Dem
51
GOP
49
Donald Trump and his supporters are desperately trying to come up with a smear that they can use against Tim Walz, and actually have it stick. Stolen valor didn't work, the Chinese sleeper agent thing isn't working, and slurs on Walz' son definitely didn't work. The latest line of attack may be the most bizarre of all, which is really saying something.
Here it is, in a nutshell:
Yes, apparently Walz' dog is fake news. Or a false flag. Or something like that. In any event, other right-wingers quickly piled on. Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) tweeted: "Why would Tim Walz do this? It's Creepy™️ and Weird™." Donald Trump Jr. paramour Kimberly Guilfoyle added: "Wait so Walz is even lying about his dog?" Far-right activist Charlie Kirk agreed: "Tim Walz is an all-time legendary liar."
Let us now let you in on a little secret here, with an assist from staff dachshund Otto, who is a veteran visitor of dog parks:
You see what they have at dog parks? That's right—dogs (in the case of Otto, the other dog is named Brody). Sometimes, a dog at the dog park interacts with other dogs. Sometimes, an owner at the dog park interacts with other dogs. That is the natural conclusion when you see a picture of a dog owner at a dog park with a dog other than their own. Alternatively, you could think about it, and decide that if someone was going to try to pull off a scam like this, they wouldn't try to do it with dogs of completely different colors. Or, you could even do a little more poking around. In the case of Walz, 20 seconds of investigation would lead you to this video, which shows Walz wearing the outfit seen in the photos, and interacting with both his dog (the black lab) and with the other dog.
The Trump campaign seems to have an animal problem. Before this attempt (doggate?) there were the childless cat ladies (catgate?). What gives?
It's really wild how... well, wild Walz is driving many Republicans. We can't remember a VP who attracted so many desperate attempts, in very short order, to tear him or her down. The selection of Tim Kaine was met with a yawn. Also the selection of Joe Biden, before him. The selection of Kamala Harris engendered some DEI-related commentary, and that was pretty much it. The selection of Mike Pence led to stories about his career, and some of his more "out there" ideas, but none of this crazy conspiracy stuff. We're not sure exactly why Walz is sticking in so many Republicans' craws, but if one of the goals in choosing a running mate is to drive the opposition nuts, Kamala Harris hit a home run. (Z)