| | | | |  | | By Ian Ward | |  Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz prepares to depart from his residence in St. Paul, Minnesota, after Vice President Kamala Harris selected him as her running mate. | Stephen Maturen/Getty Images | ‘HICKLIB’ POLITICS — Since Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris selected Tim Walz as her running mate earlier this month, Republicans have settled on a consistent line of attack against the Minnesota governor: Walz is a hard-core leftist masquerading as a folksy rural Democrat, a militant progressive who hides his radicalism behind camo hats, Carhartt workwear and an allegedly trumped-up military record. This line of attack may seem to be tailored narrowly to Walz, who was one of the few Democrats who managed to win — and hold — a House seat in a rural and conservative-leaning area of Minnesota between 2006 and 2019. But in fact, Republicans’ knock on Walz echoes a trope that has taken hold in the fringier parts of the conservative internet in recent years: the so-called “hicklib,” a derogatory term used by some online conservatives to refer to a certain type of rural progressive. The swiftness with which mainstream Republicans have tapped into this online archetype and appropriated it for real-world attacks on Walz is another indication of the increasingly porous boundary between the online right and the MAGA-fied Republican Party. Not too long ago, it was possible to believe that online conservative meme culture was essentially independent of — or merely reactive to — developments within the conservative mainstream. Today, however, it is clear that this online meme culture is the often unacknowledged engine of the Republican Party’s rhetoric and strategy. It’s a dynamic that, as Ron DeSantis’s thoroughly meme-ified campaign flop showed, entails underappreciated electoral pitfalls for the GOP. If you haven’t submerged yourself in the “fever swamp of young right-wing internet circles,” what exactly is a “hicklib”? The term gained traction in the early 2020s to refer to rural voters who, instead of embracing Trump like many of their peers, leaned into an outspoken progressive politics — without embracing the style and aesthetics of urban liberals. As the conservative activist and podcaster Jack Posobiec has put it, a hicklib is someone who “seems like the kind of person who would be a Trump supporter, but then they start talking and you realize, ‘Oh wait, this guy’s a lefty.’” As Posobiec’s taxonomy suggests, the term is fundamentally derogatory: The suggestion is that “hicklibs” have betrayed the true interests and values of rural Americans, while using rural aesthetics and cultural references to lend legitimacy to an alien liberal worldview. (Other popular variations of the term — like “shitlib yokel” and “woke yokel” — make the term’s sneering tone more explicit.) And as most internet phenomena eventually do, the “hicklib” discourse found its most potent expression in the form of a meme — in this case, a picture from the hit TV show “Yellowstone” showing the actor Kevin Costner sitting in the back of a pickup truck dressed in western get-up. The message of the meme is that rural progressives aren’t authentically rural, just like a Hollywood liberal dressed up as a cowboy. When Walz entered the running for the Democratic vice presidential slot, it didn’t take long for online conservatives to slot him into the “hicklib” model. “Walz is the hicklib final boss,” tweeted one anonymous pro-Trump account on August 6, the day Walz was selected as VP. Posobiec, meanwhile, took to his popular podcast to argue that “Walz Uses Race and Hicklib Identity to Cover Cultural Marxist Agenda.” One X user even posted a picture of the “Yellowstone” meme with Walz’s face superimposed over Costner. Before too long, there were signs that the “hicklib” line had broken out of the conservative internet and entertained the Republican mainstream. “Some described Tim Walz as a ‘Hick Lib,’ and now I need my friends to define for me a, ‘Hick Lib,’” Rudy Giuliani posted on X on August 8. “Best answer wins a prize!” The criticisms have blossomed from there. On social media, the Republican National Committee resurfaced an old clip of Walz referring to certain rural areas of Minnesota as “mostly rocks and cows,” adding, “Walz doesn’t care about you unless you’re a deranged leftist or an illegal alien.” On Fox News, a local Republican Party chairman from Minnesota derided Walz as “Bernie Sanders [in] flannel,” arguing that Walz is trying to “bamboozle” rural voters into supporting a liberal agenda that doesn’t align with their real values or interests. The attacks culminated with Trump and his running mate JD Vance accusing Walz of lying about his military service— which doubled as a thinly-veiled jab at Walz’s rural identity, given the emerging nexus between military service, rural populations and support for Trump. To date, no prominent Republicans have directly labeled Walz as a “hicklib” — but they’ve employed the concept. The GOP has taken the meme’s subtext and turned it into the core of its messaging strategy: Walz is a radical progressive masquerading as a hick, a con artist using the symbols and patois of rural America to trick voters into supporting a liberal agenda. It’s not clear, however, that this line of attack is resonating with voters: According to recent polling, Walz continues to play well with moderates and independents. Once again, the meme-to-mainstream pipeline may be titillating the online right, but it doesn’t seem to be doing much for more important electoral constituencies. Online, meanwhile, some posters have pointed out the irony of Republicans attacking a vice presidential candidate for alleged trading on his rural identity in order to burnish his political credibility and gain acceptance in elite liberal circles. That description may fit one of the vice presidential candidates in the race, some have suggested — but it’s not Tim Walz. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com. Or contact tonight’s author at iward@politico.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @ianwardreports.
| | | | DON’T MISS OUR AI & TECH SUMMIT: Join POLITICO’s AI & Tech Summit for exclusive interviews and conversations with senior tech leaders, lawmakers, officials and stakeholders about where the rising energy around global competition — and the sense of potential around AI and restoring American tech knowhow — is driving tech policy and investment. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | | | — Trump seeks to delay his hush money sentencing until after the election: Attorneys for Donald Trump asked the judge overseeing the former president’s Manhattan criminal case to postpone his sentencing, now set for Sept. 18, until after November’s presidential election. In a letter to the court dated Wednesday but made public today, Trump’s lawyers noted that the sentencing for the Republican presidential nominee’s conviction on falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to a porn star is currently scheduled to take place after the start of early voting. — Biden ‘open’ to sending long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine: The Biden administration is “open” to sending long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine, a move that would give Kyiv’s F-16s greater combat punch as it seeks to gain further momentum in its fight against Russia. The White House’s willingness to give Ukraine the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile comes as Kyiv’s surprisingly successful ground assault deep inside Russia heads into its second week, embarrassing Vladimir Putin and forcing him to redirect troops from the battlefield in Ukraine. — Biden joins calls for new elections in Venezuela: President Joe Biden joined the leaders of Brazil and Colombia today in calling for new elections in Venezuela, following an election both the U.S. and others have said appeared to have been rigged in favor of the sitting president. Asked by reporters if he agreed with calls from Latin American leaders for new elections in Venezuela, Biden said “I do.” U.S. officials have said previously that available data suggested opposition candidate Edmundo González had defeated Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
| | | | BACK FROM EXILE — Donald Trump’s campaign is expanding its ranks as he seeks to regain his footing in the presidential campaign, bringing on a handful of top allies — including former Trump 2016 campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. Lewandowski, who has remained an informal Trump adviser since his first campaign, is being brought on to advise the campaign’s senior leadership team. He joins several other former Trump aides who will play similar roles. Tim Murtaugh, who was the communications director on Trump’s 2020 campaign, will also be joining. So, too, will be Alex Pfeiffer and Alex Bruesewitz, who were top officials on the Trump-aligned MAGA Inc. super PAC. VEEP DEBATE IS A GO — Ohio Sen. JD Vance agreed to debate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Oct. 1 on CBS, locking in a match-up between the Republican and Democratic nominees for vice president. On Wednesday, Walz had publicly agreed to the October debate in CBS’s New York City studios. “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell and “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan will moderate the forum. COMING TO AN AD NEAR YOU — When Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz first ran for Congress in 2006, his campaign repeatedly made false statements about the details of his 1995 arrest for drunk and reckless driving, reports CNN. According to court and police records connected to the incident, Walz admitted in court that he had been drinking when he was pulled over for driving 96 mph in a 55 mph zone in Nebraska. Walz was then transported by a state trooper to a local hospital for a blood test, showing he had a blood alcohol level of .128, well above the state’s legal limit of 0.1 at the time. But in 2006, his campaign repeatedly told the press that he had not been drinking that night, claiming that his failed field sobriety test was due to a misunderstanding related to hearing loss from his time in the National Guard. The campaign also claimed that Walz was allowed to drive himself to jail that night.
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Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in Ankara today. | Adem Altan/AFP via Getty Images | CEASEFIRE SOON? — A fresh round of cease-fire talks among the United States, Israel and Middle East mediators began this afternoon, as Gaza’s health authority said the number of people killed in the besieged enclave exceeded 40,000. Delegations from the U.S., Israel, Egypt and Qatar met in Doha today to broker an end to the grinding war in Gaza. A spokesperson for Hamas told American public broadcaster NPR that it would not take part in the talks, as it had already presented its own peace proposal. The latest round of negotiations aims to build on a three-phase peace plan from the U.S., announced in a televised address by President Joe Biden on May 31 and endorsed by the United Nations Security Council, which calls for withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and the release of Israeli and Palestinian hostages and prisoners. In a joint statement last Friday, American, Egyptian and Qatari leaders said there was “no further time to waste nor excuses from any party for further delay” on a peace deal, adding they were “prepared to present a final bridging proposal” today. GIVE PEACE A CHANCE — Belarusian President and key Putin ally Aleksandr Lukashenko has called for peace between Russia and Ukraine as Kyiv’s incursion into the Kursk region of Russia enters its third week. His plea, broadcast to Belarusian state media and published in part on his website, is set to be featured on Russian state-owned channel Rossia 1 on Sunday. Referring to the two-and-a-half-year conflict which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and has left hundreds of thousands dead, Lukashenko said: “Let’s sit down at the negotiating table and end this scuffle.” “Neither the Ukrainian people, nor the Russians, nor the Belarusians need it,” he continued in the interview. “It’s them in the West, who need [the war]. I cannot reveal these facts, they are absolutely classified. But sometimes they speak openly — high-ranking people. Saying, let them beat each other — Ukrainians, Russians — let everyone die in this cauldron.” Under Lukashenko, who is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Belarus has allowed Russian troops to attack Ukraine through its territory. Russia has also stationed nuclear weapons in Belarus, to the chagrin of the European Union.
| | | | A YEAR OF CALIFORNIA CLIMATE: A year ago, the California Climate newsletter was created with a goal in mind — to be your go-to source for cutting-edge climate policy reporting in the Golden State. From covering Gov. Newsom's crucial China trip to leading the coverage on California's efforts to Trump-proof its climate policies, we've been at the forefront of the climate conversation. Join us for year two if you haven’t already, subscribe now. | | | | | | | | | | $6 billion The amount that will be saved due to Medicare price negotiations, the White House announced today. The new prices across 10 drugs will go into effect in 2026. | | | | PUBLIC POLITICS — How do you express your political and social views? In Chile, some artists are doing it in public spaces on walls. Described as a “nation of muralists,” public buildings or blank walls are often used as places to convey political discontent or hope. In Santiago in particular, some artists have taken months to transform public spaces into beautiful and socially conscious art. Part of the appeal, according to the artists themselves, is that the space is public — it doesn’t end up in someone’s private gallery or on view for only a few people to see. In that way, the making of the art is a political message in and of itself. John Barlett reports from Santiago for The Guardian.
| | |  On this date in 1990: Some of the 100,000 people who gathered at Kim II Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the liberation of Korea from Japanese rule. | Vincent Yu/AP | Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
