Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) claimed that former Vice President Kamala Harris picked him as her vice presidential running mate because he could “code-talk to white guys watching football” and fixing their trucks.
While speaking at an event at Harvard University’s Kennedy School Institute of Politics, Walz explained to moderator Brittany Shepherd that he had been picked as Harris’s vice presidential running mate because, as governor, he has done “a lot of amazing, progressive things in Minnesota to improve people’s lives.”
Walz added that he had also been on the ticket because he could “code-talk to white guys.”
Walz’s comment came after Shepherd pointed out that there was a time when “you could not run away” from seeing Walz on television, adding that after he became the vice presidential nominee for Harris, he was seen less on TV.
“I knew I was on the ticket — I would argue because we did a lot of amazing, progressive things in Minnesota to improve people’s lives,” Walz said. “But, I also was on the ticket — quite honestly, you know, cause I could code-talk to white guys watching football, fixing their truck — doing that, that I could put them at ease. I was the permission structure to say, ‘Look, you can do this and vote for this.’ And, you look across those swing states — with the exception of Minnesota, we didn’t get enough of those votes.”
When Shepherd noted that he “could have been messaging that way,” Walz said that while he would give “pretty good stuff,” he would also give “ten percent problematic.”
“Well, yes, but I also said I understand myself. I said I think I’ll give you pretty good stuff, but I’ll also give you ten percent problematic,” Walz added. “And, so somebody’s got to make the decision here to handle some of this stuff and to make it in.”
In response to Walz’s comments, several people on X pointed out that they are white men and have “no idea” what Walz meant by “code talk to white guys.” Others pointed out that Walz’s words were “demeaning.”
“I’m a white guy—and have been for 53 years,” Rep. Mike Lee (R-UT) wrote in a post on X. “I have no idea what it means to ‘code talk’ to white guys. Please enlighten me.”
“Code talk to white guys,” Matt Morgan, a Maryland State Delegate wrote in a post on X. “How demeaning is that?”
“How’d that work out for you, @KamalaHarris?” Alex Bruesewitz wrote in a post on X.
“Imagine thinking voters are so dumb, they simply need ‘code-talk’ from Walz to persuade them to vote for the Dems preferred candidate,” one person wrote in a post on X. “Walz/Dems fail to grasp that Harris never offered Americans any substance and never distinguished herself from Biden’s terrible record.”
“Notice he didn’t mention he could code-talk how to load a shotgun hahahaha,” women sports advocate Riley Gaines wrote in a post on X.
– News’s Hannah Knudsen reported in October that the leftist group Vote Save America released a cringey advertisement that attempted to make Harris appeal to voters by saying, “They’re man enough to fight a bear, eat a carburetor, and elect a woman. How about you?”
During the campaign, Walz, a self-proclaimed hunter, attempted to relate to gun owners and hunters. In October, a video showed Walz appearing to struggle to load a shotgun.
Walz also attempted to court male voters during the campaign regarding the topic of abortion, encouraging men to “think about the women” in their lives and noted that their “lives are at stake.”
