The Hollywood clapback Tim Walz never saw coming

BS BRIEF:

Reality TV personality and former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt jumped into the national debate Friday, posting a sharply worded response after Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz defended the pardon of Tou Lue Vang, who was later deported by the Trump administration.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has defended the deportation, saying he revoked Vang’s legal status after the Minnesota Board of Pardons granted clemency, allowing federal immigration authorities to remove him from the United States.
The controversy continues to grow nationally, drawing reactions from members of Congress, administration officials and conservative commentators following Walz’s remarks questioning whether the deportation made Americans safer.

SPENCER PRATT JOINS GROWING CHORUS OF CRITICS AS WALZ PARDON CONTROVERSY CONTINUES

The political fallout surrounding Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s decision to support a pardon for convicted child sex offender Tou Lue Vang expanded again Friday after television personality and former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt weighed in with a social media post that quickly spread across conservative circles.

Pratt reacted to video of Walz defending the clemency decision following Vang’s deportation from the United States by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“If you find yourself defending a child molester, saying: ‘WE can’t be judged by OUR worst day,’ you probably need to have your hard drives checked,” Pratt wrote on X.

Pratt’s comments were aimed at remarks Walz made earlier this week after Rubio announced that Vang had been removed from the country.

If you find yourself defending a child molester, saying: “WE can’t be judged by OUR worst day”, you probably need to have your hard drives checked. pic.twitter.com/hU4mj7wfKt

— Spencer Pratt (@spencerpratt) July 17, 2026

Asked about the deportation, Walz said:

“Did that make us any safer? Did that make the children that are left behind any more stable? Did it improve the idea that we can’t all be judged by our worst day?”

Walz also described Vang’s offenses as “horrific” while defending the broader purpose of Minnesota’s clemency process.

The case stems from a June 10 decision by the Minnesota Board of Pardons, made up of Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison and Chief Justice Natalie Hudson, to grant clemency to Tou Lue Vang, a Laotian national convicted of repeatedly sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl between 2002 and 2004. During the original investigation, authorities said Vang told police that “it is a cultural thing… to marry and have sex with girls as young as 12.”

Although the pardon removed state-level consequences of the conviction, it did not prevent federal immigration enforcement.

Rubio announced last week that he had terminated Vang’s legal status, allowing the Department of Homeland Security to complete his deportation.

In announcing the action, Rubio said Vang “will never pose a threat to any American ever again.” Federal officials argued that immigration enforcement remained independent of Minnesota’s pardon decision.

Pratt’s comments quickly prompted reactions from several Republican elected officials.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer posted:

“I couldn’t agree more, @spencerpratt. Tim Walz has ZERO morals. He is a disgrace to Minnesota!”

South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace added:

“To think… he was almost the Vice President.”

Florida congressional candidate Tim Wilkins also criticized Walz, writing:

“I didn’t used to understand the phrase, ‘bring common sense to DC,’ but it becomes more apparent every day that it’s missing at every level of government. This is insanity.”

I didn’t used to understand the phrase, “bring common sense to DC,” but it becomes more apparent every day that it’s missing at every level of government. This is insanity. https://t.co/2TXmKNTWfh

— Tim Wilkins for Congress (@TimWilkinsFL) July 17, 2026

The State Department also sharply criticized the pardon this week.

Assistant Secretary Dylan Johnson called it “a grave and unconscionable betrayal of the very people he is supposed to defend,” arguing that the federal government’s removal of Vang prioritized public safety.

The controversy has become one of the highest-profile disputes this month over the intersection of state clemency powers and federal immigration enforcement, with supporters of the deportation emphasizing public safety and Walz defending Minnesota’s clemency process as one focused on rehabilitation and second chances.