The Trump campaign also criticised Walz for not carrying a gun in another video, mocking the visit as “a pheasant ‘hunting’ photo op” and “a sign of the future under a Harris-Walz administration”.

Chris LaCivita, the Trump campaign’s top strategist, shared AI images of a hunter loading a gun with tampons (a reference to an insulting nickname that stemmed from Walz signing a law requiring public schools to provide menstrual products to students in 4th through 12th grades).

One member of Walz’s hunting party shot a rooster, but the carcass was not recovered. A member of the group said they had also spotted some pheasant hens, which cannot be hunted to preserve the population.

Harris recently reminded voters during the presidential debate in September that she owns a Glock and proclaimed, “we’re not taking anybody’s guns away”.

As a congressman, Walz initially championed gun rights and was active in the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus. He then earned an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association, often wearing a camo hat reading “NRA ENDORSED”.

But Walz transformed into an anti-gun advocate after deadly mass shootings at a country music festival in Las Vegas and a high school in Parkland, Florida.

On the trail now, Walz speaks passionately about the need for gun control, often referring to his time as a high school teacher and saying the top priority is protecting children.

”I’m a veteran. I’m a hunter. I’m a gun owner,” Walz said at a Wednesday rally in Tucson, telling attendees that he and his running mate respected the Second Amendment and that he was heading to Minnesota for the start of pheasant-hunting season. “I’m all excited to be back there to see this.“

After eating some venison sticks, Walz met several social influencers: David Clayton, an advocate for homeless veterans; rodeo athlete Ramontay McConnell; and hunting content creator Brandon Adams. In a TikTok video, Clayton asked Walz about bipartisanship and presented him with a fidget spinner for his son, Gus.

Walz told creators that pheasant hunting was his “favourite thing” in part because of having dogs around and the ability to move about during the hunt rather than lying in wait such as during a deer hunt.

“Two things about it: the dogs, and for me, I can’t sit still, so it’s moving,” Walz told them. As he then began to discuss his past as a Democrat representing rural districts in the state, members of the news media were removed.

Later, during a stop for a BLT sandwich, Walz did not respond to questions about what he thought were the reasons for the gender gap, or his plan to win over male voters.

Asked last week about Trump’s appeal to men and his message to men, particularly black men, Walz touted the campaign’s policies aimed at the middle class and economic opportunity.

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“I think we need to make sure we’re getting out to them. We hear what they’re saying,” Walz said in comments to WPVI-TV in Philadelphia. “I think it’s more of taking it to them, making the message tailored.”

On Friday, Walz attended a high school football game as part of that tailored campaign for male voters. He returned to Mankato, Minnesota, where he once taught and coached, for the crosstown rivalry football game between Mankato East High School and Mankato West High School. Walz was the Mankato West’s defensive co-ordinator and led the team to the state championship in 1999.

Walz carried a Mountain Dew as he greeted attendees at the game, and then sat in the bleachers signing baseball caps and taking selfies with supporters while seated next to his mother, Darlene Walz.

After huddling with members of the West team, which went on to win the game, Walz said: “This is I think best of America, across the country. This is truly Friday Night Lights happening here.”

Walz will campaign more in the Midwest on Monday, travelling to neighbouring Wisconsin.

The Washington Post

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