Far-right podcaster Ben Shapiro's attempt to mock Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate Tim Walz by comparing him to a beloved comic did not go over the way he hoped it would.
Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Shapiro said:
“Weird move for Kamala to select Marxist Don Rickles, but here we are.”
You can see his post below.
Rickles, who died in 2017 at the age of 90, was highly regarded for his insult comedy and for his many talk show appearances, particularly on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and The Late Show with David Letterman. He also starred in the sitcom C.P.O. Sharkey and was the star of The Don Rickles Show, a variety series in which he was able to use his persona to great comedic effect.
Rickles also made his mark on film, starring in Kelly's Heroes and having a prominent supporting role in Martin Scorsese's Casino. While Rickles had a very long and fruitful career, younger fans might recognize him as the voice of the surly Mr. Potato Head in the Toy Story franchise, a role that further elevated his profile and kickstarted a slew of associated merchandise.
Shapiro's remark sure sounded like a compliment—and people were quick to mock him for it.
Shapiro's post came mere hours after Walz made headlines for making a couch joke about former President Donald Trump's own VP pick, J.D. Vance at a rally with Harris in Philadelphia
Social media has been flooded with jokes and memes suggesting that Vance once engaged in a sexual act with couch cushions. The viral claim that Vance wrote about having sex with a couch in his memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, is untrue.
On July 15, the day Vance was confirmed as Trump’s running mate, X user @rickrudescalves claimed that Vance might be the first vice-presidential pick to have admitted in a New York Times bestseller to "f***ing an inside-out latex glove shoved between two couch cushions (Vance, Hillbilly Elegy, pp. 179-181)." Vance never describes anything of the sort in his book.
But the rumor has propagated online nonetheless, and Walz made a brief joking reference to the rumor while declaring his enthusiasm to debate Vance.
Walz quipped:
"J.D. Vance literally wrote the foreword for the architect of the Project 2025 agenda. Like all regular people I grew up with in the Heartland, J.D. studied at Yale, had his career funded by Silicon Valley billionaires, and then wrote a bestseller trashing that community. C'mon! That's not what middle America is."
"And I've gotta tell you, I can't wait to debate the guy."
The rally attendees erupted into cheers and both Walz and Harris took a moment to bask in the crowd's reaction before he went in for the kill:
"That is, if he’s willing to get off his couch and show up. You see what I did there?"
Walz is also responsible for a new angle of attack against Republicans, referring to them as "weird people on the other side" and referencing their nationwide assaults on public education and saying they "want to take books away" and "want to be in your exam room."
Democrats appear to have gained a messaging advantage since President Joe Biden withdrew from the 2024 race and endorsed Harris to be his successor, as well as a polling advantage, with VP Harris now leading Trump by more than 2 points in 538's polling average.
