Walz did not offer House speaker to Ocasio-Cortez during livestream

"CONFIRMED: The Nancy Pelosi-fication of AOC is complete, Tim Walz promises her a position as Speaker of the House," says an October 27 X post sharing the three-second clip.

The post then quotes the Minnesota governor as saying: "We're gonna win this election. We're gonna make you put a gavel in your hand in the House."

Far-right activist Laura Loomer shared a similar claim the same day.

"Tim Walz just told AOC she has a good chance of being SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE under a Harris-Walz administration," she says in an X post.

Both posts include a short clip of an October 27 Twitch livestream, during which Walz and Democratic US Representative Ocasio-Cortez, known by the initials AOC, played "Madden NFL 25" and discussed politics (archived here).

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Screenshots of X posts taken October 30, 2024

The claim circulated elsewhere on X, Instagram and other platforms. Fox News also amplified the claim in an X post and an article.

With less than a week until Election Day on November 5, the White House contest remained in a dead heat, with Vice President Harris and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump offering two starkly contrasting visions for the United States. Both campaigns have done outreach to gamers to try and woo support from young men. 

Walz has been repeatedly targeted by false claims since joining the Democratic ticket in August, several of which AFP has debunked.

The latest posts are similarly false -- the video is misleadingly shortened to take Walz's words out of context.

Walz's remarks followed Ocasio-Cortez's mention that she serves on the bipartisan Task Force on Artificial Intelligence (archived here). She is also the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources and could become chair if Democrats win the House, which Republicans control by a majority of eight seats.

Walz told Ocasio-Cortez that Democrats would "put a gavel in your hand in the House -- maybe for that committee so we can get something done." The clip circulating online omits the second part of the statement.

He continued: "I think for your listeners to understand, when you’re in the House of Representatives, whoever has the gavel, that’s pretty much everything, makes the decision. So if you want folks who actually have a to-do list and want to get it done, stay engaged."

It is not only the House speaker who holds a gavel; chairs of every committee and subcommittee also hold them in their respective hearings. There were 20 standing House committees and 104 subcommittees as of October 30.

The White House does not select the House speaker, either -- the chamber elects them. 

Ocasio-Cortez addressed the claims about Walz in an October 28, 2024 X post (archived here).

"He said we’d get gavels. There are over 100 gavels in the House. I am currently the Ranking Member of Energy & Mineral Resources. If Dems win the majority & I stay on the subcommittee, we'd all get gavels."

Fox News later updated its article to include Walz's full comments.

More of AFP's reporting on political misinformation is available here.