Darlene Walz is a lifelong Democrat who has long supported son Tim Walz's campaigns—but when it comes to her children, she's not taking sides. In recent posts on Facebook, Jeff Walz, a registered Republican who lives in Florida, said he hadn't spoken to his younger brother in years and he was considering publicly endorsing Donald Trump. "I'm 100% opposed to all his ideology," he said of his brother. Darlene, 89, tells the Daily Beast that she wants to "keep peace," but she's not going to intervene. "I think the best thing maybe, for me, is to just stay out of it," she says.
The mother says her daughter Sandy Dietrich—another "diehard Democrat"—asked Jeff Walz to tone down the attacks. It apparently worked, the Daily Beast notes. He told NewsNation on Tuesday that while he doesn't agree with his brother's policies, his Facebook posts weren't intended for a wider audience and he plans to stay out of the public eye. "There is going to be no further statements to anybody, and we're not campaigning or anything for him or against him or anything like that," he said.
- In one Facebook post, Jeff Walz said there were stories that would suggest the Minnesota governor isn't "the type of character you want making decisions about your future." But he made it clear to NewsNation that they wouldn't be campaign-shattering revelations. "When we were younger, we would go on family trips and in a station wagon. And the thing was, nobody wanted to sit with him, because he had car sickness and would always throw up on us," he said. "That sort of thing. ... People are assuming something else. There's other stories like that, but I think that probably gives you the gist of it."
- Darlene Walz tells the Daily Beast that she hopes the brothers will reconcile someday. "Maybe somewhere down the line we're hoping it will be resolved in a better situation," she says. She was at the Democratic National Convention to witness her son accept the nomination for vice president. "Oh man, that was a blast," she says. "It was wonderful." Her advice for divided families: "Keep your mouth shut and go vote."
- NBC News reports that Tim Walz has discussed family division over politics in campaign speeches. "Some of us who have white hair are old enough to remember when you could go to Thanksgiving, watch a Steelers game with your relatives and not complain about politics the whole time. Not get on each other's neck," he said last month.
- Sandy Dietrich tells the AP that she doesn't recognize the people wearing "Nebraska Walz's for Trump" T-shirts in a photo that has gone viral. She says they are distant cousins, apparently from her grandfather's brother's branch of the family. Asked about the photo, Darlene Walz said, "My in-laws were different," adding that most families include both Democrats and Republicans and "that's OK."
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