Right-wing figures and conservative cable news outlets are sharing memes attempting to brand the new Democratic vice presidential pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, as “Tampon Tim” for signing a bill to provide menstrual products in public school bathrooms. This is the latest in a series of bizarre attacks that right-wing figures have launched at Walz.

In 2023, Walz signed a bill requiring Minnesota public schools to provide access to free menstrual products, including tampons, in bathrooms for all students in grades 4 through 12. The law, which went into effect earlier this year, “has been in the works for several years, with high school students across the state leading the charge,” CBS News reported.

After presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris announced Walz as her running mate on August 6, MAGA media figures launched a slew of desperate, bigoted, and weird attacks against Walz. Conservative pundits responded to the news with anti-Muslim, anti-trans, and anti-Black rhetoric alongside criticisms of Walz’s folksy appearance.

The bizarre attacks also came from right-wing figures on social media, who used the 2023 law to mock Walz as “Tampon Tim.”

Other posts came from right-wing accounts with histories of pushing misinformation and pro-Trump memes — including several from the “Dilley Meme Team,” a group of accounts that create pro-Trump content led by right-wing media figure and Trump ally Brenden Dilley.

The “Tampon Tim” nickname soon spread to right-wing cable news, including Fox News’ prime-time shows. 

Fox host Laura Ingraham picked up the attack, claiming that “Tampon Tim” “believes kids who are too young to get a drink at a bar are mature enough to have their genitals mutilated by a twisted surgeon.”

Fox host Sean Hannity praised the nickname, saying that “Tampon Tim” is “the kind of name that catches on, that maybe begins to go viral.”

Fox host Jesse Watters also levied the attack on his show, claiming that Walz “forced schools to stock tampons in boys’ bathrooms,” calling him “a freak” and adding, “This guy is not Minnesota nice, he's Minnesota nuts.”

The next morning on Fox & Friends, co-host Pete Hegseth criticized Walz’s support for LGBTQ inclusion, declaring that under “Tampon Tim, now we have tampons in men’s bathrooms in Minnesota.”

Newsmax host Greg Kelly also attacked Walz for signing “the tampon law,” saying that “there are a lot of things the government can do or should be doing, you know — roads, I don't know bridges, schools — but not going into the bathrooms. And this is what it’s all about lately in Minnesota.”

Update (8/7/24): This piece has been updated with additional examples.