'Weird': The Word of the Political Moment

It was unprecedented for President Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 race 100 days before the election, but that's not what sparked a spat between Democrats and Republicans.

Since then, Vice President Kamala Harris, a younger, more meme-able candidate, has entered the race, and her surrogates have labeled opponents Donald Trump and Sen. JD Vance as "weirdos."

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, reportedly a potential VP pick, may have started this trend. Here's how it unfolded:

'These Are Weird People on the Other Side'

"These are weird people on the other side...They wanna take books away, they wanna be in your exam room...Listen to them speak, listen to how they talk about things."
-- Tim Walz, Gov. of Minnesota

Days after Biden's exit, Walz made these comments in an interview with MSNBC. The next day, the Harris campaign posted an edited video of Vance's viral remarks on Diet Mountain Dew and racism, captioned: "It's getting weird..." Since then, prominent Democrats like Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have echoed this message.

On CNN's "State of the Union", Walz explained his use of "weird":

"Listen to the guy...he's talking about Hannibal Lecter, shocking sharks...just whatever crazy thing pops into his mind...When you just ratchet down some of the scariness...my observation is, have you ever seen the guy laugh?"
-- Tim Walz, Minnesota Governor

Republicans Fire Back

Vance hit back, posting a video of Harris introducing herself with her pronouns, captioned: "JD Vance is weird." Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz joined in, tweeting a video of Walz with the caption: "The party of gender blockers and drag shows for kids is calling us weird? Ok."

Vivek Ramaswamy, a former Republican presidential candidate, called the Dem strategy "dumb & juvenile":

"This is a presidential election...not a high school prom queen contest. It’s also ironic coming from the party that preaches 'diversity & inclusion.' Win on policy if you can, but cut the crap."

Expert Opinion: 'Weird' as 'Extreme and Out of Step'

Costas Panagopoulos, a political scientist, said "weird" suggests Republicans are out of touch with Americans:

"You're reinforcing...their policy positions and views are extreme, out of step with the average person in America, and therefore different."
-- Costas Panagopoulos, Political Scientist, Northeastern University

Panagopoulos also noted the word's effectiveness due to its simplicity. However, he warned that it could become stale if overused by both parties, losing its impact.