Kamala Harris and Tim Walz released a YouTube video Thursday talking about food, music, and their hopes for America’s future if they win the election against convicted felon Donald Trump in November. But another part of Harris-Walz’s conversation has been singled out by queer Trump supporters online as white supremacist. Apparently, the right-wingers were very upset when Walz joked about how he can’t handle too much fun in his food.
A full 10-minute YouTube video, made into a short clip about tacos at X, seems innocent enough.
Walz: I have white tacos and…
Harris: What does that mean, like, mayonnaise and tuna? What are you doing?
Walz: Too much ground beef and cheese and…
Harris: All right. Do you add flavor?
Walz: Oh, no.
Harris: Oh.
Walz: Here’s the deal. No, they say be aware and let him know this, that black pepper is the top spice in Minnesota.
Listen, I’m not just a spice guy. pic.twitter.com/u9yadJBMh2
— Tim Walz (@Tim_Walz) August 15, 2024
But if you’ve been following the total meltdown of Trump supporters on Friday, it wasn’t just an innocent moment showing a young man from Minnesota poking fun at his intolerance to spicy food. It was a terrible thing.
Right-wing activist Ben Shapiro quoted the clip as saying, “Look at my countrymen, it’s funny that white people hate spices! He doesn’t discriminate at all! It’s just funny!” Shapiro then followed up by saying, “(FACT FACT: Europeans loved spices so much that they were literally involved in a several hundred year war to determine control of the spice trade.)“
Look at my countrymen, it’s funny that white people hate spices! He doesn’t discriminate at all! It’s just funny!
(FACT FACT: Europeans loved spices so much that they were literally involved in a several hundred year war to determine control of the spice trade.)
– Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 16, 2024
Matt Walsh, a staunch anti-trans-hater, got in on the action by insisting that this was the worst time for racism in the Harris campaign.
“It’s crazy that a presidential candidate can just express blatant anti-white racism and no one cares,” Walsh wrote on Friday. “Imagine if Donald Trump said a ‘black man’s taco’ was made with fried chicken and watermelon. Nuclear disarmament.”
It’s crazy that a presidential candidate can just spout blatant anti-white racism and no one cares. Imagine if Donald Trump said a “black taco” was made with fried chicken and watermelon. A nuclear meltdown.
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) August 16, 2024
Even if it’s a white guy who makes fun of his food tolerance, guys like Walsh and Shapiro are ready to cry “racism” as if it proves some good point. But it makes sense that Trump supporters would try to make everything about anti-white racism. Remember when Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance, the guy who never slept on the couch, tried to say at a recent rally that his love of Diet Mountain Dew could get him charged with racism? It is still not clear what he meant by that.
But the funniest twist on Friday’s cry of “racism” might be the Hotdish Truthers. Because Walz said he didn’t really use spices in his tacos, some shady internet pundits have been digging up his old recipes to prove that he does indeed use spices.
Dustin Grage, who describes himself in X as “The Minnesota GOP Hype Man” countered Walz’s turkey taco hotdish recipe. The word “hotdish,” which should be noted by people who have never lived in the Upper Midwest, refers to a baked casserole that usually contains meat, a starch like rice or pasta, a mixture of canned vegetables, and something like cream of mushroom soup. Hotdish is not known for being spicy at all.
“Tim Walz’s Turkey Taco Hotdish recipe. Yes, he even lies about the spices,” Grage wrote on Friday. A screenshot of the recipe includes things like “green chiles” and “chili powder,” apparently shocking evidence of Walz’s mastery of spices. In fact, those aren’t spicy, as anyone with two brain cells to rub together can tell you.
Tim Walz’s Turkey Taco Hotdish recipe.
Yes, he lies and even perfumes. pic.twitter.com/mU2545CE3K
– Dustin Grage (@GrageDustin) August 16, 2024
Conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich tried to make a similar point by digging up Walz’s recipe from 2016, insisting, “Walz is lying about how Minnesotans care about their food.” The top comment on Cernovich’s tweet makes an obvious point, “green pepper and onion powders don’t really break the spirit of his skit.”
Geez. I thought for a moment. Hmmm I wonder if Tim Walz is lying about how Minnesotans don’t like their food.
She won a recipe competition in 2016. pic.twitter.com/O4NtmcK9UP
– Cernovich (@Cernovich) August 16, 2024
The disruption was not limited to social media. The people at Fox News are also very upset, with the co-host of Fox & FriendsIs Cain, very angry that Harris would have any kind of claim to what makes a good taco.
“I mean, you’re thinking about him in terms of tacos?” Cain said. “What is he?”
But plenty of ordinary people also chimed in to poke fun at Trumpworld’s outrage. Comedian Andy Richter joked about the strangeness of Bluesky’s writing, “*I*, as a white man, can make white male taco jokes. If you do, it is a painful reminder of almost four weeks of oppression.”
Part of the reason Trump supporters are so fixated on Walz and his tacos right now is that they have no other message that resonates with voters. Trump’s agenda is built on anger and hatred, focusing on doom and gloom at every rally and in his truly outrageous press conferences. Contrast that with Harris and Walz, who focus on optimism and shared hope for the future. That’s why Harris has been on the rise since Joe Biden emerged from the race as the Democratic nominee, with key polls showing Harris ahead of Trump in key battleground states.
In fact, FiveThirtyEight’s polling average currently has Harris up by 2.6 points statewide, and that’s ahead of next week’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Conventions often give either party a momentary advantage, something that didn’t happen to Trump after the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
With 81 days to go until Election Day, no one knows who will win. But Harris and Walz lead in the majority of the national polls and the Trump camp will do everything they can to harm the opposition to see that neo-fascist asshole take power again. And when they discuss the “racism” of a white man playing with his soft tacos, it becomes clear that there is nothing else.
