The Right Is Desperate to Make ‘Tampon Tim’ Happen

Conservatives nicknamed Tim Walz “Tampon Tim” since he *checks notes*... ensured public schools offer free menstrual hygiene products. They really got him good with that!

By Kylie Cheung  |  August 8, 2024 | 1:51pm
Photo: Getty Images Art: Kylie Cheung Politics
The Right Is Desperate to Make ‘Tampon Tim’ Happen

Shortly after Kamala Harris replaced Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic presidential ticket and Donald Trump could no longer wield the “Sleepy Joe” moniker, Trump got to work cooking up new nicknames. But “Laughin’ Kamala” and “Lyin’ Kamala” just didn’t stick, certainly lacking the same, unfortunate catchiness and gravitas as “Sleepy Joe.” And now, with the addition of Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the right is proving just as inept at brainstorming pithy, insulting nicknames.

After attempts to call Walz a socialist for *checks notes* signing legislation to provide free meals to all public schoolchildren didn’t work, conservatives from Megyn Kelly to white nationalist Laura Loomer are now calling him “Tampon Tim” for *checks notes, again* … signing legislation to ensure public schools offer free menstrual hygiene products.

“As a woman, I think there is no greater threat to our health than leaders who support gender-transition surgeries for young minors, who support putting tampons in men’s bathrooms in public schools,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on Fox News on Tuesday. “Those are radical policies that Tim Walz supports. He actually signed a bill to do that.”

“I hope Trump calls [Walz] Tampon Tim,” Loomer tweeted on Tuesday. Kelly echoed her: “Tampon Tim is the name. That’s it,” she tweeted on Wednesday. The viral, far-right Libs of TikTok account followed suit, tweeting out “#TamponTim,” which conservative influencer Liz Wheeler then quote-tweeted to add, “He put tampons in men’s bathroom. What a creep.”

Trump’s official campaign account on Tuesday cited Walz’s bill, calling him “a weird radical liberal,” pondering, “What could be weirder than signing a bill requiring schools to stock tampons in boys’ bathrooms?” I don’t know, MAGA War Room, maybe trying to weaponize the law to bully trans children and publicly obsess over children’s genitals?

The Minnesota law in question, which went into effect at the beginning of this year, requires students to have access to period products at school. These products, like tampons and pads, “must be available to all menstruating students in restrooms regularly used by students in grades four to 12 according to a plan developed by the school district,” the bill states.

It’s not just incredibly juvenile but downright weird for ostensibly grown adults to fixate on this so much. Believe it or not, schoolchildren have periods and should have access to sanitary products free of cost, especially when lack of access to hygiene products due to cost barriers can literally push young people out of school. One in four students who menstruate struggle with “period poverty”—that is, struggling to afford period products, which are often needlessly expensive—and have missed school as a result.

There are two primary takeaways from Republicans’ attempt to push #TamponTim down all our throats. Foremost, Walz and Democrats’ “Republicans are weird” attack clearly struck a nerve—but the right can hardly reclaim it by trying to pretend Walz, a former teacher and school principal, is “weird” for helping students access basic sanitary products. Second of all, if this is all the right has on the governor—that he cares about meeting young people’s basic needs while they’re at school—then best of luck to them!

 
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