Plenty of couples struggle with fertility issues. It can be heartbreaking to want a child and have so much difficulty conceiving one. This is an issue that hits me rather personally, as my wife and I struggled for two years to conceive our youngest and then had her born three months early. For about six weeks, the docs weren’t sure our daughter would live, and for about 48 hours, they weren’t sure my wife would live. It’s a hell of a thing to hold your tiny, tiny daughter literally in the palm of your hand and have a doctor advise you that you may not want to name her, as her chances weren’t too good. (The kid is now 28, and she’s fine — brilliant and beautiful, like all our kids/grandkids. Her Mom is fine, too.)
It’s a terrible thing to suffer through, and our hearts go out to any couple who has struggled with these issues. But when one is a politician and using the issue to score political points, they lose a lot of that sympathy — especially when they lie about it.
Walz has been vocal on the topic of in-vitro fertilization (IVF):
In campaign speeches since joining the Democratic ticket as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, Walz has often characterized the issue of access to IVF treatment as “personal” to him and his family while sharing the story of his and his wife’s journey to conceiving their two children.
“This one’s personal for me about IVF and reproductive care,” Walz told supporters at a rally in Glendale, Arizona, earlier this month. “When we wanted to have children, we went through years of fertility treatment.”
And in an MSNBC interview in July, he continued attacking Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance for his opposition to a bill that would have guaranteed access to IVF nationwide, while appearing to link the treatment to the birth of his two children
“Thank God for IVF, my wife and I have two beautiful children,” he said.
There’s only one way one can take that last sentence; Walz clearly was implying a causal relationship here, saying, “Thank God for IVF,” and then “…my wife and I have two beautiful children.” But the problem? He’s lying. They didn’t use IVF. Tim Walz lied. Gwen Walz, on this same issue, made that clear:
Minnesota first lady Gwen Walz clarified in a statement to CNN that she did not use in vitro fertilization to conceive, sharing new details about her and Gov. Tim Walz’s fertility struggles as the governor has highlighted their experience with infertility on the campaign trail.
In her statement, Gwen Walz said they used a different fertility treatment, intrauterine insemination.
Ouch.
Over at sister site Twitchy, Sam J. really let Tim Walz have it:
There is NOTHING real about this guy.
And Democrats want him to be a heartbeat away from leading the country.
Yeah.
Take a look at this:
At Tim Walz’s very first rally with Kamala after being announced as her running mate he repeated the IVF lie.
His entire campaign is based on lies. pic.twitter.com/n4Wgf2AQoD
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) August 20, 2024
In short: Tim Walz has shown himself to be fundamentally dishonest. Nothing he says can be taken for granted. If Tim Walz told me the sky was blue, I’d look out a window.
See Related: Trump Indicates Strong Support for IVF After Alabama Supreme Court Ruling
Alabama Passes Legislation to Save IVF Clinics; Gov. Kay Ivey Signs It Into Law
Here’s the thing: This lie about IVF, about the Walz’s struggles with fertility, is particularly egregious. In some ways, they are worse than Tim Walz’s stolen valor claims. Tim Walz is leveraging an issue that resonates with millions of people on a deeply emotional level. He’s trying to establish a bond with other people who have struggled with fertility by comparing himself to them in a way that hits them in a place where it’s almost impossible to think rationally, especially if they have had to resort to medical intervention to conceive — or if they resorted to medical intervention and were still unable to conceive.
And he lied about it.
I’m glad that Tim and Gwen Walz were able to have their two children, and I hope their children are healthy and happy. But the procedure they used, while still a medical intervention, is not the issue that has been being kicked around in Alabama and other places. Intrauterine insemination is a completely different procedure, one that does not present the outside-the-body conception issue that some people find troubling. It shouldn’t be an issue, but it is. And Tim Walz was using that difference to try to influence voters.
And he lied about it.
That’s what it all comes down to, isn’t it? Tim Walz is a liar. He has been caught lying about his military record; in fact, he continues to lie about his military record. Now, he has been caught lying about his and his wife’s fertility issues and the steps they took to have children.
Tim Walz is a liar. Nothing he says can be taken at face value. If he says that the wind is blowing, wet your finger and stick it in the air, because he’ll likely lie about that, too.
