At least seven times today in the show's opening minutes, CNN This Morning ran the clip from last night's DNC of Tim Walz's son Gus getting emotional and pointing to his father as he spoke: "That's my dad!"
The panel collectively teared up, with Mark McKinnon saying "Do you have any tissues?" McKinnon also swooned over Walz's speech, declaring, "I'm telling you, in all my experience, I have never seen anything as authentic as that speech."
Biden's former comms director Kate Bedingfield chimed in, saying "if you aren't moved by that, I don't know. You got a heart of stone." Bedingfield also referred to Gus's emotion for his father as "winning." Whether she meant that in political terms, or in the sense of winning as a family matter, wasn't clear.
The emotion for his father displayed by Gus Walz, who as Hunt mentioned has dealt with disabilities and autism, was clearly moving. But that CNN was trying to extract from it the maximum political benefit for Harris-Walz was equally obvious.
Note: Hunt began by noting that Walz introduced himself in part by discussing "his family's experience with infertility." But in doing so, Hunt failed to point out that Walz had falsely suggested that he and his wife employed IVF, something that some Republicans would like to restrict.
As the AP has reported [emphasis added]:
"Earlier this month, Walz criticized Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the Republican candidate for vice president, by saying, 'If it was up to him, I wouldn’t have a family because of IVF.' In fact, the Walz family did not use IVF."
Here's the transcript.
CNN This Morning
8/22/24
6:03 am EDTKASIE HUNT: Walz introduced to himself last night to Americans on his biggest stage yet, with personal stories, including his family's experience with infertility.
TIM WALZ: It took Gwen and I years, but we had access to fertility treatments. And when our daughter was born, we named her Hope. Hope, Gus, and Gwen, you are my entire world. And I love you.
HUNT: I have to say, I mean, what an emotional moment right there. That was Walz, his son Gus crying, shouting, "That's my dad!" His sister Hope was there, also crying. And those signs in the crowd, they read, Coach Walz.
. . .
I have to say, that moment with Tim Walz's son. Can we put Gus back up? I mean, it, it, I feel like it really stole the show last night, and it said so many things about, about Tim Walz, about his family in this moment.
This, for those who don't know, he struggles with disabilities, has been, struggled with nonverbal autism. It just, really, really moving moment.
MARK MCKINNON: I've teared up every time I've seen the clip. I tear up thinking about the clip. I mean it's, I mean, talking right now about it I'm tearing up.
KATE BENINGFIELD: I tear up watching it. It's fair.
MCKINNON: It's so powerful, and it's so relatable. I mean, how many people in America have challenges of some nature? You know, almost all of them do. And it's just so relatable, and it's so authentic.
BENINGFIELD: Yes. I mean, like, if you aren't moved by that, I don't know. You got a heart of stone. I mean, politics aside, like that's, that's it, man, like family in that way, is just unbelievable.
But it is also, it is about authenticity, and I think we saw that from Walz all night last night. I mean, I think we saw that in the speech he delivered. We saw it in the setup, the students talking about him. And authenticity is, is one of the most important pieces of successful political indication. And I just think, I just say quickly though, the frustration with Washington, the disaffection, the disillusionment, some of it is because people feel like the system doesn't work for them. And some of it is because they feel like so many people in Washington are phony.
And I think that what Walz can, was able, what we saw him do last night and what he's going to, I think, continue to on this campaign is just connect with people in a real way.
MCKINNON: When I got the job as doing the media for Bush in 2000, I was first excited and then petrified because it was such a responsibility. So I went back and studied media for presidential campaigns, going back to the advent of television. And different things happened over time. The evolutions of things that work and didn't.
And it just got to a point where people were so cynical of anything political, because they know there's a First Amendment, you can say what ever you want, it doesn't have to be true. Politicians are paying for it.
So the coin of the realm, really, to break through that, is authenticity, right? And I'm telling you, in all my experience, I have never seen anything as authentic as that speech last night.
HUNT: Wow! That is a resounding endorsement.
BAKARI SELLERS: That's also why he got chosen. I mean, I think, to go back to, one of the --
MCKINNON: Yes! And what an affirmation of that choice. I mean, she had to kind of go out on a limb on that, right?
SELLERS: Man, you're excited about that. Waltz got him excited. But no, I think that Kamala Harris's first choice was to choose her Vice President of the United States, h first consequential choice. And I think the people are seeing, I told everybody frankly, Governor Walz was my fourth choice. I liked Mark Kelly and Josh Shapiro and Pete Buttigieg, all before I liked Tim Walz. It was an abundance of riches.
But I think you see why he was chosen. It's that authenticity. "That's my dad" is probably going to be, like, the number one line that sticks out from all the speeches, and it wasn't a speech. Like, Gus is an American hero right now.
HUNT: I mean, don't you just hope that your kid looks at you --
BENINGFIELD: Yes. Yeah. I mean --
HUNTT: -- some day?
BENINGFIELD: I think that every parent, every child. I mean, yes, that is the goal, man. That is winning. Like, that is, that is I mean --
MCKINNON: Do you have any tissues?
HUNT: I know!
BENINGFIELD: Everything else aside, that is winning.
MCKINNON: And he has never used a teleprompter before. That's crazy!
HUNT: I'm starting to not believe that.
SELLERS: He said the two things I don't do well, when he was going through this process, he said, I've never use a teleprompter before, somebody is going to have to teach me, and I don't debate well. And so this winds up that --
MCKINNON: Oh: lower that bar!
