Conservatives tried to start a conspiracy about Tim Walz's dog, Scout. It backfired.

In a “gotcha” moment gone wrong, a user on X, formerly Twitter, tried to claim that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was lying about owning a dog named Scout.

Since Walz entered the 2024 race as Vice President Kamala Harris ’ running mate, conservatives have been attempting to find something – anything – to discredit his “ Midwestern Nice ” public persona.

“Yes, this is Tim Walz tweeting about his dog Scout,” Dustin Grage posted. “Only problem is that these are two completely different dogs.”

Grage, who identifies himself as a “Minnesota GOP Hype Man” and a columnist on conservative site Townhall.com, posted side-by-side photos of Walz with two different dogs.

One photo showed the Minnesota governor wishing his dog Scout a happy birthday; in the second photo, Walz was crouched down on the ground at a dog park, petting a dog that was distinctly not Scout. “Couldn’t think of a better way to spend a beautiful fall day than at the dog park. I know Scout enjoyed it,” Walz shared.

X users quickly pointed out that the photos showed two different dogs and that Walz’s Scout was just out of frame in the second photo. In a video of the moment posted to Walz’s Instagram in October 2022, you can see the governor petting both dogs.

The figurative dog pile – and Community Note – soon followed. “The dog in the second photo is one Tim Walz met while taking Scout (from the first photo) to the dog park,” read the Community Note “Full video from that moment available on Tim Walz’s Instagram .”

One user responded, “Case solved: there are other dogs at the dog park besides Scout.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Conservatives tried to start a conspiracy about Tim Walz's dog, Scout. It backfired.