A photo of Tim Walz's family members who support Donald Trump is confounding the internet and raising questions. Who are these MAGA Walzes? Why isn't the key Walz saying anything anything about them? And what is that apostrophe about?
The viral photo shows eight smiling people wearing “Nebraska Walz’s for Trump” shirts positioned in front of a banner that reads, “Trump 2024 Take America Back.” An elderly woman is seated in the center of the group next to a man, while six others stand behind her.
The Democratic vice presidential candidate’s mother, Darlene Walz, 88, told TMZ she wasn’t surprised by the photo because that side of the Walz family is made up of conservative devout Catholics. The people in the photo are second cousins to Tim, she said.
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The former president shared the picture on his Truth Social platform Wednesday after Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, conservative commentator Benny Johnson and alt-right activist Jack Posobiec all posted it on X. The Trump War Room account also reposted the image, along with an eyes emoji.
Donald Trump Jr. joined the retweeting bandwagon.
Trump Jr. asked: “Is anyone in the leftwing media going to cover this?”
The image, which went viral on Wednesday, was posted after Walz’s older brother who lives in Florida clarified that while he supports Trump, he doesn't intend to influence the outcome of the election.
Jeff Walz, 67, is a Trump supporter. But he told NewsNation on Tuesday: “I don’t agree with his policies, but in no way am I trying to influence the general public and come out and make a stance on that.”
The Florida Walz expressed pretty harsh disapproval of his brother’s politics in Facebook posts, questioning his 60-year-old brother’s character. On Wednesday, however, he clarified that he did not want to influence voters, even as the former president thanked him for his support.
The full extent of the Walz family’s support for Trump, or for that matter, for Harris, is unknown. Some of Walz’s closest family members, including his younger sister Sandy Dietrich, 64, are not among those in the viral picture. Federal Election Commission records list only one Nebraskan with the last name Walz who has made a political donation this year. Walz’s younger brother Craig died in 2016 when a storm hit him while he was on a family camping trip.
One of the first people to share the new “Walz’s for Trump” image was Charles Herbster, a Trump 2020 adviser who lost the GOP primary for Nebraska governor in 2022. Herbster did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment about the source of the photo or the subjects shown. Kamala Harris’ and Trump’s campaigns did not immediately respond to requests for comment either.
In any case, whoever created the “Walz’s for Trump” slogan will have to contend with the grammar police.
“So these are the morons who can't use apostrophes correctly?” Keith Olbermann posted on X. “No wonder they support Trump.”
