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MAGAworld has gone into meltdown over a conspiracy theory involving Tim Walz’s pet dog Scout.
Animal lover Walz regularly posts photos and videos with his beloved labrador on social media, with his very first foray into TikTok featuring the family pet.
But now, in the latest bizarre Republican attack on the Minnesota governor since he was tapped as Kamala Harris’s running mate, the Democratic vice presidential nominee has been accused of faking Scout’s identity.
“Yes, this is Tim Walz tweeting about his dog Scout,” Dustin Grage, a right-wing columnist wrote on X.
“Only problem is that these are two completely different dogs”.
Grage, whose X bio describes him as a “Minnesota GOP hype man”, posted two images of Walz side by side.
In one image, Walz is seen with Scout on June 16 2022, with the caption: “Sending a special birthday shoutout to our favorite pup, Scout.”
In the second image, Walz is seen with a different dog dated October 22 2022. “Couldn’t think of a better way to spend a beautiful fall day than at the dog park. I know Scout enjoyed it,” Walz wrote.
Grage’s post had been viewed more than seven million times and shared more than 20,000 times as of Tuesday morning, according to X, as Donald Trump’s supporters were quick to jump on and circulate the bizarre conspiracy theory.
Former Fox News host Kimberley Guilfoyle, who is engaged to Donald Trump Jr, said: “Wait so Walz is even lying about his dog? Ruff stuff.”
Missouri Senator Eric Schmitt heckled: “Why would Tim Walz do this? It’s Creepy and Weird.”
Grage later added “Scout Gate” has “exposed the left’s manufactured outrage”.
He complained: “They will happily make up a story about JD Vance but lose their minds over online trolls making fun of Tim Walz’s trail of lies.”
In reality, on the day that the second image was taken and posted online, Walz had shared a video on Instagram showing Scout and several other dogs at a dog park.
The Minnesota governor jokes in the video that Scout was getting “jealous” of the attention he was giving other dogs – one of them being the dog in the photo.
Elon Musk’s X has since added a community note to the original post, blowing the manufactured scandal out of the water.
“The photo on the right is from a dog park that Tim Walz was at with Scout and many other dogs. In the video, Scout can be seen playing with these dogs,” it reads.
Clara Severson, who claims to have taken the original photo of Walz at the dog park, also took to X to tell Grage to “knock it off”.
“Hey Dusty, I took the photo of the Governor with the red heeler mix. Guess what? Scout was at the dog park with him that morning. Being purposefully obtuse is dumb, knock it off,” she retorted.
Despite the fact it has been debunked, the post has still not been removed by Grage.
It’s the latest in a growing list of slurs made against Walz by Republicans.
Since he was unveiled as Harris’s VP pick, Republicans have accused Walz of “stolen valor” for allegedly overstating his military record and have claimed, without merit, that he purposely avoided deployment to Iraq.
Last week, a group of 50 Republican veterans wrote a letter accusing him of “egregious misrepresentations” when discussing his military service.
Before retiring and running for Congress, Walz served 24 years in the Army National Guard.
Walz has also faced attacks over his past ties to China, with Republican Senator Ron Johnson baselessly claiming it’s a red flag that the “radical leftist” got married “on the anniversary of Tiananmen Square.”
