CNN host Jake Tapper questioned Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Waltz Sunday about why he decided to call 2024 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump “weird.”
Presumptive 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ campaign wrote in a Thursday press release that a “key takeaway” from Trump’s morning appearance on Fox News was that the GOP nominee is “old and quite weird.” The “weird” line was borrowed from Waltz, who first used this attack against Trump during a Tuesday appearance on MSNBC.
Latest Harris campaign email:
“Trump is old and quite weird?”
— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) July 25, 2024
I’m telling you: these guys are weird. pic.twitter.com/fvNRNf7T7T
— Tim Walz (@Tim_Walz) July 24, 2024
Waltz explained why he believes calling Trump “weird” is more effective than referring to the former president as “an existential threat to democracy” on CNN’s “State Of The Union.”
“So, you’ve gotten some attention this week for calling Trump and Vance and Republicans in general ‘weird.’ And, I think you’re the one that set this tone. And there’s this shift. The Harris campaign seems to be following your lead, echoing this language. Why do you think ‘weird’ is a more effective attack line against Trump than what Democrats have been doing previously, which is argue that he’s ‘an existential threat to democracy?’” Tapper asked.
“Yeah, it’s an observation,” Waltz said. “Being a schoolteacher, I see a lot of things. But my point on this was, is people kept talking about, ‘Look, Donald Trump is going to put women’s lives at risk.’ That’s 100% true. Donald Trump is potentially going to end constitutional liberties that we have in voting. I do believe all those things are real possibilities, but it gives him way too much power.” (RELATED: ‘Doesn’t Know How To Talk’: Trump Rally-Goers Sound Off Ok Kamala Harris)
.@GovTimWalz says he decided to call Trump “weird” because “it’s simply what we’re observing,” telling @jaketapper, “I thought we just give him way too much credit” and suggesting Democrats should “ratchet down some of the scariness or whatever and just name it what it is.” pic.twitter.com/IH1FMDSoGD
— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) July 28, 2024
“Listen to the guy!” The Democratic Governors Association chairman said. “He’s talking about Hannibal Lector and shocking sharks, and just, whatever crazy thing pops into his mind. And I thought we just give him way too much credit.”
“I think one of the things is, is when you just ratchet down some of the, you know, the scariness or whatever, and just name it what it is. I gotta tell you, my observation on this is, have you ever seen the guy laugh? That’s seems very weird to me that an adult can go through six and a half years of being in the public eye. If he has laughed, it’s at someone, not with someone. That is weird behavior! And I, I don’t think you call it anything else,” Waltz said.
Top Democrats including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former President Barack Obama endorsed Harris within one week of Biden’s withdrawal and subsequent endorsement of his vice president.
