Social media erupted Wednesday afternoon as Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) took the stage in Wisconsin. But Walz shut down his speech momentarily when he saw someone fall ill under the hot Eau Claire sun.
Looking out across the large crowd gathered, Walz spotted the person off to his left, whom he immediately asked from the podium, "Can we get somebody to help?" He called, asking if someone could give the person water, noting the heat.
"You okay? Drink some water, folks, it is hot out. Thank y'all. Can you get water?" he asked a staffer off stage.
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"Thank you all for helping. Grateful. Thank you," he said, watching the incident unfold while a bank of cameras observed the silence.
"Take care of one another on this," Walz said. "This is why we gather. Look, it's hot. It is hot."
He told the crowd the person was being helped.
"They've got folks here. We'll make sure we're okay, but I have to tell you all, again, in all seriousness, to come and gather like this to talk about our freedoms, the ability to talk about what could be good, and I have to say, this idea of caring for our neighbor and kindness and a hand up when somebody needs it, or just the sense that people go through things, and to be able to be there when they need it, that's who we are," said Walz.
"It's not about mocking, it's not about name calling," he continued. "We see it amongst them. Thank you, all. They do. Thank you all. We're okay. We have someone down — they're treating him. They're getting him some water, and it's good. He's going to get up. You guys need some water too? We'll ask them. Can you see if they have some more water. That would be great."
Walz was shouting off stage to a staffer asking if they could pass out water to the audience.
"Take care of your neighbors," he reminded the audience.
The moment was a shock to those watching on television. Jennifer Mercieca, a professor of rhetoric, called it an example of "#BigDadEnergy." It has been a hashtag used by supporters who point out Walz's knack for helping people fix things on their cars or around their homes.
See the moment below or at the link here.