In their first go-round in attacking Gov. Tim Walz, the Donald Trump campaign bet that maximum hyperbole could hoodwink people into dismissing the "chill dad" demeanor of Vice President Kamala Harris's new running mate. "Tim Walz will unleash hell on Earth!" a Trump fundraising email said of the former high school football coach turned top Minnesota executive. The campaign followed up with a barrage of emails describing the affable Midwesterner as "Dangerously Liberal," in clear hopes that brute repetition would distract voters from the fact that Walz reads more like "Ted Lasso" than "Che Guevara."
The strategy had only gone on for a few hours, however, when the extremely online MAGA forces, who control the campaign to the extent of making one of their own Trump's running mate, got restless. Even they could tell that apocalyptic language about a guy cracking dad jokes is a hard sell. But it's not like the miscreants of MAGA social media had a better idea, mind you. Instead, they turned to their own weird hang-ups over gender and sexuality, attacking Walz for caring about the health and well-being of students in school.
