Video of Tim Walz's comments about gay penguins goes viral online

A video of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz's comments about gay penguins during the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) national dinner on Saturday has surfaced online

Walz, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, headlined the dinner of HRC, a major LGBTQ+ advocacy group, in Washington, DC, and praised Vice President Kamala Harris's success in defending LGBTQ+ rights.

Acyn, senior digital editor at MeidasTouch, shared a video on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday night of Walz speaking at Saturday's event, taking aim at the Republican candidates.

“That's what these people focus on and spend their time on, as if reading about two male penguins making love is somehow going to make your kids gay,” Walz said, drawing sustained laughter from the crowd. “I'm telling you, it's a fact that some people are gay. But you know what's not a fact? That our kids need to be shot in schools. That's not a fact.”

As of Sunday morning, the video had over 1.7 million views, with other X-users like The Tennessee Holler sharing the video with over 52,000 views.

Walz added: “People ban books, but they're OK with having weapons of war in our schools. Look, that's not how it is in this country… We're going to make sure our kids are seen, that they bring their true selves, and then we're going to make sure they're safe when they get there.”

Saturday's comments come after a school massacre in Winder, Georgia, left four people dead and at least nine injured on Wednesday.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) identified the suspect as 14-year-old student Colt Gray. The agency confirmed four victims, including two students and two teachers, and nine hospitalized following the mass shooting. Gray is in custody and will be charged with murder and tried as an adult, according to the GBI.

Walz's remarks also appear to be a response to comments made by former President Donald Trump's running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, about the shooting after he responded to a reporter's question on Thursday.

“I don't like that. I don't like admitting that. I don't like that it's a fact. But if you're a psychopath and you want to make headlines, you have to realize that our schools are easy targets and we need to strengthen security in our schools,” Vance said at a campaign rally in Phoenix.

According to the Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, an independent, nonpartisan organization working to reduce gun violence in the United States, there were a total of 848 school shootings between 2013 and 2021. Of these incidents, 573 occurred on preschool, elementary, middle or high school campuses. 188 people were killed, 392 were injured, and nearly half (at least 46 percent) of the victims were students.

Newsweek has emailed Walz's spokesman and Vance's spokesman for comment.

At the same time, banning books in the US remains a controversial issue. Conservative advocates say the goal is to prevent vulnerable people, such as children, from accessing content they consider harmful. However, the nonprofit PEN America says it most often affects “women, people of color, and/or LGBTQ+ people.”

LGBTQ+ youth have been faced with hundreds of bills across the country as conservative lawmakers in Texas, Florida and Virginia seek to restrict LGBTQ rights, such as access to gender-affirming care, using bathrooms and attending sporting events. At least 510 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced in state legislatures nationwide in 2023, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

In his speech on Saturday, Walz urged those in attendance to work to elect Democratic presidential candidate Harris. He outlined what could happen if Trump wins a second term in the White House, as his policy proposals would “limit freedom, victimize this community and demonize vulnerable children,” Walz said.

According to the Associated Press, if re-elected, Trump has said he would impose some of these restrictions at the federal level. In his platform, he has promised to prevent public schools from “promoting sex reassignment” and to defund any school that teaches “radical gender ideology” to do so.