Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz is a lot of things: A former coach and teacher. A dedicated father. And a beloved husband. And while every marriage has its own quirks, the life that Tim and his wife Gwen share is truly unique.
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00:00Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz is a lot of things — a former coach and teacher,
00:06a dedicated father, and a beloved husband. And while every marriage has its own quirks,
00:11the life that Tim and his wife Gwen share is truly unique.
00:15It's no secret that vice president-turned-last-minute Democratic presidential
00:19nominee Kamala Harris was left practically scrambling to pick a running mate.
00:23So many choices, so little time. But seemingly overnight, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz
00:29seamlessly set himself apart from the pack after a July 23rd appearance on MSNBC when he said,
00:34iconically,
00:36"'These guys are just weird.'"
00:38Of course, he was referring to both Donald Trump and Trump's vice presidential pick,
00:42J.D. Vance. Soon after, all eyes were on the unassuming Minnesotan and his penchant for
00:47using such a low-key insult to swiftly knock any adversary off their game.
00:51Merely 14 days later, Harris tapped Walz as her running mate. Since then,
00:55Walz has positioned himself as that of a veteran, a public school teacher,
00:59a coach, and perhaps most important of all, a family man. Alas,
01:02it appears there are a few strange facts about Tim and Gwen Walz's marriage.
01:06We would be absolutely remiss not to immediately address the rather strange circumstances around
01:11which Tim and Gwen Walz married, a.k.a. the flimsy classroom partition that started it all.
01:17As deeply committed educators, the couple first met while, you guessed it, educating.
01:22The only drawback to their first year of teaching was that they didn't actually have
01:25their own classroom. Gwen recalled to NPR News,
01:29"'Tim and I even shared a classroom with just a divider right down the middle when
01:32we were teaching in Nebraska.'"
01:34Fortunately, the tight quarters worked in the budding teacher's favor.
01:37During an interview with the Minnesota Star-Tribune, Gwen confessed she became
01:41smitten with Tim after observing the way in which Tim interacted with and taught his students.
01:46Petition to bring back classroom dividers, anyone?
01:49And while Walz was known as a pretty beloved teacher,
01:51when it comes to his politics, he has no chill — in a good way.
01:55On Instagram, he shared a video of himself delivering what can only be described as an
01:59enthusiastic locker-room pep talk merely two days after officially being named as
02:04Kamala Harris' running mate. His most iconic quote?
02:07"'You sleep with your dad, you don't work with your dad.'"
02:09As it turns out, it appears Walz took the same approach on his first date with his future wife.
02:14During an interview with the Minnesota Star-Tribune,
02:17Gwen revealed that Tim was a tad overzealous about their romance right out of the gate.
02:21The story goes that the pair's first date consisted of a meal at Hardee's,
02:25followed by a trip to the movie to see the crime thriller Falling Down.
02:28According to Gwen, however, even after rebuffing a kiss from her eager date,
02:32he confidently replied,
02:34"'That's fine, but you should know, I'm going to marry you. Say it with us. Couple goals.'"
02:39Just like teachers have substitutes who fill in for them when they're sick,
02:42Gwen Walz has also subbed in for her governor husband.
02:45Case in point, the time Tim came down with a nasty case of laryngitis.
02:49The story goes that way back in 2006, the then-aspiring Minnesota governor was set to
02:54speak at a campaign fundraiser in Mankato, Minnesota, but fell ill at the last moment.
02:59Fortunately, Tim's ever-supportive wife swooped in a la a-have-no-fear-Gwen-is-here
03:04moment and saved the day. Still, it appears Gwen remains rather humble when it comes to her
03:08assistance. During an episode of the What If It Works podcast, she explained the couple's dynamic,
03:14saying,
03:14"...we have always worked as a partnership. We are still one another's closest advisors."
03:19While Tim and Gwen Walz appear to have a marriage full of love and admiration,
03:23the couple did recently raise a few eyebrows when they opted to greet each other in a rather
03:27unconventional way. Yep, that's right. During Tim's first inaugural rally with Kamala Harris,
03:33Tim and Gwen opted to keep it strictly business with nothing more than a firm handshake.
03:37To make matters worse, merely steps away, Kamala and second gentleman of the United States,
03:42Douglas Emhoff, were witnessed enjoying a passionate smooch.
03:45As one can imagine, many Republicans immediately took the married couple to task,
03:50with Donald Trump Jr. notably weighing in. He tweeted,
03:53"...totally normal to greet your wife with a firm handshake and a bro hug
03:56backslap. Tim Walz isn't weird at all, guys."
03:59It should be noted, however, that Donald J. Trump has also been
04:02caught publicly greeting his wife with nothing more than a handshake.