Why Republicans are calling Walz 'Tampon Tim' — and why Democrats embrace it

Caption

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, pictured at a campaign rally in Philadelphia on Tuesday, is getting attention for a law he signed last year requiring public schools to provide free period products. / AP

For more on the 2024 election, head to the NPR Network's live updates page.

Republican critics of Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz have given him a new nickname: “Tampon Tim.”

After Vice President Harris announced her pick, Stephen Miller, a former adviser to former President Donald Trump, tweeted, “She actually chose Tampon Tim.” Chaya Raichik, who runs the far-right social media account Libs of TikTok, photoshopped Walz’s face onto a Tampax box.

“Tampon Tim is hands down the best political nickname ever,” tweeted conservative commentator Liz Wheeler. “It’s so… savagely effective. In one word tells you EVERYTHING you need to know about Tim Walz’s dangerous radicalism.”

The moniker refers to a law that Walz, the governor of Minnesota, signed last year, requiring public schools to provide menstrual products — including pads and tampons — to students in 4th through 12th grades.

The products are free for students, with the state paying about $2 per pupil to keep them stocked throughout the school year.

The law, which was the result of years of advocacy by students and their allies, took effect on Jan. 1, though students say the rollout has so far been smoother in some school districts than others.

It makes Minnesota one of 28 states (and Washington D.C.) that have passed laws aimed at giving students access to menstrual products in schools, according to the Alliance for Period Supplies.

The issue enjoys broad popular support: 30 states have eliminated state sales tax on menstrual products, and Trump himself signed a 2018 package that requires federal prisons to provide them.

But Republicans appear to be taking issue with the wording of the legislation, which says the products must be available “to all menstruating students in restrooms regularly used by students.”

Some Minnesota Republicans initially tried to limit the initiative to female-assigned and gender-neutral bathrooms, but were unsuccessful. Even the author of that amendment ultimately voted for the final version of the bill, saying his family members “felt like it was an important issue I should support.”

The bill’s inclusive language reflects that not all people who menstruate are women, and not all women get periods, which was important to those who lobbied for the legislation.

“It will make it more comfortable for everyone … then people can use whatever restroom they want without being worried,” Bramwell Lundquist, then 15, told MPR News last year.

But some in the Republican Party — which has increasingly promoted anti-transgender policies and rhetoric — see that aspect of the bill as a reason to attack Walz.

“Tim Walz is a weird radical liberal,” the MAGA War Room account posted on X, formerly Twitter. “What could be weirder than signing a bill requiring schools to stock tampons in boys' bathrooms?”

Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt made a similar argument in a Tuesday appearance on Fox News.

“As a woman, I think there is no greater threat to our health than leaders who support gender-transition surgeries for young minors, who support putting tampons in men’s bathrooms in public schools,” she said. “Those are radical policies that Tim Walz supports. He actually signed a bill to do that.”

LGBTQ rights groups have cheered Walz’s selection and praised his track record, which includes a 2023 executive order making Minnesota one of the first states to safeguard access to gender-affirming health care, as dozens of states seek to ban it.

Walz, who once earned the title “most inspiring teacher” at the high school where he taught and coached football, hasn’t responded publicly to the “Tampon Tim” taunts. But he had strong words for his Republican opponents on Tuesday night.

“I'll just say it: Donald Trump and JD Vance are creepy and, yes, weird,” he tweeted, repeating the put-down he helped popularize in recent days. “We are not going back.”

Many on the left see “Tampon Tim” as a compliment

Democratic Minnesota Rep. Sandra Feist, the chief sponsor of the bill in the state House, sold it as a "wise investment", explaining to her colleagues last year that “one out of every 10 menstruating youth miss school” due to a lack of access to menstrual products and resources.

She defended it again in a tweet on Wednesday morning, saying she was grateful to have partnered with Walz to address period poverty.

“This law exemplifies what we can accomplish when we listen to students to address their needs,” she wrote. “Excited to see MN representation at the top of the ticket!”

Feist ended the tweet with the hashtag #TamponTim.

Other Democratic figures have embraced both the hashtag and the policy behind it.

Many social media users responded that providing tampons in schools isn’t the bad thing that Republicans are making it out to be — and in fact, they see it as the opposite.

Former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said it was “nice of the Trump camp to help publicize Gov. Tim Walz’s compassionate and common-sense policy,” adding, “Let’s do this everywhere.”

Former Georgia State Rep. Bee Nguyen said Walz, as a former teacher, understands how the lack of access to menstrual products impacts educational outcomes.

“This makes me an even bigger fan of Tampon Tim,” she added.

Nearly 1 in 4 students have struggled to afford period products in the United States, according to a 2023 study commissioned by Thinx and PERIOD. Experts say period poverty is more than just a hassle: It’s an issue of public and personal health, dignity and more.

The Minnesota students who lobbied for the bill testified last year about having to miss class because they were unable to afford menstrual products, being distracted from schoolwork and tests and feeling that adults didn’t take their concern seriously.

“We cannot learn while we are leaking,” high school student Elif Ozturk, then 16, told a legislative hearing in 2023. “How do we expect our students to carry this burden with them during the school day and still perform well? The number one priority should be to learn, not to find a pad.”