Tim Walz, the Democratic candidate for vice president of the United States, is the target of virulent attacks for his support for LGBTQ+ rights, a wave fueled by misinformation that is swelling in the run-up to the presidential election.
But the Minnesota governor’s popularity remains intact, suggesting that some voters are fed up with the culture wars tearing apart the United States, where the race for the White House is shaping up to be tight.
Donald Trump and other Republicans are serving as a sounding board for these attacks, including false accusations that he approved legislation protecting pedophiles.
Tim Walz also faces a torrent of misinformation over his legislative record on transgender rights.
Kamala Harris’ running mate is “very involved in the transgender world,” the Republican candidate for the White House said contemptuously.
The billionaire’s supporters call him “Tampon Tim,” falsely accusing him of forcing schools to place sanitary products in boys’ restrooms after he signed a law that would make the products available free of charge to “menstruating students.”
But his popularity remains intact. By contrast, the issue of abortion, which is no longer guaranteed at the federal level since a decision by the Supreme Court with a conservative majority, mobilizes voters.
“People are starting to get tired of the culture wars,” Todd Belt, a professor at George Washington University, told AFP.
“As the election approaches, they want to hear about everyday issues that have a tangible impact on their well-being.”
Concrete problems
According to an Economist-YouGov poll published in mid-August, inflation is “the most important issue for Americans.”
Asked to name other “important” issues, respondents mentioned jobs, the economy, immigration, the health care system and climate change.
Abortion, seen by many Americans as a cultural war issue, came in sixth.
“Voters want the political class to focus on the real problems of our country, including inflation, abortion rights and climate change,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, president of the NGO GLAAD.
In March, a survey concluded that campaigning on LGBTQ+ issues was a “losing strategy” for candidates.
This did not prevent Democrats and Republicans from making these divisive social issues strong themes of their campaigns.
For now, the attacks seem to be sliding off Tim Walz, who is easily ahead of his Republican rival JD Vance in the polls.
Among them, the accusation seen tens of thousands of times on social networks that he had signed a text protecting pedophiles in Minnesota. Activists hostile to LGBTQ+ rights have long associated the community with pedocriminality.
While the legislature in this northern US state did remove a reference to pedophilia from the local human rights law, this removal in no way affects “criminal laws relating to sexual contact with a child,” underlines Naomi Cahn, professor at the University of Virginia.
Some people online have also wrongly accused Walz of allowing authorities to remove parents’ authority if they prevent their children from receiving gender reassignment care.
A post to this effect published on X by conservative host Megyn Kelly has garnered more than 2.5 million views.
The governor was also targeted after signing a 2023 law granting legal protections to transgender people traveling to Minnesota to receive medical treatment that is illegal in their home state.
Republicans like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin have had some success in past elections with anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric.
But unlike Democrats on abortion rights, Republicans have had little success mobilizing voters around anti-trans issues in the 2022 midterm elections.
“It’s not working right now,” says Todd Belt. “People are fed up. You can’t win an election just by being against something.”