Democratic vice presidential nominee, Governor Tim Walz (MN) appeared on the popular channel on the Chinese spy app TikTok this week and the fill-in co-hosts of MSNBC’s Morning Joe couldn’t get enough of it. Jonathan Lemire and Katty Kay gushed about the appeal of “Coach Walz” and how he was trying to peel support away from former President Trump among “lower-educated voters.”
The duo kicked off the fourth hour of Morning Joe with a clip of Walz on Subway Takes, speaking into an MTA Metrocard (as if it was a microphone) about judging people’s gutter jobs and singing the Menards home improvement store jingle (Click “expand”):
WALZ: My take is, the most neglected part of home ownership is the gutters. It's personal for me.
KAREEM RAHMA: 100 percent agree.
WALZ: I’ve had problems with gutters before, you get your basement wet, you get ice dams, they cause a lot of problems.
RAHMA: It's not good.
WALZ: No, it's not. But there are fixes. Now, the other dangerous thing is, when you live in Minnesota, fall is a great time of year, a lot of leaves. You got to get up on a ladder
RAHMA: And they get stuck in the gutter. The leaves get stuck in a gutter. I've seen many a man fall off a ladder.
WALZ: Many a man. Seriously.
RAHMA: Many a man.
WALZ: But there is a fix, you can put a gutter helmet over the top of it.
RAHMA: A gutter helmet?
WALZ: It covers it, it lets the water go through, keeps it out of your house. I see this all the time.
RAHMA: How often do you like looking at gutters?
WALZ: I look quite often, surprisingly.
RAHMA: Like, you're inspecting?
WALZ: I try not to be judgmental on people, but when I see a well-tended gutter. It says a lot about somebody, so.
[Transition]
RAHMA: Where do you buy your gutters.
WALZ: The downspouts I bought at Menards.
RAHMA (singing the jingle): Save big money at—
WALZ (dully): Menards. That’s exactly right.
RAHMA: That’s not how – That’s not –
[Laughter]
WALZ: I know, you’re right. I’m not getting –
RAHMA: You’re going to leave me hanging like that?
WALZ: No, no, you’re right. You’re right. Okay, you ready?
[Sing Menard’s jingle]
“That is Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz with his hot take on gutters and, Katty, gutter helmets,” boasted Lemire.
Kay responded with faux outrange that Walz talked about men falling off ladders when she supposedly put her own gutter helmet on recently. “Um, excuse me, by the way, a lot of women go up ladders to fix gutters, too,” she quipped. “I was up the other weekend putting the helmet on my gutters in Virginia, making sure the leaves don't fall in. So, Tim Walz, you missed something there.”
Lemire went on to tout how what they had just watched “was a well-received clip on social media yesterday.” He opined that, “this is part of the appeal in Coach Walz as they refer to him in the campaign…He's a regular guy who is going to appeal to regular voters, particularly in areas that maybe have not voted Democrat in a while.”
Things took a rather insulting turn when Kay said that Walz was trying to help the campaign reach out to “the one area that they are struggling with, younger male, lower-educated voters perhaps without a college degree.”
In a posh British accent, Kay bloviated about how “lower-educated voters” was “an area where Donald Trump is doing very well. Walz definitely campaigning for those voters, trying to peel some of those away from Donald Trump.”
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
MSNBC’s Morning Joe
August 28, 2024
9:01:01 a.m. EasternGOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN): My take is, the most neglected part of home ownership is the gutters. It's personal for me.
KAREEM RAHMA: 100 percent agree.
WALZ: I’ve had problems with gutters before, you get your basement wet, you get ice dams, they cause a lot of problems.
RAHMA: It's not good.
WALZ: No, it's not. But there are fixes. Now, the other dangerous thing is, when you live in Minnesota, fall is a great time of year, a lot of leaves. You got to get up on a ladder
RAHMA: And they get stuck in the gutter. The leaves get stuck in a gutter. I've seen many a man fall off a ladder.
WALZ: Many a man. Seriously.
RAHMA: Many a man.
WALZ: But there is a fix, you can put a gutter helmet over the top of it.
RAHMA: A gutter helmet?
WALZ: It covers it, it lets the water go through, keeps it out of your house. I see this all the time.
RAHMA: How often do you like looking at gutters?
WALZ: I look quite often, surprisingly.
RAHMA: Like, you're inspecting?
WALZ: I try not to be judgmental on people, but when I see a well-tended gutter. It says a lot about somebody, so.
[Transition]
RAHMA: Where do you buy your gutters.
WALZ: The downspouts I bought at Menards.
RAHMA (singing the jingle): Save big money at—
WALZ (dully): Menards. That’s exactly right.
RAHMA: That’s not how – That’s not –
[Laughter]
WALZ: I know, you’re right. I’m not getting –
RAHMA: You’re going to leave me hanging like that?
WALZ: No, no, you’re right. You’re right. Okay, you ready?
[Sing Menard’s jingle]
[Cuts back to live]
JONATHAN LEMIRE: That is Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz with his hot take on gutters and, Katty, gutter helmets.
KATTY KAY: Um, excuse me, by the way, a lot of women go up ladders to fix gutters, too. I was up the other weekend putting the helmet on my gutters in Virginia, making sure the leaves don't fall in. So, Tim Walz, you missed something there.
LEMIRE: He did. That was a well-received clip on social media yesterday. But Katty, you did indeed point out a flaw perhaps. But certainly this is – and then singing the theme song at the end -- I mean, this is part of the appeal in Coach Walz as they refer to him in the campaign, that they feel like he's -- He's a regular guy who is going to appeal to regular voters, particularly in areas that maybe have not voted Democrat in a while.
KAY: Yeah. And particularly, you know, the one area that they are struggling with, younger male, lower-educated voters perhaps without a college degree. That seems to be an area where Donald Trump is doing very well. Walz definitely campaigning for those voters, trying to peel some of those away from Donald Trump.
LEMIRE: And some older voters, too, where they plan to deploy President Biden, including on Labor Day, that will be their first joint campaign appearance, Harris/Biden in Pittsburgh.
So, welcome to the fourth hour of Morning Joe.
