Hope Walz has gone viral for a quintessentially Midwestern clip of her parents, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and his wife Gwen, decorating their Christmas tree.
The 23-year-old took to TikTok on Wednesday (December 11) to share the video she was sent from her parents at their home in Minnesota with her 202.5k followers. Hope began the video by explaining that she wasn’t going home for Christmas this year, and shared some of her family’s holiday traditions.
“So I don’t get to go home for Christmas because I work, it’s like the busy season at one of my jobs,” Hope said. “We love Christmas as a family, Christmas is our favorite holiday. We always decorate a couple trees and our family all spends a lot of time together and we play Yahtzee.”
“I’m obviously sad I can’t go home, I didn’t get to last year either, and my family’s sad about it too,” Hope explained.
To keep the holiday spirit alive, however, Hope revealed that her parents sent her “the most hilarious video.” She decided to share the clip for those who “don’t get to go home for Christmas” or have a “different sort of relationship” with their family and “just need a little Christmas joy from people that are accepting of you no matter what.”
The TikTok then cut to the video sent by her parents Tim and Gwen, who were seen standing in front of a tall Christmas tree decorated with homemade ornaments from over the years. The former Democrat vice presidential candidate held the phone’s front camera up to their faces as they showed off their tree in the family room.
“Hey, Hope. Mom and Dad here,” Tim began, as Gwen chimed in: “Hey, Hoper-girl.”
The state governor explained to his daughter that they had just finished decorating their family Christmas tree filled with “all of the handmade ornaments.”
“We were thinking of you and I just wanted to show you a couple, we were cracking up about a couple of these,” he said.
Tim gave viewers a close-up look at their tree, including one ornament that featured an old photo of a young Hope decorated in a star.
“Here’s Gus, your brother,” Tim continued, showing an ornament of the now-17-year-old dunking a basketball.
Her parents then saved the best ornament for last – an angel Christmas tree topper made by Hope from a toilet paper roll. As Tim reached the top of the tree to place the angel, Gwen burst out into the song “Joy to the World.”
“Alright, there you go,” Tim told the camera. “I know you’re missing your Griswold family. Decorate your house for Christmas. We’re thinking of you.
“Love you, Hope. Bye,” he signed off the clip, as Gwen waved.
After sharing the clip with her followers, Hope appeared back on the screen to poke fun at her parents. “My parents are literally so midwestern,” she joked.
“Happy holidays, Merry Christmas from the Walz family. Hope you all have a peaceful, joyous time,” she concluded the TikTok.
Since it was posted, the video has been viewed more than 620,000 times. In the comments section, thousands of fans gushed over Hope’s “wholesome” video and once again praised Tim as America’s dad.
“Your family is so wholesome,” one TikToker commented. “I’m obsessed.
“Christmas with the Walz’s is a series we didn’t know we needed,” another user joked.
“I will never forgive America for not making this man VP,” someone else said.
Hope and Tim have previously shared glimpses at their close relationship on social media. After the Minnesota governor was selected by Vice President Kamala Harris as her running mate, one video resurfaced as an example of the “quintessential American experience” — aka, being trolled by your father for being vegetarian.
In September 2023, Tim and Hope visited the Minnesota State Fair, which he explained in an Instagram video is a longtime tradition for the family. As he and his daughter discussed rides at the fairgrounds, they got into a little disagreement on what food actually counts as meat.
“Then we’re going to go get some food. Corndog?” Tim told the camera. He then turned to his daughter, who reminded him: “I’m vegetarian.”
“Turkey, then,” he replied, to which Hope interjected: “Turkey’s meat.”
Without skipping a beat, the governor jokingly said in his heavy Midwestern accent: “Not in Minnesota, turkey’s special.”
Following his selection as Harris’s pick for VP, the clip once again went viral on social media as people praised the father-daughter moment. “Midwestern dad telling his daughter that turkey is actually vegetarian is the quintessential American experience,” said user Pat Dennis on X/Twitter.
“Midwestern dad energy absolutely off the charts,” another person wrote, while someone else agreed: “I’m vegan and still find this hilarious. What a wholesome father-daughter moment.”
Tim and his wife Gwen were married in 1994. Their daughter Hope was born in 2001 and their son Gus was born in 2006. Their daughter’s name also has a special meaning, as Tim has been open about their family’s struggle with infertility. Both of his children were conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF).
