Tim Walz attacked by MAGA over dog photos

MAGA-affiliated social media accounts have attacked Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz for allegedly lying about the identity of his dog Scout.

On Monday, user @GrageDustin, a self-proclaimed “Minnesota GOP hype man,” posted two screenshots of Walz’s social media posts showing photos of him posing with two different dogs. In both posts, Walz mentions his dog Scout.

“Yes, this is Tim Walz tweeting about his dog Scout,” wrote @GrageDustin. “The only problem is, they are two completely different dogs.” As of Tuesday morning, the post had been viewed 7 million times.

Conservative user @AlexanderPayton seized on the alleged scandal, writing: “Happy National Dog Day from Tim Walz, who apparently also lied about this.”

And well-known MAGA influencer @catturd2, who admitted earlier this year to running over and killing his own dog Smiles, posted a photo of a man in a suit surrounded by dozens of different dogs with the caption, “Tim Walz with his 50 dogs named Scout.”

But the reports accusing Walz of lying about his dog were soon corrected. A community note was added to @GrageDustin’s original post, saying, “The dog in the second photo was met by Tim Walz when he went to the dog park with Scout (from the first photo).” The note linked to a video on Walz’s Instagram showing Scout playing with the second dog at the dog park.

Newsweek The Harris/Walz campaign team has asked for comment via email.

After the “Fake Scout” scandal was uncovered, left-wing accounts quickly struck back.

Kamala Harris-supporting user @WUTankKids wrote, “MAGAs are so stupid… the dog on the right is just a random dog at the dog park that Scout was playing with… you idiots could have ‘done your own research’ and gone to Tim Walz’s Instagram and found the video in 10 seconds.” The post had over 400,000 views as of Tuesday.

Left-leaning user @swannmarcus89 joked that this was the latest in a series of disappointing “scandals” surrounding the Minnesota governor.

“TIM WALZ SCANDAL UPDATE: In 2022, Tim Walz went to a dog park and took a photo with another person’s dog,” the user wrote alongside a list of previous “scandals,” including “stopping his son from walking into the teleprompter,” “lying about having a low spice tolerance because he once ate chili powder,” “defensive coordinators aren’t real coaches,” “stolen valor after retiring in a different rank than the one he served in due to a technicality,” and “18 years ago, he claimed he received an award from the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce that was actually given to him by the Nebraska Junior Chamber of Commerce.”

Other users pointed out the irony that MAGA users accused Walz of being a bad dog owner, while South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, once considered a possible running mate for Donald Trump, said she shot her puppy Cricket because he was “unteachable.”

User @CaneRidgeSSR reposted a post from Noem from early August criticizing Walz. The repost featured a picture of Walz pointing a gun into the sky and posing with another dog (neither Scout nor the unidentified dog at the dog park). The caption read, “Notice how the muzzle of Walz’s gun is pointed away from his dog.”

Meanwhile, @Acyn, who frequently criticizes Trump, posted a clip of former White House press secretary Jen Psaki making the comparison on MSNBC. “Psaki: This is an ironic attack coming from the very party whose rising star Kristi Noem boasted that she hated her family’s dog so much that she took him to a gravel pit and shot him.”