A family photo shared to social media this week, showing a smiling family flanked around a matriarch in matching “Nebraska Walz’s for Trump” T-shirts, has certainly raised a lot of eyebrows and left some gleefully rubbing their hands together.
But the photo isn’t quite what it seems, or certainly not as juicy as some members of the Republican party probably want it to be.
At first glance, the photo and caption, first circulated to X on Wednesday by Charles W. Herbster, a former GOP gubernatorial candidate in Nebraska and chairman of Rural Americans for Trump, gives the impression that Gov. Tim Walz’s family is choosing to cast votes for Trump in the upcoming U.S. election – taking away votes for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, and, in turn, their own kin Walz, who is the Democratic vice-presidential hopeful.
“Tim Walz’s family back in Nebraska wants you to know something…” Herbster wrote, with an attached photo showing eight people standing under a “Trump 2024” sign in their matching (grammatically incorrect) shirts.
The photo was eventually reposted by former president Trump, who wrote on his Truth Social platform: “It is a Great Honor to have your Endorsement. I look forward to meeting you soon!”
But family members closest to Walz, including his sister Sandy Dietrich, want people to know that while the people in the photo may be family, they’re merely distant cousins.
“We weren’t close with them. We didn’t know them,” Dietrich told The Associated Press.
Walz’s mother, Darlene Walz, also denied knowing that arm of the family well, telling the Daily Beast that the people pictured are “mostly second cousins.” She referred to herself and her family as “Democrats for Tim.”
Herbster’s spokesperson Rod Edwards told Forbes a friend of the Walz family provided Herbster’s team with the photo. He also clarified to the AP that the family in the picture are the descendants of Francis Walz, who was the brother of Tim Walz’s grandfather.
“They’re all Walzes and spouses,” he said.
“Shortly after Governor Tim Walz was named the Democrat Party Vice Presidential nominee, our family had a get-together. We had t-shirts made to show support for President Trump and J.D. Vance and took a group picture. That photo was shared with friends, and when we were asked for permission to post the picture, we agreed,” the pictured family told AP in a statement by text.
“The picture is real. The shirts are real. We are the Nebraska Walz family and we are related to Gov. Tim Walz, our grandfathers were brothers. The message on the shirts speaks for itself, ‘Nebraska Walzs for Trump.’”
However, there is at least one close relation to Walz who doesn’t seem to support his platform.
Walz’s brother, Jeff Walz, made waves after the New York Post dug up a series of Facebook posts he made last week denouncing his brother’s political future and warning he is not the “type of character you want making decisions about your future.” Cryptically, he also mentioned “stories (he) could tell,” but later told NewsNation that those “stories” were innocuous moments from their childhood.
“Nobody wanted to sit with him, because he had car sickness and would always throw up on us, that sort of thing,” Jeff Walz said. “There’s really nothing else hidden behind there. People are assuming something else. There’s other stories like that, but I think that probably gives you the gist of it.”
Jeff also wrote on Facebook that he was “100% opposed to all his ideology” and had thought about endorsing Trump, the Post reported, although he told NewsNation that he didn’t intend to influence the political debate and wanted to stay out of all campaigns.