Abysses in the US election campaign Is Tim Walz lying about his dog?

The Democratic vice presidential candidate is said to have lied about the identity of his dog - at least that's what the Republicans claim. What sounds like a farce could become a real problem in the US election.

The Democratic candidate for US Vice President apparently has a soft spot for dogs. A Republican campaign is now aiming to make this his undoing: they accuse the governor of Minnesota of lying about the identity of his dog "Scout". What sounds like a farce could cause real damage to the 60-year-old's election campaign.

The story revolves around the fact that Walz allegedly portrayed two different dogs as his beloved pet "Scout" in posts on the X network. Platform users shared screenshots of the posts to prove Walz's alleged pattern of deception aimed at collecting likes, shares and reactions.

In a post from June 2022, Walz caresses a black dog. "A special birthday greeting to our favorite dog Scout," reads the caption. Another post is dated October 2022 and shows Walz with a brown and white dog. "I couldn't think of a better way to spend a beautiful fall day than at the dog park," reads the caption. "I know Scout enjoyed it."

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So who is "Scout"?

Supporters of the governor then shared posts showing that Walz was simply playing with someone else's dog while mentioning "Scout" in the caption.

The seemingly innocuous post wasn't the only fodder used against Walz in recent days. A joke Walz made in a campaign video with presidential candidate Kamala Harris was used to convict him of allegedly lying about how much he spices up his food. In the clip, Walz jokes about eating tacos "for white people". Opponents of the 60-year-old have also taken offense at his claim to have worked as an American football coach at a high school - he was only the defensive coordinator.

False and misleading claims of such triviality don't seem particularly dramatic at first - but a flood of them could lead to real losses at the ballot box, experts estimate. This is especially true for someone like Walz, who is still relatively unknown on the national stage. However, the fact that Walz is "only" the running mate alongside Harris could mitigate the consequences.

Something sticks

It may seem trivial - and in many cases it is - but Walz's opponents are trying to discredit the character of the Democratic vice presidential nominee as part of a larger narrative being created around his persona, said Emily Vraga, a professor at the University of Minnesota who researches political disinformation. "This becomes part of the puzzle they're trying to put together."

"The sheer volume" of false claims can lead to the perception that there is some truth to them, even if voters don't believe every narrative.

Nathan Walter of Northwestern University, who also researches disinformation, agrees that misinformation does not have to be significant to cause harm. The idea is to attack a person's personality - "and then these attacks become almost like the canary in the coal mine," he explained. "So if he's lying about his dog, lying about his illustrious career as a coach, he's probably lying about a lot of other things."

The Democrats recently used a similarly shallow attack strategy against the Republican candidates - former President Donald Trump and his "running mate" J.D. Vance. They branded the duo as "weird".

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The past is being scrutinized

However, the frivolous attacks on Walz have been accompanied by criticism of other inconsistencies. This month, for example, Walz said of Vance that if it were up to his stance on IVF fertility treatment, he, Walz, would not have a family. Last week, however, Walz's wife Gewn released a statement revealing that the couple received another form of fertility treatment, IUI.

Walz's military past has also come under scrutiny from the right. One criticism that has been raised is that Walz described himself as someone who spent time in a combat zone when he spoke about gun violence in the U.S. in 2018. "We can make sure that these weapons of war that I've carried in war" would only be used in war, he said at the time.

"Spaghetti tactics"

However, Walz never served in a combat zone in his 24 years in the National Guard, although he held many different roles. These included work as an infantryman and field artillery gunner, as well as a deployment to Italy in support of active forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Vraga described the more superficial attacks on Walz as a "spaghetti tactic" in which Republicans would circulate a series of accusations to see if they caught on. The idea that Walz is a liar also fits into the common worldview that politicians are not credible, Walter said.

In the political climate of 2024, in which many people on both sides have clear views that are hard to shake, a negative campaign also has the potential to scare off potential voters - especially those who are not overly committed. They might ask themselves why they should bother with politics at all, said Vraga.

dpa