CNN host Jake Tapper on Sunday asked Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, why he chose to call 2024 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump a “wacko.”
The campaign of 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris announced on Thursday press release The “big takeaway” from Trump's appearance on Fox News' morning show was that the Republican nominee is “old and pretty strange” — a term he borrowed from Waltz, who first used the phrase. attack He voiced his opposition to President Trump during an appearance on MSNBC on Tuesday.
Latest Harris campaign email:
“Is Trump old and very weird?”
— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) July 25, 2024
Let me tell you, these people are weird. pic.twitter.com/fvNRNf7T7T
— Tim Walz (@Tim_Walz) July 24, 2024
Speaking on CNN's “State of the Union,” Waltz explained why he believes calling Trump a “crazy guy” is more effective than calling the former president an “existential threat to democracy.”
“You drew attention this week by calling Trump, Vance and Republicans in general 'wackos,' and I believe you set the tone. And a shift is happening. The Harris campaign appears to be following your lead and repeating this language. Why do you think 'wacko' is a more effective attack line against Trump than the 'existential threat to democracy' argument that Democrats have made in the past?” Tapper asked.
“Well, that's an observation,” Waltz said. “I'm a teacher, so I see a lot of stuff. But what I'll say is, people keep saying, 'Look, Donald Trump is going to put women's lives at risk,' and that's 100 percent true. Donald Trump could end the constitutional freedoms that we have with the vote. I think those are all real possibilities, but it gives him too much power.” (RELATED: 'I don't know how to speak': Trump rally-goers slam Kamala Harris)
.translation: He said he chose to call Trump “weird” because “that's just what we're observing.” Jacket Topper“I think we've overestimated him,” he said, suggesting Democrats should “tone down the fear a little bit and just present the facts as they are.” pic.twitter.com/IH1FMDSoGD
— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) July 28, 2024
“Listen to what he has to say!” said the chairman of the Democratic Governors Association. “He talks about Hannibal Lecter and Shocking Shark and whatever other crazy stuff comes to mind. I thought we overestimated him.”
“I think one thing is to tone it down a little bit and call it by its name. Honestly, have you ever seen this guy laugh? For an adult to be in public for six and a half years seems very odd to me. If he was laughing, he was laughing at someone, not with someone. That's bizarre behavior! And I don't think there's any other way to call it,” 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 less than a week after Biden withdrew and then endorsed the vice president.
