tim walz is a reddish orange, the same color as the background, which has two vote boxes with upside down check marks

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Right-wing media claim Tim Walz is a “tyrant” for defending the right to accurate election information

Walz described longstanding federal law against election interference in a December 2022 interview

Written by Shelby Jamerson

Research contributions from Kayla Gogarty

Published

Right-wing media figures are attempting to cast vice presidential candidate Tim Walz as a “Radical Leftist Tyrant” who has declared “War on the Constitution” by latching onto one line from a 2022 post-midterms interview in which he described longstanding federal laws against spreading election falsehoods.

  • In the December 2022 interview, Walz seemingly referenced misinformation campaigns against mail-in ballots and other types of intimidation at the ballot box, saying, “Years ago it was the little things, telling people to vote the day after the election and we kind of brush them off. Now we know it's intimidation at the ballot box. It's undermining the idea that mail-in ballots aren’t legal. I think we need to push back on this. There’s no guarantee to free speech on misinformation or hate speech, and especially around our democracy.” 

    Right-wing media are now distorting Walz’s words, specifically emphasizing the last part of the statement, “there’s no guarantee to free speech,” and characterizing it as an “attack on [the] First Amendment,” ignoring longstanding federal and state law related to elections. 

    The federal government has long regulated and penalized certain types of misinformation about elections. One federal law makes it unlawful to “conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person” exercising a constitutional or legal right, including the right to vote. Others prohibit conduct like giving false information in voter registration or voting, or voting more than once. 

    In 2023, right-wing social media personality Douglass Mackey, who Donald Trump Jr. has called the “original MAGA meme lord,” was convicted for conspiring to spread the false claim that people could vote for 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton by text message, with U.S. Attorney Breon Peace saying that Mackey “weaponized disinformation in a dangerous scheme to stop targeted groups, including black and brown people and women, from participating in our democracy.”

  • Walz’s quote, scrubbed of all context, has spread widely across right-wing media, accompanied by dire warnings that Walz “wants to punish speech” and calling the governor “a grave danger to Americans’ God-given rights”:

    • Fox News prime-time host Sean Hannity referenced the statement, calling it “his plan to crack down on so-called hate speech.” [Fox News, Hannity, 8/7/24]
    • Fox News host Laura Ingraham mocked Walz, saying, “Because the First Amendment is all about just protecting speech that you agree with.” She continued, “Imagine his social studies lectures about totalitarian regimes.” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 8/7/24]
    • Fox News host Jesse Watters said, Walz “doesn’t think the First Amendment guarantees free speech.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 8/7/24]
    • The Gateway Pundit said “Radical Leftist Tyrant Tim Walz Declares War on the Constitution.” The outlet shared the misleading quote, “We Need to Push Back…There’s No Guarantee to Free Speech on Misinformation or Hate Speech.” [GETTR, 8/7/24]
    • Infowars shared an article about the video, claiming, “Tim Walz: ‘NO RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH’ If Gov’t Deems Misinformation or Hate Speech.” [GETTR, 8/7/24]
    • The Post Millennial called Walz’s remarks a “shocking attack on First Amendment.” [GETTR, 8/7/24]
    • Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk said Walz “wants to punish speech for being ‘misinformation.’” [Truth Social, 8/7/24]
    • MAGA figure Mike Davis called Walz “a grave danger to Americans’ God-given rights” and “dangerously dumb.” Davis also said, “Tim Walz doesn’t believe ‘misinformation’ is protected, ‘especially around our democracy.’ This is precisely why the Founders’ insisted on the First Amendment.” [Truth Social, 8/7/24]
    • The Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro claimed Walz “suggest[ed] the First Amendment does not protect speech he doesn’t like.” Shapiro continued, “Everyone knows how radical Tim Walz is, but Tim Walz has always been radical.” [The Daily Wire, The Ben Shapiro Show, 8/8/24]
    • On his radio show, BlazeTV’s Glenn Beck fearmongered about Walz’s remarks, “What they want is all opinions that are not in line with them to cease.” [BlazeTV, The Glenn Beck Program, 8/9/24]

  • This is another example of right-wing media's attempt to falsely brand Walz as a “radical,” while also mischaracterizing the legal consequences for spreading inaccurate election information as outside the mainstream. Coincidentally, right-wing media have faced serious legal penalties for spreading election misinformation.