MAGA Thinks Up the Most Feeble Non-Insult Possible for Tim Walz

Following Kamala Harris’ selection of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her vice president, the MAGA movement has been hard-pressed to find anything negative to say about him. So they’ve settled on trying to make fun of him for giving students in his state access to menstruation products.

Prominent conservatives have been spiraling since Joe Biden stepped out of the presidential race and endorsed Kamala Harris for president. Harris gives Democrats a solid chance at beating Donald Trump in November. On top of that, while Trump made a huge mistake in choosing fellow right-wing extremist J.D. Vance as his running mate, Harris chose a running mate that everyone loves.

Walz is far more experienced than Vance, making it into the House of Representatives in 2006 and securing five re-elections to the House before becoming the governor of Minnesota. Walz is also a veteran and former educator who will likely care about these two groups. In contrast, Trump called fallen soldiers “suckers and losers,” and Project 2025 plans to dismantle the Education Department.

Walz has instigated a slate of progressive policies in Minnesota during his run as governor, including signing a bill to give schoolchildren free school lunches. He also has a jovial personality. Walz delighted social media when he spoke the truth and said outright that Trump and Vance are “weird” and “creepy,” as well as referenced Vance’s infamous couch rumor. MAGA has desperately been trying to dig up dirt on Walz. However, all they came up with was his work in providing school students with menstruation products.

Conservatives nickname Tim Walz ‘Tampon Tim’

Shortly after Walz’s appointment as Harris’ VP, #TamponTim began trending on X and has remained trending for several days. It’s supposed to be some kind of insult, but it only serves as a favor in reminding everyone of how Walz has helped students in his state. The nickname refers to a statute Walz signed into law in Minnesota, which has been dubbed the Tampon Bill. It went into effect on January 1 and mandated that all public schools keep their bathrooms stocked with free menstruation supplies. The state allocates funding for these products, which is lovely, considering many teachers are forced to spend their own money to put menstruation kits together for students.

Walz’s bill tackles a significant problem across the nation of students having to miss school due to insufficient menstruation supplies. Of course, conservatives began throwing a fit because the bill didn’t limit the products specifically to girls’ bathrooms or mention gender at all. It simply stipulated that all schools must put menstruation in all bathrooms for any students who menstruate. The inclusive nature of the bill was a small victory for the LGBTQ+ community but led to conservatives trying to claim the bill solely forced schools to put tampons in boys’ bathrooms. The only thing that should matter is that all students can access the necessary products. After all, I fail to see how any harm could possibly come from students seeing a stack of pads and tampons in a bathroom.

However, “Tampon Tim” was the best conservatives could come up with, so they ran with it, even though many of the men using the nickname seem a little old to still think a common menstruation product is somehow a taunt. On top of that, all they are doing is raising awareness of the fact that Walz cares about students more than they do. I’m actually surprised they didn’t just go with Free School Lunch Tim. Ultimately, it’s quite kind of them to remind everyone that Walz wants students to have menstruation products, whereas conservatives want to ban girls from so much as uttering the word “period” in school.

The right keeps going with the Tampon Tim nickname because it’s a reflection of their misogyny. As Election Day approaches, I imagine countless women will be glad for the reminder that one candidate’s VP wants them to have the right to acknowledge menstruation and have access to menstruation products, while the other candidate’s party thinks the word “tampon” is a taunt and would rather girls just miss school than have their basic needs met.