Darlene Walz, the mother of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, remains supportive of her son’s bid to be vice president, even as other members of the family are divided, she told NBC News in a brief phone conversation Thursday.
Darlene Walz made clear that she has grown tired of the public scrutiny of her family and believes her son “is going to be in the White House.”
Familial divisions over Walz’s role as the Democratic vice presidential nominee came into public view last week after a Facebook post and several subsequent comments from his estranged older brother, Jeff, were amplified by multiple media outlets.
“Haven’t spoken to him in eight years. I’m 100% opposed to all his ideology. My family wasn’t given any notice that he was selected and denied security the days after,” the elder Walz wrote in one comment on Facebook, later adding that he’d considered publicly endorsing former President Donald Trump.
According to public records, Jeff Walz made a $20 donation to the Trump campaign in 2016.
The divisions were further amplified on Wednesday, when a photo of several people wearing shirts that read “Nebraska Walz’s for Trump” began circulating on X.
A source close to Walz told NBC News those pictured in the now viral photograph are distant cousins.
Harris-Walz campaign officials told NBC News they do not recognize the faces in the photo, adding that their research teams were unable to identify them all.
The campaign has not responded to inquiries from NBC News regarding whether the governor himself specifically recognizes anyone in the photo.
Trump was quick to seize on the photo, touting it on his social media platform as an endorsement from the Walz family.
But Harris-Walz campaign officials have taken a lighter approach, viewing it as unlikely to change much in the race and dismissing the notion of deep family division.
“It’s fun and funny, and we’re not feeling like it’s a particularly challenging attack for us,” one official said.
Gov. Walz has incorporated aspects of his family division into his stump speech, often calling for more unity not just in politics, but also at the dinner table.
“Some of us who have white hair are old enough to remember when you could go to Thanksgiving, watch a Steelers game with your relatives and not complain about politics the whole time. Not get on each other’s neck,” Walz said in August at a campaign event in Rochester, Pennsylvania.
“It’s a familiar thing for a lot of voters, especially in rural America, the Midwest swing states,” one campaign official said, paraphrasing Walz’s stance as “we can disagree on politics and still have a good time together. Pretty much every family has had some sort of tough or broken relationship after Trump.”
Though Walz does not intend to keep the focus on his family, he isn’t necessarily shying away from it, the source said.
“He’s gone on Fox News in the past, he’s joked that he’s going to get on there and reach out to his extended family. That’s his life,” the official added. “He comes from a deep red part of Nebraska. We’ll probably lose a lot of cousins there.”
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