Tim Walz faced heavy criticism Monday for faking the identity of his family dog, Scout. In an interview with X, Minnesota Republican strategist Dustin Grage attempted to expose Walz by comparing two images the Minnesota governor had previously shared on social media.
In June 2022, Walz shared a photo with his furry friend, a Labrador Retriever mix, and captioned it, “Sending a special birthday greeting to our favorite pup Scout.”
Another photo was taken in October of the same year and shows Walz with another dog, along with the caption: “I couldn’t think of a better way to spend a beautiful fall day than at the dog park. I know Scout enjoyed it.”
That same day, Walz shared a video on Instagram of Scout and some other dogs at a dog park. In the video, the governor can be seen wearing the same jacket and the dog from the X post is also seen. Before tenderly petting Scout, Walz jokingly asks him if he is “jealous” of the attention he gives other dogs. It appears Walz deleted the picture of his visit to the dog park from his X account.
Meanwhile, Grage discovered the scandal in the two photos he had shared on X. “Yes, this is Tim Walz tweeting about his dog Scout. The only problem is that they are two completely different dogs,” he wrote.
Republicans and MAGA criticize Tim Walz
Senator Eric Schmitt, a Republican from Missouri, reposted Grage’s tweet and asked, “Why would Tim Walz do this? It’s weird and creepy.”
Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, said in a now-deleted post on X: “Tim Walz is an all-time legendary liar.”
“If Tim Walz lies about his dog’s name, then he lies about practically everything. You can’t put someone like that in charge of nuclear weapons,” wrote former Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle in a now-deleted post.
A community note was subsequently added to Grage’s post. However, conservatives have shown that they will stop at nothing to create an opportunity to attack Walz, whether it be for his military service, his relationship with his son Gus, who suffers from ADHD, and now his dog.
The community note noted that “the photo on the right is from a dog park where Tim Walz was with Scout and many other dogs.” The note states that Scout is playing with other dogs there.
The author of the note also included the video in her own post, writing, “It took me exactly 45 seconds to go to @Tim_Walz’s Instagram page and see that this is a video of his dog Scout playing with another dog at the dog park.”
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Internet users criticize Grage’s ability to “think critically”
One X user criticized Republicans and MAGA for their baseless attacks on Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’ vice presidential candidate, writing, “How can some of you still have such critical thinking skills?”
“These idiots’ thinking skills are so poor that it didn’t occur to them that Walz was taking a photo with ANOTHER dog (pictured right) because they’re at a DOG PARK,” commented another.
A third user chimed in: “These pathetic nutcases are so desperate to find a line of attack to stick on @Tim_Walz that they’re resorting to conspiracy theories surrounding the dog park.”
Scout has been part of the Walz family since 2019 and lives with the Minnesota governor, his wife Gwen, and their two children. The family was in the spotlight at the Democratic National Convention (DNC), and 17-year-old Gus shed tears of joy during his father’s moving speech.
