Tim Walz, the second-term Minnesota governor with a folksy demeanor and experience inside and out of government, gained a spot on the Democratic ticket as Kamala Harris’ vice presidential choice. The former high school geography teacher and National Guard veteran, who helped enact a long list of progressive policy priorities in Minnesota, could win over voters in Midwestern swing states. The 60-year-old governor could face questions about his response to riots in Minneapolis after the 2020 murder of George Floyd and widespread fraud during COVID-19 under a federal program intended to feed kids, reports Minnesota Public Radio. Audits have suggested lapses in oversight by the state Department of Education.
In May 2020, Minnesota faced a moment of crisis. Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd’s neck as the Black man asked for help. Floyd died, and frustration ignited protests and riots around the city, fanned by previous incidents of Black men killed during police encounters. Walz called in thousands of National Guard soldiers and state troopers to patrol the Twin Cities, but not quickly enough to prevent the burning of a police precinct and looting of several businesses. “We cannot have the looting and the recklessness that went on, we cannot have it because we can’t function as a society and I refuse to have it take away the attention of the state that we need to be working on,” Walz said. Walz and Minneapolis Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey publicly disagreed over who should have taken charge. Republican Paul Gazelka, the former Senate majority leader, said the governor acted too late. “I felt like he froze,” Gazelka said. “And that delayed getting the National Guard out three days beyond what Mayor Frey had requested. And that’s just unacceptable to not be able to handle the crisis in a way that I think it should have been handled.” The timing of the National Guard call-up is part of the presidential race already, with Donald Trump taking credit for the soldiers being sent in after his administration’s conversations with the Walz administration.
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