Overview
- Fresh clips show individuals pulling up to Gov. Tim Walz’s St. Paul residence and repeatedly yelling an ableist slur, with one video featuring a parked car honking as a man shouts outside.
- Jake Tapper condemned the behavior in a December 27 post on X, urging people to “stop being awful” and not to reward such conduct with algorithms.
- The harassment escalated after President Donald Trump called Walz “seriously retarded” on Thanksgiving in a Truth Social post about immigration, a term he later defended when questioned.
- Tim Walz has called the rhetoric dangerous and shameful, saying he has witnessed people using the r-word outside his house and that he has not heard Republican officials denounce it.
- Walz’s daughter, Hope, has decried the abuse in TikTok posts and highlighted its impact on her brother Gus, who has a nonverbal learning disorder, while Donald Trump Jr. reacted to a video by writing, “they’re not wrong.”