Attacks on Tim Walz based on misinformation about his support for LGBTQ communities have had no impact on the US vice presidential candidate’s rising poll ratings, suggesting voters have grown tired of some of the “culture war” issues in the tight race for the White House.
The campaign, which includes the false claim that Walz signed a law protecting people from child sexual abuse, is being promoted by Donald Trump and top Republicans as political campaigning heats up ahead of the November 5 election.
Walz, the popular two-term governor of Minnesota, has also faced misinformation about his legislative record on transgender rights and gender-affirming care.
Trump recently criticized Walz, saying he has a “deep interest in the transgender world.”
Trump’s supporters have mocked him as “Tampon Tim”, and falsely claimed that he has pressured schools to provide tampons and pads in boys’ restrooms, even though he signed a law requiring schools to provide these products for free to students who are menstruating.
But — unlike an issue like abortion, which has driven voters to the polls at the local, state and national levels since the Supreme Court overturned the right to the procedure in 2022 — the attacks appear to have failed to move the needle on Walz.
“People are getting ‘issue-tired’ with regard to the culture wars,” Todd Belt, director of the political management program at George Washington University, told AFP.
“As the election approaches, people want to hear about issues that arise in the kitchen that have a material impact on their well-being.”
‘Real Issues’
An Economist-YouGov survey in mid-August found that “inflation is the most important issue to Americans”, with 26 percent expressing concern about prices.
When asked about other “important” issues to Americans, jobs and the economy, immigration, healthcare, and climate change were listed as the top answers.
Abortion, which many Americans consider a burning culture war issue, ranks sixth on the list.
“Voters are insisting that politicians focus on the real issues facing our country, including inflation, abortion rights, and climate change,” said GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis.
Her statement comes after a survey in March concluded that campaigning on anti-transgender issues is a “losing strategy,” as candidates who frequently discuss transgender issues face more opposition than support to their campaigns.
That hasn’t stopped both Republicans and Democrats from putting the culture wars at the center of their campaigns, and issues other than abortion could come to the fore in a volatile election cycle.
But right now, despite his pro-LGBTQ record, Walz is easily leading Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance in national polling.
‘People are tired’
AFP fact-checkers pointed out that much of the rhetoric against Walz related to children, including a claim that went viral on social media that he signed a bill last year providing protection against child sexual abuse in Minnesota.
The false claim, which has been viewed thousands of times on sites like Instagram, brings to light a long-standing misinformation linking the LGBTQ community to child sexual abuse.
Though lawmakers removed references to child sexual abuse from the state’s human rights law, experts including University of Virginia professor Naomi Kahan said the move would not affect “criminal laws relating to sexual contact with a child.”
Other posts accused Walz of falsely allowing the state to terminate parental custody if trans children are prevented by their parents from receiving gender-affirming care.
Conservative talk show host Megan Kelly wrote on Platform X, “Tim Walz has signed a bill that allows the state to take away (your) children… in the name of ‘gender-affirming care.’” It was a lie that was viewed more than 2.5 million times and shared widely by Trump supporters.
Walz fought such misinformation after signing the trans refuge bill last year that provided legal protections to transgender people who come to Minnesota for medical care, even if that treatment is illegal in their home state.
Top Republicans such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin have seen electoral success by promoting anti-LGBTQ rhetoric in past voting cycles.
But polls have shown that — unlike abortion rights Democrats — Republicans have had little success mobilizing voters on anti-trans issues in the 2022 midterm elections.
Belt said “it’s just not working” ahead of the November election, adding that “people are tired of this message.”
“You can’t win an election just by being against something.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
