The real ‘weirdo’ is Tim Walz, Kamala Harris's deputy

Shortly after his selection on August 6th, Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz, Democratic Governor of Minnesota, lost no time in attacking his Republican opponents as “weird.” To Walz, everything Donald Trump and JD Vance stand for is “weird.” However, upon examination of Walz’s life and career the word must have emanated from his own very essence given the truly “weird” things he has done.

The most worrisome “weird” thing about Walz is his close relationship with China, America’s foremost adversary. Walz taught English and American history in China after he graduated from college in 1989, and apparently he is fluent in Mandarin. Afterwards Walz visited China over 30 times, taking with him groups of students when he was a high school teacher. So many trips with impressionable youngsters and the fact that the Chinese communist authorities allowed him to come, welcomed his travel plans year after year, and most likely provided some form of financing, is disturbing.

As governor, Walz has maintained a close relationship with Chinese front organizations, helped fund Chinese charter schools in his state, invited Chinese diplomats to his gubernatorial inauguration, and as Chair of Minnesota’s State Board of Investments has allowed significant funds to be invested in Chinese financial instruments.
Another “weird” China connection is that Walz was married on the third anniversary of the Tienanmen Massacre, a date he said he deliberately chose so that he would “remember” his wedding anniversary. He and his wife spent their honeymoon in China.

Walz has shown so much appreciation for China’s way of life that one might wonder if he is a communist sympathizer, or better yet, a “useful idiot” to the Chinese Communist Party – something that would be “weird” indeed for a candidate to the second highest political office in the United States. He might do well to read the forthcoming book by Gordon G. Chang, “Plan Red: China’s Project to Destroy America.”

Walz’s Asian experience is also reflected in his “weird” mannerisms, amply displayed in political rallies. While flailing his arms vigorously at these appearances, he intersperses his movements with many non-American gestures, one being joining his hands together as if in prayer mode. The other is placing his hand over his heart as in the pledge of allegiance. The first is very common in parts of Asia, especially in Thailand, as a form of greeting. The other is a traditional Muslim greeting for men towards women, common throughout the Arab world. Many Americans may wonder why he has made these very foreign gestures part of his public appearances.

“Weird” may also apply to Walz’s military experience. He spent 24 years in the National Guard – a different situation from enlisting as a full-time soldier – during which time his unit was deployed not to any battlegrounds such as Iraq or Afghanistan, but once to Norway and another to Italy, temporarily replacing troops that were sent into combat. Really “weird” is his retirement from the military shortly before his unit was supposed to be deployed to Afghanistan. Walz explained his action by saying that the timing was just right for him to serve his country in another capacity, by running for a Congressional seat in his home state.

After serving in the House of Representatives (2007-2019) where he supported all abortion-related initiatives, including a vote against the Born Alive Survivors Protection Act, Walz was elected governor of Minnesota and was in office in 2020 when Black Lives Matter besieged many US cities with riots and widespread destruction. Walz floundered when Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis, a fellow Democrat, overwhelmed with the violence and devastation of his city following the death of George Floyd, begged Governor Walz to call in the National Guard. In such dire circumstances “weird” Walz waited three days before finally agreeing to help. The toll on lives, destroyed property and livelihoods was massive.

While governor of Minnesota, in January 2023, Walz signed into law the Protect Reproductive Options Act that, according to the press release, established “reproductive freedom as a fundamental right for all Minnesotans.” This law, which allows abortions at any time even until birth, is one of the most extreme abortion state laws in the country. The key word is “freedom” – the same word used over and over at the Democratic National Convention in August. The new freedom the democrats advocated was the freedom to abort at any time. This verbiage goes beyond “weird.” It is extreme.

Another law signed by Walz as governor is very “weird.” It provides for menstrual supplies in school bathrooms, including a provision for these products to be available to trans boys who may menstruate. It is not known how many such trans youngsters exist in Minnesota. Walz also approves of youngsters wanting to change their “assigned” sex, with or without parental consent, even if they come from another state.

Given his record on reproductive matters, Walz was a shoo-in for Harris to pick him as her running mate. In March of this year, when Harris visited a Planned Parenthood clinic in Minneapolis to show her support for their work, Walz accompanied her. This was a “weird” historical first for a sitting Vice President of the United States, and now for a vice-presidential candidate as well. Among the few remarks she made on this occasion, Harris called pro-life people who opposed abortion “immoral.”  Walz was looking on approvingly behind her.

Finally, there was the anxiously awaited Harris face-to-face televised interview, of less than a half hour, on August 29th on the Democrat-friendly CNN network. Harris did not appear alone. Since she could not use a teleprompter she invited Walz, who evidently served as a substitute! The setting in a word was… “weird!” The interviewer, Harris, and Walz were seated at an uncomfortably looking small table, with Walz looking more like a bodyguard, towering next to the right of Harris who was seated in the middle, the shortest of the three, looking as if she could slide under the table at any moment. “Weird” indeed!

Both were asked questions. Harris reiterated that she had not changed her “values” repeating that several times in response to questions regarding policy flip-flops. Walz was asked about a false statement he made where he mentioned he bore arms as a member of the National Guard. This never happened since he never saw combat. However, Walz did not even admit he “misspoke” (a word sometimes used by Democrats). Rather he stated: “My grammar is not always correct.” Really? For a former teacher to say something like that can only be considered… “weird.”

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* Vincenzina Santoro is an international economist. She represents the American Family Advocates at the United Nations.