If Democrats thought they had escaped the image of an old man in the White House with the ouster of Joe Biden, they may need to think again.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has been dogged by unflattering comments about his aging appearance since Kamala Harris selected him as her vice presidential nominee Tuesday morning.
The 60-year-old is only a few months older than Harris, but social media posts are full of pointing out celebrities like Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise, who are even older but look much younger.
Some even suggest that comedian Steve Martin, 78, looks exactly like the bald politician and should return to play him on Saturday Night Live.
But the former high school teacher launched a preemptive strike on social media last month, telling a critic he had aged because he had “supervised the lunchroom for 20 years.”
“You don’t come out of that job with a head full of hair. Believe me,” he added.
Unfavorable comparisons came quickly after Kamala Harris chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her vice presidential running mate Tuesday morning.
The father of two has been relaxed about age concerns, denouncing calls for Biden to retire as a “political sideshow.”
“I would take Joe Biden at 100 over any of these guys at any age,” he said of the contenders during the Republican primaries.
But that hasn’t silenced his own critics, who have been unimpressed.
“Tom Cruise looks great for a 50 year old,” wrote one. “Tim Walz looks great… for a 75 year old.”
“That damn combination of white hair and baldness sure ages you,” added another.
“I thought Kamala Harris picked the oldest white guy she could find, but it turns out Tim Walz is only 60!” added a third.
“That guy looks a lot older and won’t do him any favors in the next election.”
The Nebraska-born governor took his first teaching job in China after graduating from Chadron State College in 1989 and returned to the state the following year to take a position at a school in Alliance, where he met his future wife Gwen.
He served in the National Guard for 24 years before entering national politics as a U.S. Representative from Minnesota’s 1st District in 2007.
And the Governor found himself surrounded by men decades older than him.
But a national NPR/PBS News/Marist poll finds that a whopping 71 percent of Americans have either never heard of him or don’t know how to rate the progressive governor.
Only 17 percent of Americans surveyed have a favorable opinion of Walz and 12 percent say they have an unfavorable opinion of him.
Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance is much better known to Americans, according to a poll conducted in early August and released Tuesday.
Only 23 percent of respondents don’t know who Vance is or don’t know whether they would rate him favorably or unfavorably.
Despite serving in the Senate only since last year, Vance gained name recognition through his memoir Hillbilly Elegy, which was adapted into a Netflix film starring Amy Adams and Glenn Close as the senator’s mother and grandmother.
Vance has a 34 percent approval rating, but more people (43 percent) view him negatively in the new Marist poll.
But many were quick to defend the Minnesota governor’s unattractive appearance, with some suggesting it could be an electoral advantage.
“Have you never seen a middle-aged white man from the Midwest who spends half the year in sub-zero temperatures or extremely humid heat?” one asked. “They have to unbuckle their seatbelts to smile.”
“He’s only 60, but as the mother of an educator, I can tell you what my son, a high school English teacher, says: that teaching, coaching, and serving in the lunchroom ages a person *very* quickly,” another added.
Some were more understanding of the Governor’s straightforward demeanor.
And the former professor offered his own explanation for his unattractive appearance.
Others pointed out that Walz has not resorted to the surgical enhancements of his Hollywood contemporaries.
The gray-haired Democrat can’t blame alcohol for his appearance, having been teetotal since he was charged with drunk driving in 1995.
And he was emphatic when asked to name his favorite song by fellow Minnesotan Bob Dylan.
“Forever young,” he replied.