Trump in Montana blasts Walz as 'freakish'

Former President Trump went after Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) during his Friday evening rally in Montana, calling the Democratic vice-presidential nominee “freakish.”

“Tim Walz is the man who’s very freakish, he’s very freakish,” Trump said during the event in Bozeman, Mont., just hours after his plane was diverted due to a mechanical issue.

“If Comrade Walz and Comrade [Vice President] Harris win this November, the people cheering will be the pink-haired Marxists, the looters, the perverts, the flag-burners, Hamas supporters, drug dealers, gun grabbers and human traffickers," he added, drawing cheers and laughs from the crowd.

His latest rebuke of the Minnesota governor comes after Harris announced Walz as her running mate earlier this week, following intense speculation as to whom she would choose. The vice president has been garnering enthusiasm and support from key Democratic allies since she stepped into the race late last month, following President Biden's decision to withdraw his candidacy.

The Harris-Walz campaign has leaned heavily on painting Trump and his own running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), as "weird." The former president has wasted no time denouncing the insult and throwing the phrase back toward his Democratic rivals.

“Then he said, ‘You know, I think JD Vance is weird,’” Trump said, referring to Walz, the originator of the comment. "You know, it’s a word that they use. I think he calls me that too. No, we’re not weird, we’re very solid people.”

At a rally in Philadelphia earlier this week, Walz said that he had “to say it.”

“You know it. You feel it. These guys are creepy and, yes, just weird as hell," the Democratic governor said. "That’s what you see."

“If Trump gets a chance to return, he’s going to pick up exactly where he left off four years ago. Only this time, it will be much, much worse,” he added.

Democrats across the party’s ideological spectrum have largely applauded the choice of Walz as Harris’ VP, from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) to Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.).

“Governor Tim Walz has been a longtime champion for ending child poverty,” Bennet said Tuesday in a post on the social platform X. “Together, we can send him and VP Harris to the White House and build an economy that when it grows, grows for everyone, not just the people at the top.”

The Hill has reached out to the Harris campaign.