughed.
Just to review: someone on Twitter made up a story about JD Vance having sex with a couch and now that totally made up story is being used on stage by the Kamala campaign to mock Vance. This is honestly one of the dirtiest things I’ve ever seen a presidential campaign do. These… https://t.co/QGcuyJeeab
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) August 7, 2024
Walz perhaps was not aware that he would be flooded with similar allegations, this time involving a horse.
On Twitter, the horse jokes quickly gained traction, with some individuals sharing a fabricated fact-check by the Associated Press on the claims.
“THE CLAIM: Walz once had his stomach pumped because he drank a gallon of human semen,” the false fact-check read. “THE FACTS: It was horse semen.”
“JD Vance is weird” pic.twitter.com/yU3mXHo6am
— National Conservatism (@con_national) August 7, 2024
One tweet of the fact-check garnered over 4.3 million views. Many users shared it to mock the AP for its since-deleted fact-check that had amplified the Vance-couch claim by drawing more attention to it on social media
“No, JD Vance did not have sex with a couch,” a brazenly AP headline read. The backlash was so forceful that the outlet took the fact-check down, conveniently claiming it had not gone through the proper editing channels.
AP removes fact check about JD Vance making love to a couch (I swear this isn't satire)https://t.co/5FMBi2M9Ot
— Not the Bee (@Not_the_Bee) July 26, 2024
Despite the now-deleted fact-check, the Harris campaign, Democrat lawmakers, leftist pundits and late-night hosts seized on the joke to attack Vance, even when it meant admittedly spreading what they would describe as misinformation.
This is the state of the 2024 presidential election.
