Megyn Kelly’s Claim Tim Walz ‘Forced’ Tampons Into Boys Bathrooms Debunked By Minnesota Journalist

Minnesota Star Tribune journalist Jill Burcum slammed conservative radio host Megyn Kelly’s claim that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz “forced 4th grade boys to have tampons in their school bathrooms” after her reporting debunked the narrative.

Partisan critics of Walz, who was recently named Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ running mate, have centered on a new Minnesota law signed by him that mandates public schools must “provide students with access to menstrual products at no charge.” At the time the law was being written some Minnesota Republicans tried to restrict the initiative to female-assigned and gender-neutral bathrooms but failed. Even the amendment’s author eventually supported the final bill, citing family members who felt it was important to back.

Conservatives and the Trump campaign, however, are using the measure to attack Walz as “dangerously liberal” and a “radical” when it comes to transgender issues in claiming the governor wanted to put menstrual products in boys’ school bathrooms.

Notably, there is nothing in the law’s broad and inclusive language that specifies how or where these products should be made available.

Kelly repeated the attack in an online bout with journalist Ryan Grim, repeating the MAGA nickname “Tampon Tim” first coined by former Trump advisor Stephen Miller.

Hitting back, Burcum, who is on the newspaper’s editorial board, suggested that Kelly do a “thing called journalism” before commenting and gifted a link to an article from the board that called out the former Fox News host, among others, with a “reality check on the Tampon Tim meme.”

The editorial’s robust defense of the law and its real world application read:

A specific but ill-informed attack on the new Minnesota law is in dire need of a reality check. Critics contend, wrongly, that it mandates menstrual products in boys’ bathrooms. This has unfortunately been used to stoke ongoing culture wars over transgender individuals.

Defending the law, the board praised it as “smart” and “compassionate.”

Social-media users swiftly took sides as well, and as usual, facts and context were missing, especially from those who see the new law as evidence of a radical Minnesota under Walz’s leadership. But a closer, more informed look at the issue should yield a different conclusion. This is good and necessary policy. Providing free menstrual products is a practical, compassionate remedy to address an under-the-radar reason for student absenteeism. Some families can’t afford menstrual products, and when that happens students stay home instead of going to class, falling behind as they do.

The article continued to cite Burcum’s reporting:

At Anoka-Hennepin, the state’s largest school district, the free products are not found in traditional male-only bathrooms, a spokesman said. But they are provided for free to all in “nongendered bathrooms,” girls’ bathrooms or from health staffers.

The board blasted conservatives “weaponizing” the measure to attack Walz, warning it will “backfire” in a way that will impact women.

There’s nothing radical about Minnesota’s new law. Instead it’s a smart, low-cost measure to address educational achievement gaps, one that many states are embracing. Weaponizing this measure is laughably out of touch and likely to backfire not only with women, but all who care about them.

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