The much-anticipated vice presidential debate took place tonight.
Given the relative debating skills of Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), many expected this would be the debate event of the election season. Expectations were high on both sides.
An hour into the debate, Walz delivered an unexpected mic-drop moment of the night. Asked about how to deal with the epidemic of school shootings, Walz said, “I’ve become friends with school shooters.”
Both had expressed sorrow and distress over the school shootings that have proliferated in recent years. It is possible that Walz misspoke or didn’t accurately articulate his thoughts. Minutes earlier, he’d said that his son witnessed a school shooting.
Either way, for many, the takeaway was that Walz (assuming he didn’t misspeak and meant school shooting victims) was buddy-buddy with school shooters.
“Tim Walz just said he’s friends with school shooters??? Wtf??” right-wing podcaster and unofficial beanie spokesperson Tim Pool posted on X.
“BRUH,” another said.
“Did Walz just really say that??” podcaster and former NBC Sunday Night Football reporter Michele Tafoya wrote.
The two vice presidential candidates have previously exchanged barbs about school shootings. After Vance lamented that such is a “fact of life” last month, Walz hit back.
“It’s a fact of life some people are gay. But you know what’s not a fact of life? That our children need to be shot dead in schools,” Walz said.
“That’s not a fact of life,” he reportedly added. “Folks are banning books, but they’re okay with weapons of war being in our schools.”
BUt his debate comment about being friends with school shooters will likely be a weapon of war in the upcoming election.
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