(NewsNation) — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s estranged older brother, Jeff, has admitted exclusively to NewsNation that he does not wish to influence voters despite his opposition to the Democratic vice presidential nominee’s views.
Jeff Walz’s Facebook posts caused a stir in both mainstream and social media as he described the Minnesota governor as “not the type of character you want making decisions about your future.”
Despite saying to his Facebook friends that he had “thought long and hard” about publicly endorsing former President Donald Trump, he now wishes to be uninvolved in any political campaign.
“It wasn’t my intent, it wasn’t our intent as a family, to put something out there to influence the general public,” Jeff Walz told NewsNation.
Jeff Walz, who is a registered Republican and donated $20 to Trump’s 2016 campaign per The New York Post, explained his social media posts were intended to rebuke rhetoric that he was in lockstep with his brother’s views.
“I was getting a lot of feedback from my friends, old acquaintances, thinking that I was feeling the same way that my brother did on the issues, and I was trying to clarify that just to friends,” Jeff Walz said. “I used Facebook, which wasn’t the right platform to do that. But I will say, I don’t agree with his policies.”
In the Facebook posts first seen by the Post, Jeff Walz said there were “stories (he) could tell” that implied his brother wasn’t “the type of character you want making decisions about your future.”
Now, he told NewsNation these “stories” follow a similar line to one wherein Tim Walz’s siblings didn’t want to sit with him due to car sickness when they were younger.
“Nobody wanted to sit with him, because he had car sickness and would always throw up on us, that sort of thing,” Jeff Walz said. “There’s really nothing else hidden behind there. People are assuming something else. There’s other stories like that, but I think that probably gives you the gist of it.”
Jeff Walz and his younger brother have not spoken since their younger brother, Craig’s, funeral in 2016 — aside from his wife texting Gov. Walz “happy birthday” and a brief phone call last month through their mother.
“He called on her cellphone, and she gave me the cellphone. I talked to him briefly,” Jeff Walz explained.
“Harris’ team was vetting him for the vice president. He had asked me for some personal information; tax information and stuff like that, and I declined to give it at that point, but that was like a two-minute conversation.”
Despite their estrangement, Jeff Walz said he’s still upset his brother did not give the family notice that he was becoming the Democratic Party’s vice presidential nominee.
“The only thing I took exception to, and I will stand behind this 100%, was that we felt bad
that we found out about his being picked as the vice presidential candidate from radio,” Jeff Walz said. “And we felt like we probably should have been given a heads-up and some type of security, at least for a short time, because I guess that is a big thing.”
While Jeff Walz reiterated he completely disagrees with his younger brother’s policies, he will depart from the public eye. He has not communicated with members from either political party.
“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.
