Video reveals vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz dancing to Beyoncé’s track “Texas Maintain ‘Em” in a leather-based crop high and pants with a purple cowboy hat.
Tim Walz doesn’t seem on this video clip. It is an edited model of an older video through which Walz’s face was superimposed over that of the unique dancer.
In early September 2024, barely lower than two months earlier than the 2024 presidential election, a video went viral purporting to point out Democratic vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz dancing in a leather-based crop high, leather-based pants and a purple cowboy hat to Beyoncé’s hit track “Texas Maintain ’em.”
The video, posted on TikTok, additionally went viral on X and reveals a person with a blurred face however with options just like these of the Minnesota governor, dancing vigorously along with his midriff displaying. A caption over the video acknowledged, “VP candidate Walz of the “free world” OMFG… Assist us…”
Nonetheless, this clip was manipulated and doesn’t present Walz. The video taken from a dancer’s Instagram account and has been edited to alter the facial options of the leather-clad particular person to seem like Walz’s. As such, we price this video as “Pretend.”
Utilizing Google’s reverse-image search device, we looked for its origin. We discovered no genuine proof connecting Walz to such a video. We seemed intently on the particular person’s face and famous that it was closely blurred, and have become sharper as the person twisted his head again and round, indicating that Walz’s face had been superimposed over that of the unique topic.
Quite a few commenters acknowledged the video as having originated — earlier than it was edited — on the Instagram account of Matthew Krumpe, who describes himself as a dancer and drag artist. It was initially posted in February 2024, lengthy before Vice President Kamala Harris entered the presidential race and earlier than she announced Walz as her operating mate in August 2024.
The video reveals a person doing the very same dance to the identical track, with the identical outfit and background, although his options weren’t blurred on this case. We reached out to the proprietor of the Instagram account, who confirmed the video belonged to him and had been filmed on a cruise in February.
The unique caption acknowledged: “This ain’t Texas, and if anybody walks into my shot once more im quitting making content material and leaping off this boat.”
Krumpe instructed us: “The truth that persons are utilizing a video that promotes happiness and pleasure to attempt to insinuate that Tim is unfit for workplace is so ridiculous.”
It is clear that the unique unedited video was posted earlier than Harris and Walz entered the election race and was closely manipulated earlier than it went viral.
