Yes, Gov Tim Walz gifted his old car to a family in need
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is a Vice Presidential candidate in the 2024 election. He’s building a reputation as America’s “midwest dad” and all-around nice guy. One fan’s quote meme fueled this persona by telling the story of Tim giving his old car to a single mom in his neighborhood–and picking up an extra job to be able to afford the good deed. But that story isn’t 100% true.
You see, the above details aren’t all about the same incident. But the main part is true. The recipient of the gift car has come forward to confirm her part of the story.
Sherri Blasing is a high school principal and was a neighbor of Tim and Gwen Walz for 22 years. She is not a single mom, but is married with four children. By the time her kids were in high school, getting them to their various sports team practices was a logistics nightmare. She said of that time, “We have four kids going all different directions.”
Her neighbor offered a solution. The Walz’s had an “old Buick” since 2007 and Tim told Blasing, “You know what? We’re just going to get rid of it. Would your kids want this?”
The Blasing kids drove the car for years. One of them even taking it to college for two years before another one drove it around town for several more years. The family literally ran it into the ground and sold it to a junkyard for “a few dollars.”
But as much as the family loved the gifted Buick, they had to make a bit of fun of the car. Blasing revealed, “Our kids named it Laverne because it was an old lady car.”
The meme, originally posted by a Facebook user named David Fink, is in no way connected to the Walz campaign. In addition to erroneously referring to Blasing as a “single mom” it claimed “Tim and Gwen decided to get a new car and then gave their car to their neighbor,” and added, “Tim, who was teaching at the time, picked up an extra coaching job to make it happen.”
Blasing couldn’t confirm these other details. She says Tim often worked multiple jobs. She also recalled there was a single mom in the neighborhood who the Walz’s helped out. They threw a graduation party for the family’s oldest daughter when it became obvious she wouldn’t have one otherwise.
You can see more memories from Tim Walz’s neighbor in the video below:
