Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who has been chosen as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate in the 2024 election, has been facing renewed scrutiny over his handling of the 2020 riots in Minneapolis.
Walz, who was the governor at the time, initially claimed responsibility for preventing further unrest in the city following the death of George Floyd. “The responsibility to ensure it doesn’t happen falls upon me, and I will do everything in my power to do that,” Walz told the media on May 29, 2020, when asked if “we’re not going to see a repeat of the unrest last night, tonight or for the rest of the weekend.”
However, despite his claims, Minneapolis continued to experience widespread rioting and destruction following Floyd’s death.
Many critics, including local residents and Republican lawmakers, have argued that Walz’s response to the unrest was too slow and ineffective. They point to his initial hesitation to deploy the National Guard, which was ultimately called in several days after the riots began.
“I called the White House after [four] days of unbridled rioting with the Governor frozen on what to do,” Republican state Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on July 28. “I know that Gov[.] Walz and Pres[ident] Trump talked. I know Walz finally brought the Guard out in full for the next night. But Walz was [three] days too late. Pressure may have made him move.”
Adding to the controversy, Gwen Walz, the governor’s wife, made comments about the riots that were widely perceived as insensitive.
“Again we had more sleepless nights during the riots,” Walz’s wife told KSTP in July 2020. “I could smell the burning tires, and that was a very real thing. And I kept the windows open as long as I could because I felt like that was such a touchstone of what was happening.”
Critics slammed these remarks as “bizarre” and “weird,” arguing that they trivialized the destruction and suffering caused by the riots.
As the 2024 election heats up, this controversial episode in Walz’s past is likely to become a point of contention. Republicans are likely to use it as evidence of Walz’s weakness and ineffectiveness, while Democrats will defend his record and argue that he was doing his best to navigate a difficult situation.
The extent to which this issue impacts the election remains to be seen, but it is certain to be a topic of discussion in the coming months.
