Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) did little to curry favor among pro-Palestine advocates disenfranchised by the Democratic party during Tuesday’s vice presidential debate.
Seconds into the debate, Walz set off pro-Palestine advocates with his response to a question about whether he’d support an Israeli strike against Iran, given their massive missile attack on Israel hours before.
While Walz did not offer a clear yes or no response, he began by denouncing Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, in which more than 1,400 people were killed and more than 240 people were taken hostage. The attacks served as a precursor to Israel’s war in Gaza, where more than 41,000 people have been killed and humanitarian aid to civilians has been significantly impeded.
“Let’s keep in mind where this started. October 7th, Hamas terrorists massacred over 1,400 Israelis and took prisoners,” Walz said before appearing to mix up Israel and Iran twice.
“Iran [sic] — or, uh, Israel’s ability to be able to defend itself is absolutely fundamental,” he continued. “Getting its hostages back, fundamental. And ending the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. But the expansion of Israel [sic] and its proxies is an absolute fundamental necessity for the United States to have the steady leadership there.”
Walz’s comments drew outrage from the pro-Palestine crowd, many of whom promoted their belief that the events of Oct. 7 did not happen in a vacuum.
“decided to give the VP debate a shot (stupid decision) and within 5 seconds walz blames ‘october 7th’ for what’s happening right now and i truly have never turned something off faster,” wrote one person.
“Tim Walz parroting October 7 propaganda in the first 30 seconds of the debate, disappointing,” someone else said without specifying what part of Walz’s statement they believed to be incorrect.
Complained another person: “First 5 words out of walz’s mouth and I’m already changing the channel. Israel isn’t real. Free Palestine.”
“within 30 seconds Walz started repeating October 7th propaganda nonsense, still think he’s a good person?” echoed someone else.
In one viral post that has been viewed more than 660,000 times and garnered 15,000 likes, a commenter opined: “its wild that tim walz’s entire shtick is that he’s a normal ‘not a real politician’ kind of guy. his answer abt defending the genocidal apartheid regimes right to start ww3 is textbook soulless amoral politician.
It’s not the first time the Democratic presidential ticket enraged pro-Palestine activists.
The Uncommitted National Movement declined to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris in September after it spent months encouraging voters to vote uncommitted during the presidential primaries instead of backing President Joe Biden over his stance on Israel.
Groups of pro-Palestine protesters have interrupted multiple of Harris’ campaign stops and multiple Muslim scholars recently urged Muslim voters to not support Harris come November.
The anti-establishment sentiment and growing discontent with Democratic policies toward Israel among the pro-Palestine crowd are evident in a Council on American-Islamic Relations survey from the swing state of Michigan—which found that the vast plurarlity of Muslim-American voters in the state (40%) are supporting the Green Party, versus 12% supporting Harris.
And the debate seems to have done little to garner support among that demographic of voters.
“I already thought Harris was shit, now Walz is out here proving why she picked him as VP,” said one person.
Concluded someone else: “Immediately just lost all respect for Walz based on his first answer regarding Israel-Palestine.”
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