A photo making the rounds online has sparked some serious conversation around Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who's now in the spotlight as the vice presidential candidate running alongside Kamala Harris.
The image, shared by former Nebraska Republican gubernatorial candidate Charles Herbster, shows a group of people—Walz’s extended family members—proudly sporting "Nebraska Walz's for Trump" T-shirts. The caption Herbster posted on social media didn’t shy away from pointing out that even Walz’s own family appears to be leaning towards former President Donald Trump.
Herbster’s representative clarified to Fox News that the people in the photo are connected to the Minnesota governor through his grandfather’s brother, Francis Walz. That makes them distant relatives, but still family. One individual in the image, who asked to remain anonymous, explained their support for Trump as simply aligning with their values.
The plot thickens when Jeff Walz, the governor’s older brother, entered the conversation. Jeff, who now lives in Florida, has been openly critical of his brother’s political stance. On social media, he went so far as to say he's "100% opposed" to Tim’s ideology and expressed frustration over the fact that his family wasn’t informed about Tim’s vice-presidential candidacy beforehand.
In one post, Jeff echoed the sentiments of the group in the photo by acknowledging that while he hasn’t endorsed Trump yet, he’s seriously considering it.
This public family rift has left people buzzing. On one hand, you have Tim Walz, a Democrat with national aspirations, and on the other, his own relatives in Nebraska proudly backing Trump. The situation calls to mind the kind of intra-family political divides that have also surfaced for figures like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and even Trump himself, whose niece and nephew have spoken out against him.
Jeff Walz’s posts have stirred up even more questions. In a Facebook comment, he hinted at knowing “stories” about his brother that would supposedly discredit him politically. However, when pressed on this during an interview with NewsNation, he walked back the suggestion, saying there was nothing truly scandalous in his back pocket—just some humorous childhood anecdotes about family road trips.
Though Jeff hasn’t yet fully jumped into the political fray, the fact that he’s publicly distancing himself from his brother and flirting with the idea of endorsing Trump adds a unique twist to the ongoing 2024 campaign.
Whether this will affect Tim Walz's candidacy in the eyes of voters remains to be seen, but it’s clear that the tension within the Walz family has only just begun to unfold on the national stage.