Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz appeared to make a gaffe at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, and conservative commentators on social media pounced on the apparent gaffe.
Walz was discussing gun violence during a speech in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on Saturday afternoon when he became distracted by an audience member who appeared to be asking for water. Walz, who is Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate, paused his speech to get the rally's attention.
“It's about making change, like they did in Minnesota, by strengthening background checks and red flag laws and taking away guns,” Walz explained.
“Plus I still have my gun so I can go shoot pheasants in a few weeks… I need some water, can you go and check on him?” the candidate added, pointing to the attendees.
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Democratic vice presidential candidate and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz spoke during a campaign speech. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
About two minutes later, the Democratic candidate turned the spotlight back to the race, launching a tirade against former President Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance.
“Let me just say, folks, right away, how she feels. Kamala Harris has made it very clear that these people want to instill fear,” Waltz began. “They want to say that you should just get over it. This is the reality of life. This is reality.”
“[Harris]just said it doesn't have to be this way,” he added. “It doesn't have to be this way. We can't afford another four years of this.”
Waltz then discussed Project 2025, which the Trump campaign has repeatedly denied.
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Democratic vice presidential nominee and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz spoke at a rally in Milwaukee. (Jim Vondruska/Getty Images)
While Walz may have been referring to gun violence or Trump's rhetoric when he mentioned the issue of “four more years,” the ambiguity of his statement led conservative commentators to slam the governor on social media for appearing to criticize the Biden administration.
“Is he campaigning for Trump now?” commentator Rita Panahi wrote on X.
“I'm with him/Tim,” Donald Trump Jr. jokingly responded.
“Waltz finally speaks the truth: 'We can't afford 4 more years of Kamala Harris',” wrote the Trump War Room, an X-account run by the Trump campaign.
Democratic vice presidential candidate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, waves to supporters after a campaign rally. (Dominic Gwynne/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
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Fox News Digital has reached out to the Harris campaign for clarification on Waltz's comments.
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