Early in September 2024, a story on the internet went viral claiming that the Minnesota Vikings football team had criticized Tim Walz, the governor of their state. Posts spreading the rumor state that the NFL team in the North Star State stated, “We don’t support his values.”
A user who spread the myth commented (archived): “Excellent. Walz is a valueless person.” An additional user asked their pals, “Is it true the Minnesota Vikings has come out against ‘Tampon Tim Walz’ also?” in a post that was archived. The user’s post mentioned a largely untrue story that the Democratic contender for vice president in 2024 signed a bill mandating that schools keep tampons in the lavatories for boys.
Readers who tagged a friend and exclaimed, “Go Vikings!!!” in response to the news appeared to view the claim as factual retelling of actual occurrences.
But there was no proof that the Vikings disapproved of Walz. Likewise, this claim was not reported by any reliable news sources.
Instead, the myth started with a post from the America-Love It Or Leave It Facebook page, which is part of the humor and satire network America’s Last Line of Defense. Satire and parody were referenced in the Facebook page’s category, which also included the following description: “A part of the America’s Last Line of Defense network of trollery. There is nothing real on this website.
The fictitious tale gained traction at the beginning of the NFL season, coinciding with the continuous campaign trail activities of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Walz, in anticipation of the November presidential election.
Previous allegations regarding the Vikings have been covered by Snopes. These included the claims that the team welcomed the homeless inside U.S. Bank Stadium on a chilly December 2016 evening and that the stadium intended to transition to plant-based meat and dairy-free options.
