Right-wing and far-right media personalities have amplified an unfounded claim against Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz based on a series of posts on social media from “Black Insurrectionist,” an account that has previously pushed a conspiracy theory about the September 10 presidential debate. Some conservative media figures have warned others to “stay away” from the accusations based on the account’s track record of pushing baseless claims.
Molly Butler / Media Matters
Research/Study
Right-wing media figures are spreading salacious and unsupported accusations against Tim Walz from an account known for creating viral hoaxes
Some conservative media personalities aren’t convinced, urging others to avoid the viral posts given the originator’s track record
Written by Jack Winstanley
Research contributions from Alex Kaplan
Published
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On X (formerly Twitter), a series of posts accused Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of sexually assaulting a student
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- Beginning on October 13, X user @DocNetyoutube — known as “Black Insurrectionist” — made over a dozen posts claiming to have received an anonymous email from someone saying they had been sexually assaulted by Walz. The Washington Post’s Will Sommer and Lead Stories noted that several of the emails presented as evidence contained visible cursors, typos, and formatting errors — which they said was evidence that the emails were not actually generated by an email system and even suggested that Black Insurrectionist had written it himself. [Mother Jones, 10/14/24; Lead Stories, 10/14/24; Twitter/X, 10/13/24]
- Black Insurrectionist had previously promoted a false story about an ABC News “whistleblower” who claimed that the network had rigged the recent presidential debate in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris. The typo-ridden supposed affidavit that Black Insurrectionist professed to have received from an ABC News employee was widely circulated by right-wing media figures as an excuse for former President Donald Trump’s poor debate performance. [Snopes, 9/16/24; Media Matters, 9/16/24]
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Some right-wing media figures uncritically promoted the anonymous and baseless accusations
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- On One America News’ Fine Point, host Chanel Rion claimed that the accusations were part of Walz’s “fascination with kids.” Guest Aldo Buttazzoni, host of Prager U’s Man on the Street, responded to the accusations by claiming that there is a “nefarious undertone” to Walz’s entire being. [OAN, Fine Point, 10/14/24]
- On X, Trump ally Laura Loomer responded to a family picture Walz posted for his son’s birthday, stating, “Looks like he’s trying to run away from the pedo accusations. Just not doing a good job at it.” In a second post, Loomer asked whether Walz is “a pedo.” [Twitter/X, 10/13/24, 10/13/24]
- Loomer also mentioned the baseless allegations about Walz on her show, saying that “there were many people accusing him” and “it needs to be investigated because a lot of people are wondering.” While she admitted that “the accusations are still unproven,” she claimed that “they have now been seen by millions of people on social media,” questioned if “he is hiding something involving minor children,” and said, “perhaps we'll see more information come out in the coming weeks before the election.” [Rumble, Loomer Unleashed, 10/15/24]
- In a social media post, Infowars host Alex Jones likened Walz to rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, who has been accused of sex trafficking and racketeering, with Jones posting, “Tim Walz will henceforth be known as ‘Tim Diddy.’” On his Infowars show, Jones later claimed that Walz “doesn’t just have all the earmarks of it, this guy is a monster,” and said that his policy positions on education and health care go “beyond just raping them, and that’s all part of this corruption-of-the-children system that they’re pushing.” [Twitter/X, 10/14/24; Infowars, The Alex Jones Show, 10/14/24; Associated Press, 9/21/24]
- Conspiracy theorist Liz Crokin shared a post from Black Insurrectionist to claim that Walz “allegedly raped a student” and speculated “this is the real reason he left teaching.” Crokin also claimed that Walz “has the markers of an abuser and a pedophile.” [Twitter/X, 10/12/24; CNN, 12/7/22]
- Right-wing commentator Joey Mannarino called the accusations “credible.” Mannarino added, “I don’t know the details but seeing the way Walz prances across the stage lets you know he’s into men… and likely young men.” [Twitter/X, 10/13/24; Raw Story, 7/22/24]
- Right-wing personality Juanita Broaddrick shared a post promoting the accusations, writing, “I guess we have our ‘October Surprise’!” Broaddrick added, “Are we going to find out if Walz is a Pedo or not?” [Twitter/X, 10/14/24]
- QAnon account “Shadow of Ezra” claimed that Walz is “now facing formal accusations of premeditated s*xual assault.” The account further claimed that “Kamala Harris's campaign was reportedly informed about Walz's behavior but did nothing.” [Twitter/X, 10/13/24; Media Matters, 7/17/23]
- Todd Spears, host of the In the Hot Seat podcast, pushed the accusations against Walz on Rumble and stated that “the last thing we need is another kid-sniffer in the White House.” [Rumble, In the Hot Seat, 10/14/24]
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Some right-wing media figures urged others to “stay away” from the accusations
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- Right-wing commentator Bill Mitchell stated that he would not discuss the story “until the facts are confirmed by higher level sources.” In response to a comment asking what a “higher level source” was, Mitchell replied, “something beyond blogs.” [Twitter/X, 10/14/24]
- Right-wing social media figure Nick Sortor stated that “these allegations hold no water unless either the ‘accuser’ goes public or someone can corroborate them.” Sortor also dismissed the accusations, adding, “Anonymous ‘me too’ claims are a leftist tactic.” [Twitter/X, 10/13/24]
- QAnon figure Jordan Sather stated, “While I think it’s totally possible Tim Walz has those kinds of skeletons in his closet, I’m highly skeptical of the reporting from ‘Black Insurrectionist’ at this point,” and added, “People who specialize in forensics are analyzing B.I.'s screenshots and finding all kinds of problems with his ‘evidence.’” Sather also wrote, “Remember him claiming he had communications with an ‘ABC News whistleblower’ about rigging the debates? What happened to that story?” [Telegram, 10/14/24; Media Matters, 8/20/19]
- Conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich wrote “The same account that had a ‘whistle blower’ at ABC … now has another ‘story.’ I won’t be going near that, stop asking.” [Twitter/X, 10/13/24; Media Matters, 8/21/18]
- Fox News contributor Leo Terrell pleaded for Team Trump to “STAY AWAY” from the accusations. [Twitter/X, 10/13/24]
- Rumble streamer David Freiheit, known online as “Viva Frei,” called the alleged supporting evidence “questionable” and “underwhelming in a very, very meaningful perspective.” He added that “it reeks of one of those either operations or potential inadvertent events where people are going to get caught repeating this, retweeting it, reaffirming it, and it's going to turn out to be bunk or even worse, a lie, and people are going to get sued for defamation.” [Rumble, 10/14/24; Media Matters, 4/11/23]
- Former Fox host Megyn Kelly wrote that there are “many obvious red flags” with Black Insurrectionist's claims about Walz. She also said that she “recommend[s] everybody proceed with extreme caution” with respect to the accusations. [MegynKelly.com, 10/15/24]