Tim Walz’ Sister Plays Down Viral ‘Walz’s for Trump’ Photo

The sister of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has downplayed a recent viral photo showing extended members of their family expressing support for Donald Trump.
On August 6, Vice President Kamala Harris announced Tim Walz, a former congressman, as her running mate in the 2024 presidential election, where they are set to face their Republican opponents: Trump and Ohio Senator JD Vance.
Sandy Dietrich, a sibling of the Democratic Party’s vice presidential nominee, confirmed that the people seen in the recent photo wearing “Nebraska Walz’s for Trump” T-shirts were not close to the governor’s immediate family.
On Wednesday, Charles Herbster, a former gubernatorial candidate in Nebraska, posted the photo on X, formerly Twitter, showing a group of eight people descended from Francis Walz, the brother of Dietrich and Tim Walz’s grandfather.
“They’re all Walzes and spouses,” Rod Edwards, Herbster’s spokesperson, told the Associated Press.
Dietrich told the outlet the people in the photo were from a different branch of the Walz family, adding: “We weren’t close with them. We didn’t know them.”
Dietrich also confirmed that she and her family were supporting her brother and Harris in their White House campaign, describing them as “Democrats for Tim.”
“I know who I’m voting for. That’s all I can control,” she said.
Newsweek has contacted the Harris-Walz campaign for comment via email.
Tim Walz was born and raised in the deep red state of Nebraska, where his mother and sister still live. Dietrich and Tim Walz’s father, James Walz, died of lung cancer in 1984.
In a statement to the AP, the family seen in the picture showing their support for Trump confirmed its authenticity. They decided to have a “get-together” shortly after Tim Walz was named the Democratic vice presidential nominee.
“We had T-shirts made to show support for President Trump and JD Vance and took a group picture. That photo was shared with friends, and when we were asked for permission to post the picture, we agreed,” the family said.
“The picture is real. The shirts are real. We are the Nebraska Walz family and we are related to Gov. Tim Walz, our grandfathers were brothers. The message on the shirts speaks for itself, ‘Nebraska Walzs for Trump,'” the statement continued.
Elsewhere, Tim Walz’s older brother has tried to downplay his previous social media comments, in which he criticized the governor’s political views and said he considered endorsing Trump in the 2024 race.
Jeff Walz, a registered Republican who lives in Florida, wrote on Facebook that he was “100% opposed” to his brother’s ideology and that he had “thought hard” about publicly backing Trump.
He later told NewsNation that Facebook “wasn’t the right platform” to express his opposition to his brother’s political views, adding that he did not want to be involved in any campaign during the election.
“It wasn’t my intent, it wasn’t our intent as a family, to put something out there to influence the general public,” Jeff Walz said.
“But I will say, I don’t agree with his policies,” he continued.
The brothers’ mother, Darlene Walz, said she wasn’t interfering in the rift between her sons, telling the Daily Beast, “I want to keep peace with all of them.”
She added, “I think the best thing maybe, for me, is to just stay out of it.”