(Maire Clayton, Headline USA) Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz had a mishap during Tuesday’s night vice-presidential debate when he stated he had “become friends with school shooters.”
Immediately following the debate, Walz decided to ignore reporters when asked about the baffling comment as he instead grabbed a slice of pizza.
“Can you clarify what you meant when you said you would be friends with school shooters?” the governor was repeatedly asked during an exchange posted to X.
“Can you clarify what you meant when you said you befriended school shooters?"
"Why did you say you were in Hong Kong when reports say you weren't?" pic.twitter.com/knikwd3qob
— Dustin Grage (@GrageDustin) October 2, 2024
Conservative satire site the Babylon Bee was quick to note, wryly, that the flamboyant Walz might be seen as too eccentric for many school shooters, who have their reputations to consider.
“One teacher came forward to say that while the school shooters were obviously odd and off-putting, Walz was ‘a genuine fruitcake’ and once tried out for the part of Sandy in a school production of Grease,” the Bee wrote in its spoof article “School Shooters Distance Themselves From Tim Walz.”
Walz’s comment likewise sparked numerous reactions on X, highlighting and making light of the blunder.
One user wrote, “Makes sense. School shooters are usually the ones wanting tampons in men’s rooms,” referencing Walz’s decision to force public schools to provide menstrual products in restrooms.
Several recent mass-shooting attacks in schools and other public settings have involved individuals who self-identified as transgender or nonbinary.
Makes sense. School shooters are usually the ones wanting tampons in men's rooms.
— vomit romney (@VomitRomney) October 2, 2024
Pollster Frank Luntz stated the comment “may be the worst line in any 2024 debate.”
“I've become friends with school shooters” may be the worst line in any 2024 debate. #VPDebate
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) October 2, 2024
“I thought my friends were a little rough around the edges,” host Jesse Kelly began, “but Tim Walz just said he’s friends with school shooters.”
I thought my friends were a little rough around the edges but Tim Walz just said he’s friends with school shooters.
— Jesse Kelly (@JesseKellyDC) October 2, 2024
Former President Donald Trump also decided to weigh in, posting a campaign sign for himself and Ohio Sen. JD Vance that said, “Not friends with school shooters.”
Walz finally attempted to address the comment almost a day later during a Pennsylvania rally with Sen. John Fetterman.
He managed to give a rambling, word-salad response, during which he stated that he was “super passionate about this” and in the future he needed to be more specific with his words.
REPORTER: Can you clarify why you said you've befriended school shooters?
Tim Walz answers with absolute rambling nonsense about how he's passionate about it.
It actually sounds like he doesn't say one single complete sentence here. pic.twitter.com/O7Pf3pZeTS
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) October 2, 2024
The gaffe wasn’t the only blunder Walz suffered during the debate. He called himself “a knucklehead at times,” as he tried to deflect from misleading claims he previously made regarding being in Hong Kong during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.
“All I said was that I got there that summer and misspoke on this,” Walz stated. “So, I’d just—that’s what I said. So, I was in Hong Kong and China during the democracy protest and from that, I learned a lot.”
