Eric Trump accused vice presidential candidate Tim Walz of “pretending” to be “a great hunter” during a Friday interview on Fox & Friends.
Eric, Donald Trump‘s third eldest child, was speaking with Fox host Ainsley Earhardt about Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, the governor of Minnesota. Eric serves as an executive vice president of the Trump Organization and is active in his father’s presidential campaign.
“Of course Walz has to restore his reputation to the male voter,” he said. “This is a guy who literally was putting tampons in males’ bathrooms in Minnesota. I don’t think there’s many masculine men that find that to be a positive attribute.”
His comments referred to Minnesota legislation signed by Walz that allows transgender students access to menstrual products. The measure states that items such as pads and tampons “must be available to all menstruating students in restrooms regularly used by students in grades 4 to 12.”
The former president’s campaign and allies have referenced the legislation in their criticism of Walz, nicknaming him “Tampon Tim.”
Referring to Walz, Eric told Earhardt: “I don’t think you can restore your reputation by, you know, kind of haphazardly going in a field and pretending you’re a great hunter.”
He continued, “First of all, you’re going to look insincere. Second of all, you’re going to kind of look foolish because if you don’t do it all the time you can see it from a mile away.”
Newsweek reached out via email to Walz’s campaign for comment on Friday.
At left, Minnesota Governor attends the Minnesota State Fair on September 1. At right, Eric Trump is seen at the Republican National Convention on July 16. In a Friday interview on Fox, Trump criticized the vice presidential candidate’s public references to his hunting hobby.
Stephen Maturen/Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Walz has served as co-chair of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus and led the Democratic team in a sporting clays, trap, and skeet shootout in 2015, where he won the “Top Gun” Democrat Award. As governor, he has hosted such hunting events as the Governor’s Deer Hunting Opener and the Governor’s Pheasant Hunting Opener.
During the presidential campaign, Walz has mentioned his longtime hobby, saying during the vice presidential debate earlier this month, “I’m of an age where my shotgun was in my car so I could pheasant hunt after football practice.”
Eric and his brother Donald Trump Jr. also have a history of hunting, though theirs includes big-game animals. In 2012, the brothers went on a hunting trip to Zimbabwe, where photos showed them posing with a variety of killed animals, including a crocodile, waterbuck, leopard and buffalo.
Former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has since endorsed Trump, is hosting “a day of falconry” with Donald Trump Jr. next week. The event, branded “the wildest getaway of a lifetime,” is open to people until Saturday night, with the winner to be contacted on Sunday. The hunt will take place on October 15.
