Jake Tapper slams people yelling slur outside Tim Walz’s house: 'Stop being awful'

Jake Tapper was responding to a clip that showed people in a black SUV driving past Tim Walz’s Minnesota home while yelling the slur 'r****d'
UPDATED DEC 28, 2025
Jake Tapper urged people to 'stop promoting awfulness with your algorithms' after a viral clip showed people yelling a slur outside Tim Walz’s Minnesota home (Getty Images)
Jake Tapper urged people to 'stop promoting awfulness with your algorithms' after a viral clip showed people yelling a slur outside Tim Walz’s Minnesota home (Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC: CNN journalist Jake Tapper criticized demonstrators who were filmed yelling a derogatory slur at Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s home.

He called their behavior out, flat-out saying it’s unacceptable and telling folks to "stop being awful."

Clips of people yelling from a black SUV outside Walz’s place made the rounds online, and it didn’t take long for journalists and commentators to pile on with criticism.

Most people saw the protesters’ actions as offensive and hurtful, even as arguments over politics and leadership keep heating up.



Jake Tapper urges people to 'stop promoting awfulness'

On Saturday, December 27, Tapper took to X (formerly Twitter) to repost a video of the incident that had been originally shared by the founder of Dear America, Graham Allen, who had written, “THIS IS HILARIOUS: People are still going to Tim Walz’s house and yelling ‘r****d.'”

Allen’s post shows people in a black SUV honking their horn outside Waltz’s home and yelling the word.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 03: Jake Tapper attends
Jake Tapper attends 'Good Night, And Good Luck' Broadway Opening Night at Winter Garden Theatre on April 3, 2025, in New York City (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)

In his repost, Tapper bluntly denounced the behavior, writing, “Everyone really needs to take a breath and stop being awful, stop rewarding awfulness, and stop promoting awfulness with your algorithms.”

The journalist reminded everyone, “Happy & fulfilled & confident people don’t spend time doing any of this.”

Slur stems from Trump’s past remark about Tim Walz

This offensive slur originates from a previous uproar after President Donald Trump posted the same slur on Truth Social.



Trump called Walz "seriously r******d" for welcoming Somali immigrants to his state.

When asked about the offensive slur, Trump stood by his choice of words, telling a reporter, “Yeah, I think there’s something wrong with him. Absolutely. Sure. You have a problem with it? You know what? I think there’s something wrong with him.”



He aimed it at Walz over Minnesota’s immigration policies. When reporters asked him about it, Trump stood by what he said, claiming it was just part of his criticism of Walz’s decisions.

That defense didn’t sit well with a lot of community leaders and commentators, and the backlash was swift. Walz’s family also opened up about what’s going on.

His daughter, Hope Walz, spoke up on TikTok about all the harassment, saying the president’s words “unleashed a f**king s**tstorm” of nasty comments aimed at her, her family, and even her little brother, Gus Walz.



Gus, who’s 17, deals with a nonverbal learning disorder; his parents have said before that it makes things like spatial and visual skills a lot tougher for him.

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