Coulter's post was real and she later deleted it. The supposed response from Walz was fake, meaning it never appeared on his X account's timeline.
An online rumor claimed Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz responded harshly on X to conservative commentator Ann Coulter after she insulted his 17-year-old son in August 2024.
This matter all started when Walz's son, Gus, became emotional during his father's speech at the 2024 Democratic National Convention on Aug. 21, during which he accepted his party's nomination for vice president.
Part of Walz's speech touched on the struggles he and his wife, Gwen, endured in having children. "It took Gwen and I years, but we had access to fertility treatments," Walz said. "And when our daughter was born, we named her Hope. Hope, Gus and Gwen, you are my entire world, and I love you."
TV cameras then captured Gus Walz standing, applauding and crying, saying, "That's my dad!"
In response to the emotional moment, conservative commentator Ann Coulter called Gus Walz "weird." She posted a link to an article from the-express.com displaying the headline, "Tim Walz's 17-year-old son breaks down in tears at father's DNC speech." She commented above the link, "Talk about weird" — an apparent reference to a recent social media trend consisting of Democratic Party supporters repeatedly labeling Republicans as "weird."
In the hours that followed Coulter's X post, users on 9GAG.com, the Democratic Underground forums, Facebook, Imgur, Reddit, Threads, TikTok and X shared a screenshot that appeared to show Walz responded to Coulter from his @Tim_Walz X account. That purported reply read, "Talk about why your fiancés keep leaving you ...," and featured an image from the "personal life" section of her Wikipedia page that said, "Coulter has been engaged several times, but she has never married and has no children."
However, Walz never posted this (or any) reply to Coulter on X. Had he responded to Coulter in this manner, media outlets around the world would have reported on the matter. No reports documented Walz making this post.
Coulter later deleted her post but did not apologize. In a new post (archived), she said, misspelling a word, "I took it down as soon as someone told me he's austistc, but it's Democrats who go around calling everyone weird thinking it's hilariously funny."
She also posted (archived) in response to another user who praised people who "pressured" Coulter to remove her post, "No, it was a friend who told me. I'm on vacation and didn't see any 'pressure.' Democrats are the ones who decided it's fine to call people 'weird.'"
Coulter's post did not accurately describe the disorders that Gus Walz lives with. People.com previously reported on Aug. 7 that Tim and Gwen Walz said their son has "a non-verbal learning disorder, ADHD and an anxiety disorder — all conditions that they call his 'secret power.'"
In a statement shared exclusively with PEOPLE, Tim — who was just selected as Kamala Harris' 2024 vice presidential candidate — and Gwen say that they saw glimmers of Gus' unique qualities at an early age.
"When our youngest Gus was growing up, it became increasingly clear that he was different from his classmates," the couple tell PEOPLE. "Gus preferred video games and spending more time by himself."
The statement continues: "When he was becoming a teenager, we learned that Gus has a non-verbal learning disorder in addition to an anxiety disorder and ADHD, conditions that millions of Americans also have."
We will update this story if we receive information about the origin of the fake screenshot.