It’s been revealed that Minnesota Governor and Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz is having trouble convincing voters from his own family. This is a developing event on social media; however, it’s more than challenging to find much about it on the news networks. It’s quite remarkable considering these busybodies’ history with other political family splits.
It has been shown that family members of politicians who are vocal in their opposition expect to be featured on television when they do so to benefit Democrats or criticize Republicans. Yet now that the Walz family is showing a rift, there is little to no interest from the media.
It started with a report that Tim Walz has a brother, Jeff Walz, who came out and said: he opposes his brother’s politics. Long before Tim was nominated as Kamala’s running mate, Jeff posted on Facebook over a year ago declaring he had nothing in common with Tim’s politics and positions. Since then, he has continued to clarify things and solidify his opposition to what looks like his estranged brother. This did not spark breathless coverage on cable news. (Newsweek even took the path of “grabbing and seizing”and stated that this was “praised by MAGA.”)
Then we saw a group photo of Walz family members wearing t-shirts supporting Donald Trump all over social media accounts. Despite the incorrect punctuation on their nipples, it was a valid post from Walz’s home state of Nebraska, and the members were indeed blood relatives of his clan.
Family members of Tim Walz in Nebraska vote for Trump. pic.twitter.com/CmBrx1APMm
— Matt Wolking (@MattWolking) 4 September 2024
So is there nightly reporting on this family division and hyperventilating expert opinions about what it all means?! No — We have fact checksThe Associated Press ran to Tim’s sisterwho stated that she did not know who this group was. Despite this statement, in truth they are related. It turns out that they are second cousins, descended from Tim’s grandfather’s brother, so apparently that means they don’t count.
In the grand political order, these family disputes do not contribute to change. In fact, they tend toward the unseemly. There is no reason to begrudge family over something like politics. I have close relatives who are politically polarized, but it would never occur to me to harbor resentment over a position they hold. But we often read stories on social media of people who have cut themselves off from their families because they hold the “wrong” political positions; this seems to be more common on the left, where a certain level of Trump worship or members who watch too much Fox News are declared relationship killers.
Yet it is common to see this blood feud being discussed in the press for political expediency. Let us remember that holiday disputes have been covered in the media and provoked by Democrats for years, since the Obama administration. (Remember the Pajamas I am a boy used to spout health care talking points to your family?!) And that trend has only intensified since Trump entered the White House, with Democrats providing arguments they could operate against your MAGA uncle at the Thanksgiving table.
The press has only reinforced this family divide. Trump’s female niece, Mary Trump, has been featured so extensively on the news networks that she has signed several book deals – her third is cancelled next weekWhen Paul Gosar ran for office in Arizona, his siblings, who were against him, were strongly promotedJust last month, the Kennedy clan escorted part of its brood through the radio to denigrate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for his support of Trump.
So, ultimately, it comes down to this: highlighting and promoting these family divisions for political capital is destructive and not fit at all. But I ask, since the press has now established this as their preferred method of bloodline therapy: When will these divisions in the Walz family become a headline in the news? Or, as we have come to expect, will it be viewed as (different) in this case?
