A video of Tim Walz calling Elon Musk "gay" produced yet another PR gaffe for the Harris campaign in the last stretch before Election Day.
While stumping for Kamala Harris in Michigan, Walz seemed to have a slip of the tongue while doing his folksy shtick bashing billionaires.
"If you're a billionaire, Elon Musk for example," Walz said. "That guy, that gay guy...." he trailed off, before stopping himself.
"Michigan knows that word," Walz said.
The Harris campaign said Walz was stuttering after someone in the crowd threw him off track.
“In the video, you can hear someone in the crowd yell ‘dips–t! when the governor brings up Musk,” a campaign spokesman said. “The governor started laughing and stuttered while trying to say ‘that guy got’ — he did not refer to Elon as a gay guy.”
“He got stuck on the G in that guy got while trying not to laugh at the remark from the crowd," the campaign said.
While the campaign says Walz misspoke, the insult that a Harris supporter cried out was one that Walz previously used against Musk deliberately.
Walz - who has attracted notice for his theatrical mannerisms - faced an incredulous reaction when he accused Musk of skipping around "like a dip---."
Musk, who is backing President Trump, shrugged off Walz's latest remark, stating on X, which he owns, "I have no problem being called gay."
As Americans anxiously await the results of the presidential election on Tuesday, some of her supporters have pre-emptively begun to blame a Harris loss on her choice in running mate.
Walz's critics say that Josh Shapiro, the Democratic governor of Pennsylvania, would have been more of an asset for her campaign. Pennsylvania is a must win for Harris, who has essentially no path to the presidency without sweeping the "blue wall" of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.
Since he became Harris' running mate in July, Walz has been at the center of numerous scandals. He has repeatedly claimed to "misspeak" when confronted for lying about various aspects of his personal life, including his military service and overseas travel to China.
The governor famously called himself a "knucklehead" during the vice-presidential debate, and was recently mocked for misusing football terminology, undermining his image as a folksy high school coach.
"Tampon Tim is such a dork. You’d think a so-called football coach would be aware that you don’t run a pick 6!" the Trump campaign wrote in response.
