ABC News’s The View became the first broadcast news program to completed the trifecta of Democratic campaign interviews on Monday, when they brought on Governor and vice presidential nominee Tim Walz (D-MN). Just as with their recent gushfest interviews with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, Walz was treated to a plethora of softball questions; including an opportunity to clean up Harris’s mess from her appearance. They also surprised him with a custom flannel shirt with their logo and more.
Possibly reprimanded by ABC corporate after previously introducing Harris as “the next vice president of the United States” during her interview, moderator Whoopi Goldberg didn’t give Walz such a grandiose entrance:
We are two weeks to the finish line of one of the most -- of one of the wildest presidential races ever, but I don't have to tell you that this man, a former small town teacher, coach, and six-term congressman who's currently governor of Minnesota, and as of two months ago, the Democratic nominee for vice president of the United States. What a shock for him! We're going to talk to him about it because he's here. Please welcome for the first time on The View stage, Governor Tim Walz.
It’s worth nothing that none of ABC’s flagship newscasts (Good Morning America and World News Tonight) have scored interviews with Harris and Walz as candidates, either had their Sunday morning show This Week. Goldberg’s first question was an example of why, she mocked Senator J.D. Vance’s name and asked Walz about what being a candidate was like:
You have been in state politics for nearly two decades. You burst onto the national spotlight about 20 minutes ago. This summer when you-know-who called, and [long pause] his -- I can't even say this man's name – Vice President J.D. Vance, weird – You called him “weird,” and you weren’t – there was no lie in anything you said. So, you're a candidate now for vice president. Can you put into words, for us, what the last couple of months have been like for you?
Wow. Hard to believe the campaign survived that zinger.
Speaking of zingers. During Harris’s appearance, she infamously botched a simple question about if there was anything she would have done differently than Biden the last four years. “There is not a thing that comes to mind… and I've been part of most of the decisions that have had impact,” she answered.
Pretend moderate Sara Haines gave Walz a chance to fix the damage Harris had done by asking the same question, making clear it was a do-over:
HAINES: But our ABC poll shows only a third of Americans believe a Harris-Walz ticket would bring that change. I want to pose a similar question to you that we asked Vice President Harris. Can you point a policy decision over the last four years that you and the Vice President would have handled differently from President Biden?
WALZ: Well, I think she's – this expansion on Medicare, is something that I wish would have been proposed sooner. But look, they're tackling the issues that they needed to. They came out of a pandemic that Donald Trump had left a mess for, an economy with supply chains that were broken.
When it came to Walz’s lies about his military record, stolen valor, and fabrications about being in Tiananmen Square to witness the massacre, faux conservative Alyssa Farah Griffin didn’t call him out. Instead, she downplayed them as just “misstatements” and defending him by arguing that former President Trump was worse:
Governor, I want to ask you, and thank you for being here. You’ve been asked before, but I want to ask this way about a number of misstatements you've made about your previous military record and travels you’ve been in. I want to be unequivocal. Nobody lies as much as Donald Trump. Nothing that you've misled on is anything on the same level.
“But even in an era where there's so much mistruth in our politics, so many lies, can't there be in gray area, and how would you convey to voters they may be concerned that there's a trust issue?” she asked.
Toward the end of the third segment with Walz, Haines gifted their guest with a custom flannel shirt complete with The View logo embroidered on the front and “dad in plaid” (a nickname coined by former President Obama) on the back. “That's the single greatest thing I've ever got,” Walz thanked them.
“And, if you win, will you wear it back and come back and visit us? When you win, will you wear it back and come back?” fake Republican Ana Navarro begged him. “Yes, I’m wearing – That's what I was going to say. You know I'm wearing this,” Walz boasted.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
October 21, 2024
11:02:22 a.m. EasternWHOOPI GOLDBERG: We are two weeks to the finish line of one of the most -- of one of the wildest presidential races ever, but I don't have to tell you that this man, a former small town teacher, coach, and six-term congressman who's currently governor of Minnesota, and as of two months ago, the Democratic nominee for vice president of the United States. What a shock for him! We're going to talk to him about it because he's here. Please welcome for the first time on The View stage, Governor Tim Walz.
(…)
11:03:48 a.m. Eastern
GOLDBERG: You have been in state politics for nearly two decades. You burst onto the national spotlight about 20 minutes ago. This summer when you-know-who called, and [long pause] his -- I can't even say this man's name – Vice President J.D. Vance, weird – You called him “weird,” and you weren’t – there was no lie in anything you said.
So, you're a candidate now for vice president. Can you put into words, for us, what the last couple of months have been like for you?
(…)
11:08:30 a.m. Eastern
SARA HAINES: Governor, voters are saying change is a critical issue this election.
GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN): Yeah.
HAINES: But our ABC poll shows only a third of Americans believe a Harris-Walz ticket would bring that change. I want to pose a similar question to you that we asked Vice President Harris. Can you point a policy decision over the last four years that you and the Vice President would have handled differently from President Biden?
WALZ: Well, I think she's – this expansion on Medicare, is something that I wish would have been proposed sooner. But look, they're tackling the issues that they needed to. They came out of a pandemic that Donald Trump had left a mess for, an economy with supply chains that were broken.
(…)
11:12:34 a.m. Eastern
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: Governor, I want to ask you, and thank you for being here. You’ve been asked before, but I want to ask this way about a number of misstatements you've made about your previous military record and travels you’ve been in.
I want to be unequivocal. Nobody lies as much as Donald Trump. Nothing that you've misled on is anything on the same level.
[Applause]
But even in an era where there's so much mistruth in our politics, so many lies, can't there be in gray area, and how would you convey to voters they may be concerned that there's a trust issue?
(…)
11:36:38 a.m. Eastern
HAINES: One thing we have to do is we played that before about President Obama talking about all that your shirt had been through, and so we wanted to help you out. [Pulls out custom flannel shirt]
WALZ: No! [Laughter]
HAINES: We know your flannel had been through some stuff, so we've got “The View,” and a “dad in plaid.”
WALZ: That's the single greatest thing I've ever got.
HAINES: So, that's for you to freshen up that wardrobe a little.
ANA NAVARRO: And, if you win, will you wear it back and come back and visit us? When you win, will you wear it back and come back?
WALZ: Yes, I’m wearing – That's what I was going to say. You know I'm wearing this!
[Applause]
It’s so sweet!
(…)
