Tim Walz
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Matt Cardy / Getty
An account on the X platform known as “Black Insurrectionist,” who made a false claim against Governor Tim Walz, was revealed to be a white man.
An individual spreading some of the more virulent conspiracy theories online, who went by the handle of “Black Insurrectionist,” was revealed to be a white man and supporter of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. According to reports, the “Black Insurrectionist” account, which went by DocNetyoutube on X, formerly Twitter, belongs to a white man named Jason G. Palmer. Palmer is a resident of upstate New York and had been using the account to peddle these conspiracies about Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. The false claims were amplified by Trump and his running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance.
“Black Insurrectionist,” the anonymous social media persona behind some of the most widely circulated conspiracy theories about the 2024 election, can be traced to a man from upstate New York.
He’s white. https://t.co/vHdrBj9pFQ
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) October 25, 2024
Palmer’s deception included promoting a false claim that Walz had an inappropriate encounter with a student when Walz was a football coach decades ago. That lie originated as part of a Russian disinformation campaign, according to U.S. security officials. The account also spread a falsehood about ABC News concerning the presidential debate in September, claiming that an employee gave Vice President Harris the questions in advance. This was circulated by the account’s 300,000 followers, and former President Trump would be asked about the account and replied, “I love the person.”
The 51-year-old has a highly checkered past, according to several individuals who were interviewed for the report. He reportedly owes the Internal Revenue Service $6.7 million in unpaid back taxes, has a history of drug addiction, and has been on record as defrauding multiple business partners. His home was also raided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation a decade ago. The incident reminded those on X, formerly Twitter, of multiple accounts that engaged in “Blackfishing” during the closing weeks of the 2016 presidential election. Palmer’s identity was confirmed by the Associated Press in conjunction with a specialist from the Human Rights Center at the University of California at Berkeley. The account has been deleted from the X platform.
HipHopWired Featured Video
CLOSE
Michael Strahan, easily one of the best NFL players to ever exist and currently a beloved on-air journalist, would not be mistaken to be a professor of politics and that is not a slight. That point was proven after Michael Strahan interviewed Gov. Tim Walz and asked the Minnesota governor why Vice President Kamala Harris hadn’t enacted any of her proposed policies in the past three and a half years.
In a clip that is trending on X now, Michael Strahan is seen speaking with Gov. Walz in an interview for Good Morning America that aired on Friday (October 11). Much of the discussion had to do with the current presidential race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump along with other pertinent topics.
The portion of the interview that had some scratching their heads shows Strahan asking, with a straight face, what Walz would say to critics of Harris who claim she hasn’t put forth any of the policies she’s spoken about on the campaign trail in her time in office.
Walz, clearly in ready-to-answer mode, flipped it back by saying that to pass policies you need a “partner in Congress” and correctly took aim at Trump and his time at the helm. Perhaps because time was of the essence, Walz seemingly side-stepped giving Strahan a much-needed lesson in how the White House works.
The tough line of questioning from Strahan was necessary considering the Harris-Walz campaign is vying for votes in a reported tight race. That said, Walz seemed to duck answering questions and waffled on a couple of answers which naturally caught the eyes of his detractors.
The Trump-Vance campaign has sought to frame Vice President Harris as a do-nothing politician although if you asked anyone to state with Vice President Mike Pence did in office aside from standing up to his boss during the transfer of power struggle, they’d be grasping for examples.
The truth is that the role of the Vice President of the United States is a specific one and does not carry the wide-ranging power that the president’s office holds.
Of course, if you paid attention in civics class or watched some of those classic Schoolhouse Rock segments, folks would stop this charade.
On X, folks are reacting to Michael Strahan floating an empty strawman question to Gov. Tim Walz and we’ve got those reactions below.
—
Photo: ABC News
HipHopWired Featured Video
Van Jones had more than a few words of criticism for Sen. JD Vance in the wake of his vice presidential debate with Gov. Tim Walz. During a CNN breakdown of the debate, Van Jones aimed for JD Vance’s performance in the debate and noted that the Ohio senator took several liberties in his answers.
The CBS News debate between. Sen. JD Vance and Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday (October 1) was a highly anticipated event although most analysts couldn’t agree if this would be a pivotal needle-moving moment for either campaign.
Van Jones opened up his analysis of Vance’s performance by noting that they both attended the same law school and how that training may have served Vance onstage versus Walz’s style of speech.
“I think what you saw tonight was the kitchen table versus the Ivy League,” Jones began in his comments. “I went to the same law school as JD Vance [Yale Law School] and that’s how they teach us to do it. The problem is, JD Vance changes personalities like some people change suits and his job tonight was to try and “sane- wash” the crazy.”
Jones was referring to the measured tone and approach Vance took in comparison to the reported ramblings and off-script speeches of Vance’s running mate, GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump.
On X, Jones clarified his position further.
From X:
JD Vance used every trick we learned at Yale Law School — trying to sane-wash Donald Trump (and memory hole all the bigoted, nutty stuff Vance himself has been saying).
Do not fall for it.
Vance lied about everything, all night long: he said he never supported a national abortion ban (he did), that American energy production is down (it’s up), and that we had a peaceful transfer of power in 2020 (as if January 6 never happened).
A man who will lie on national television this brazenly about facts that anyone can find with a simple google search — should never be anywhere close to the Oval Office.
Some observers believe that while Vance’s answers were delivered with polish, mild fact-checking would uncover holes in some of his policy positions. In contrast, it has been stated that Walz didn’t appear as confident in the moment as he has been on the campaign trail but the debate was gentlemanly as it possibly could be given the distance on politics between the rivals.
At minute 31:00 of the video below, you can view Van Jones’ commentary on the debate.
—
Photo: Getty
As he works to enter his vice president era, Tim Walz is invoking the power of Taylor Swift.
At the VP debate Tuesday night (Oct. 1), Kamala Harris’ running mate gave the pop superstar a big shout-out and wore Eras Tour-inspired friendship bracelets while facing off against JD Vance, Donald Trump’s pick for his second-in-command. After 90 minutes of back-and-forth — during which strings of beads occasionally peaked out from Walz’s shirt sleeves — the Minnesota governor ended his performance by marveling at the vast array of people supporting the Democratic ticket in 2024.
“I’m as surprised as anybody of this coalition that Kamala Harris has built, from Bernie Sanders to Dick Cheney to Taylor Swift,” Walz said, staring into the camera to directly address the American people. “They don’t all agree on everything, but they are truly optimistic people. They believe in a positive future of this country, and one where our politics can be better than it is.”
The 60-year-old politician was standing too far away from the camera to give a clear shot of his bracelets, but it’s very possible he was sporting an official Harris-Walz accessory on his wrist. The duo’s campaign began selling the beaded pieces in September, almost immediately after Swift endorsed their cause with a lengthy post on Instagram signed “Childless Cat Lady.”
“I think [Harris] is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos,” the 14-time Grammy winner wrote in her message, which went live moments after the presidential debate concluded Sept. 10. “I was so heartened and impressed by her selection of running mate @timwalz, who has been standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman’s right to her own body for decades.”
Though her support has arguably been the most impactful, Swift is just one of dozens of celebrities who’ve endorsed Harris and Walz ahead of election day on Nov. 5. Megan Thee Stallion, Lil Jon, Bon Iver, John Legend and Pink have all performed at campaign events this summer, while Ariana Grande, Cardi B, Billie Eilish, Lizzo, Carole King, Katy Perry, Kesha, Barbra Streisand and more have all spoken out in the Democrats’ favor.
Watch Walz give Swift a shout-out at the VP debate below.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Chip Somodevilla / Getty
Senator JD Vance and Governor Tim Walz squared off in their only vice presidential debate, which was surprisingly filled with several key exchanges.
On Tuesday evening (October 1), the vice presidential debate between Republican Senator JD Vance of Ohio and Democratic Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota took place at the CBS News studios in Manhattan, New York. The first and only debate between the two took on a heightened level of importance as early voting for the election in November has already begun. The debate was moderated by CBS anchors Norah O’Donnell and Margaret O’Brennan and notably did not have the stringent rules that were present in the ABC News presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump – particularly the network’s decision to not heavily fact-check the candidates’ assertions in real-time.
The debate began with the pressing news concerning the conflict between Iran and Israel that exploded earlier in the day. Walz answered first, starting a bit unsteady while Vance defended Trump’s position of “effective deterrence” while pointing out that the situation was weakened under President Joe Biden and Vice President Harris. Walz fired back by claiming that Iran is more emboldened due to Trump’s leadership and allies have noted his weakness. “He will go to whoever has the most flattery,” he said.
Immigration became a heated flashpoint in the debate, as Vance was asked if he would separate children from their parents who’ve migrated to the U.S. illegally. “We have to stop the bleeding,” he replied, blaming Vice President Harris for a “historic immigration crisis”, before alleging that she enabled Mexican drug cartels to operate freely. Walz rebuked those claims, citing Harris’ record of going after the cartels as California’s Attorney General. He then called Vance out for spreading false claims about Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio. “This is what happens to an issue when you don’t want to solve it,” he said. “You demonize.” The moderators fact-checked Vance after he again called the migrants “illegal”, to which he took offense, beginning to speak again over Brennan and O’Donnell leading to the microphones for Vance and Walz being cut off.
The moderators then asked pointed questions of each candidate, beginning with asking Walz about a discrepancy concerning his being in Hong Kong during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. He gave a quick overview of his background but didn’t answer the question. “I got there that summer and I misspoke on this,” he replied after being pressed about the issue. Vance was confronted with his past remarks blasting Trump including calling him “an American Hitler” before becoming his running mate, acknowledging that he disagreed with him in the past but that he also misspoke.
Reproductive rights and abortion proved to be another flashpoint, as Walz blasted Trump for his bragging about the reversal of Roe Vs. Wade, and spoke about Minnesota’s codifying reproductive rights into law. “We made sure that we put women in charge of their health care,” he said while bringing up Project 2025 and referencing Amber Thurman, the Georgia woman who died recently seeking help out-of-state. Vance, who has been highly conservative on the issue, acknowledged his past comments but claimed that he and Trump are “pro-family in the fullest sense of the word” and denied that there’d be a national abortion ban.
Both candidates were combative but also conciliatory at times. The topic of gun control was one example as Vance expressed sympathy when Walz disclosed that his 17-year-old son witnessed a mass shooting. But that topic also led Vance to blame mass shootings on “mental health issues in this country”, to which Walz rebutted by being cautious “What we end up doing is that we start looking for a scapegoat. Sometimes it just is the guns. It’s just guns, and there are things that you can do about it,” he said.
Vance also tried to tie Vice President Harris to illegal immigration repeatedly, at one point claiming “25 million illegal aliens competing with Americans for scarce homes is one of the most significant drivers of home prices in the country.” They also discussed healthcare, where Walz seemed to shine citing Minnesota’s stature as a national leader in healthcare policies, also jabbing Vance for falsely claiming that Trump “salvaged” the Affordable Care Act while he was in office. “Let me tell you the benefits of being an old guy. I was there,” Walz said, touting the strength of the ACA and Harris’ proposed policies to expand it.
The topic of the January 6th insurrection proved to be explosive, as Vance sidestepped the question of whether he and Donald Trump would challenge this year’s election results. Walz was forceful at this point, referring to the deaths of Capitol police officers that day and Trump’s false claims of the 2020 election being stolen. “A president’s words matter,” he said as Vance tried to assert that Harris was using “the threat of censorship” using social media platforms during the COVID pandemic “at an industrial scale”. Walz fired back: “Facebook ads did not cause Jan. 6,” Vance was asked again if he and Trump would accept the results of the 2020 election, and he pivoted again to accusing Harris of censorship. “That is a damning nonanswer,” Walz said, adding: “The winner needs to be the winner. This has got to stop. It’s tearing our country apart.”
The nominees closed out the debate after a short break, with Walz going first and citing the broad coalition behind Harris, saying: “They don’t all agree on everything, but they are truly optimistic people. They believe in a positive future in this country, and one where our politics can be better than it is.” Vance went afterward, drawing on his rural upbringing and blaming Harris for regular Americans not being able to achieve “their full dreams with the broken leadership that we have in Washington.”
HipHopWired Featured Video
Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will sit down with CNN this week for an exclusive joint interview. It is the first major interview for Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz, and will most likely serve as a showcase for their campaign, policies, and more.
As reported by Variety, Harris, and Walz recently appeared at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last week where the pair formally accepted their party’s nomination for president and vice president respectively. While their individual showings at the DNC were largely met with praise, several pundits have been clamoring to hear more about policies, the issue of the economy, the Israel-Hamas war, and other important issues.
On Thursday (August 29), the First Interview: Harris & Walz – A CNN Exclusive will air live on CNN along with CNN-connected television and mobile apps at 9 p.m. ET/PT. For those who missed that airing, the interview will be on-demand via CNN.com, CNN-connected television, and mobile apps, and across cable platforms.
View the CNN segment below regarding the upcoming interview with Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz.
—
Photo: Bill Clark / Getty
HipHopWired Featured Video
CLOSE
Source: CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / Getty
Gus Walz is the son of Minnesota Governor and VP candidate Tim Walz. The 17-year-old won the hearts of millions when during the Democratic National Convention he displayed raw emotion, clapping “That’s my dad!” during his father’s speech on Wednesday (August 21) night.
While the goodwill was already flowing, Gus Walz’s legend only grew when many then learned that when he was becoming a teen he was diagnosed with a nonverbal learning disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. As you would guess, the Walz family was nothing but supportive, telling People magazine, “It took time, but what became so immediately clear to us was that Gus’ condition is not a setback — it’s his secret power.”
Nevertheless, people on the conservative right proceeded to show their asses on social media and actually mocked Gus Walz for daring to show emotion during his father’s stirring moment when he accepted the VP nomination. The worst of the bunch was easily Ann Coulter, who wrote “Talk about weird…” as a caption of a picture of Gus in tears. Of course, Coulter eventually deleted her tweet after immense backlash, but nothing is ever wiped away on the Internets.
Coulter was not an anomaly, with many a troglodyte co-signing her foolishness with similar attacks. But despite Elon Musk’s X becoming a cesspool of hate, the overwhelming reactions have been nothing but support and love for Gus Walz and his family. Social media is filled with people smacking down the attacks with accounts about their own lives with neurodivergent children and while disparaging the lack of human decency Coulter and her ilk routinely display.
See some of the more passionate reactions in the gallery.
3. Never forget.
7. Posting for archival purpose because they will deny it.
8. It’s personal.
9. We won’t condone everything written here, but we understand.
HipHopWired Featured Video
CLOSE
Source: CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / Getty
Gus Walz is the son of Minnesota Governor and VP candidate Tim Walz. The 17-year-old won the hearts of millions when during the Democratic National Convention he displayed raw emotion, clapping “That’s my dad!” during his father’s speech on Wednesday (August 21) night.
While the goodwill was already flowing, Gus Walz’s legend only grew when many then learned that when he was becoming a teen he was diagnosed with a nonverbal learning disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. As you would guess, the Walz family was nothing but supportive, telling People magazine, “It took time, but what became so immediately clear to us was that Gus’ condition is not a setback — it’s his secret power.”
Nevertheless, people on the conservative right proceeded to show their asses on social media and actually mocked Gus Walz for daring to show emotion during his father’s stirring moment when he accepted the VP nomination. The worst of the bunch was easily Ann Coulter, who wrote “Talk about weird…” as a caption of a picture of Gus in tears. Of course, Coulter eventually deleted her tweet after immense backlash, but nothing is ever wiped away on the Internets.
Coulter was not an anomaly, with many a troglodyte co-signing her foolishness with similar attacks. But despite Elon Musk’s X becoming a cesspool of hate, the overwhelming reactions have been nothing but support and love for Gus Walz and his family. Social media is filled with people smacking down the attacks with accounts about their own lives with neurodivergent children and while disparaging the lack of human decency Coulter and her ilk routinely display.
See some of the more passionate reactions in the gallery.
3. Never forget.
7. Posting for archival purpose because they will deny it.
8. It’s personal.
9. We won’t condone everything written here, but we understand.
HipHopWired Featured Video
CLOSE
Source: Chip Somodevilla / Getty
Tim Walz’s acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention wowed the audience, and social media was moved by his speech & the crowd’s reaction.On Wednesday night (August 21), the third night of the Democratic National Convention closed with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz accepting the nomination to be vice president and the running mate to presidential candidate Kamala Harris. His speech would captivate the audience at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, and move those watching at home and on social media. Before taking the stage, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar and his wife, Gwen Walz, spoke to the crowd. They were then followed by players from the Mankato West football team whom Walz coached to the state championship in 1999.
Walz would then take the stage to a massive round of applause from the crowd, with many of them holding “Coach Walz” signs aloft. He spoke about supporting Vice President Harris because they share the same values. “That family down the road, they may not think like you do,”, he said, “they may not pray like you do. They may not love like you do. But they’re your neighbors. And you look out for them. And they look out for you. Everybody belongs.”
Walz would also fire back at Republican critics who criticized his background as a teacher and coach, stating: “Never underestimate a public schoolteacher. Never.” He expounded on that experience which led him to create programs that provided free meals to students, and tied it into the present day with a quote that drew heavy applause: “So while other states were banning books from their schools, we were banishing hunger from ours.”
The key moment of the night came when he shared the journey that he and his wife went on to try to have children, and said that was why he championed reproductive rights. “Hope, Gus, and Gwen you are my entire world. And I love you,” Walz said, prompting his son Gus to stand, teary-eyed and yell “That’s my dad!!” as the crowd gave the governor a standing ovation. The speech by Walz moved many online who had a chance to watch it. Some remarked on how he reminded them of their own fathers. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Crooked Media podcast host Tommy Vietor wrote, “I would run through a brick wall for Tim Walz.”
Check out the reactions to Walz’s acceptance speech below.
1. Franklin Leonard
2. Vic Vela
3. Lindy Li
4. Mo Fields
5. Rick Ellis
6. Wajahat Ali
7. Nick Corporon
8. Michelle B. Young
9. Jeff Johnson
10. Vox Prudentia
After fully embracing Charli XCX’s Brat summer, Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign for president has taken Harris’ connection to the pop singer one step further by sponsoring Spotify’s official “This is Charli XCX” playlist.
Listeners on Spotify’s free, ad-supposed tier will now see an ad running on the playlist stating that the content is presented by the Harris/Walz campaign — effectively promoting the campaign for Harris and her running mate, Minnesota governor Tim Walz. Spotify’s free users will see the ad on both mobile and desktop versions of the Spotify app.
The two-and-a-half hour, career-spanning playlist boasts some of Charli XCX’s best-known songs, including “Guess” featuring Billie Eilish, “Speed Drive” from the Barbie soundtrack and “Boom Clap” from 2014’s sucker.
Trending on Billboard
Screenshot
According to Spotify’s advertising policy, the streaming service sells political ads in the U.S., U.K. and India only and has done so for a number of years.
The fine print states that ads are limited to those placed by candidates; political parties; political committees; any entity registered or reporting under any federal, state or local campaign finance law; or other entities sponsoring ads on behalf of any of the above-listed categories. The ads may feature a candidate for elected office; a current elected officeholder; or a ballot measure, proposition or initiative. It adds that the title sponsor (in this case, the Harris/Walz campaign) is not the only sponsor and other ads may be heard during a listening session.
The Harris/Walz ad began running at midnight on Monday (Aug. 19) and is slated to end on Sunday night (Aug. 25). Spotify did not respond to a question asking whether Charli XCX had to sign off on the ad.
Other U.S. political campaigns that have run ads on Spotify this year include those of Sherrod Brown, Eric Hovde, Sandy Pensler, Rick Scott, Elissa Slotkin and Tim Sheehy.
Though Charli XCX has not commented on the ad buy, the singer has previously declared her support for Harris. On July 21, the day President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsed Harris, the pop star posted “kamala IS brat” on X (formerly Twitter). The KamalaHQ X page has also leaned in, with the home page displaying “kamala hq” in the Brat album’s signature lime green color.
The 2024 Democratic National Convention kicked off Monday night at Chicago’s United Center with performances from artists including Jason Isbell, Mickey Guyton and James Taylor.