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A newly-surfaced phone call from 2020 has captured Donald Trump saying he was “very happy” with Tim Walz’s handling of the unrest which swept Minneapolis after George Floyd’s murder – undermining the Republican criticism which has poured in since Walz was tapped as Kamala Harris’s running mate this week.
As Minnesota governor, Walz oversaw the state’s response to the protests and riots which were triggered when white police officer Derek Chauvin murdered Floyd on Memorial Day 2020.
Peaceful protests, but also some looting and arson attacks, spread throughout the state, with more than 1,000 buildings destroyed and hundreds of millions of dollars worth of damage caused. Two people lost their lives, while 600 people were arrested in the city.
Walz ultimately deployed more than 7,000 National Guard members.
However, Republicans have slammed Walz for the speed at which he deployed the guardsmen, coming three days after Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey asked him for the assistance. A report published by the then-Republican state senate in October 2020 claimed that his “hesitation cost Minnesotans their lives, communities, and livelihoods.”
But now a leaked recording of a 2020 phone call between Trump and a group of governors, including Walz, has poured cold water on those attacks.
In the audio, shared on X by Harris’s campaign, on Wednesday, Trump is heard praising Walz for his actions.
“He’s an excellent guy. You’ve got a big National Guard out there that’s ready to come in and fight like hell,” he says.
“I tell you, the best – what they did in Minneapolis was incredible. They went in and dominated, and it happened immediately.”
Trump continues: “I was very happy with the last couple of days, Tim. You called up big numbers and the big numbers knocked them out so fast it was like bowling pins.”
In the two days since Walz was crowned Harris’s vice presidential pick, his handling of the summer protests has become one of the Republican party’s most vocal lines of attack.
“He allowed rioters to burn down the streets of Minneapolis,” Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance told Fox News on Tuesday.
Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt parroted a similar attack. “Governor Walz allowed Minneapolis to burn for days, despite President Trump’s offer to deploy soldiers and cries for help from the liberal Mayor of Minneapolis,” she told ABC News.
Earlier this month, Walz said of the matter that Frey did not hand over adequate information to provide the guardsmen a mission earlier.
“Decisions were made in a situation that is what it is,” he said at a Capitol press conference.
“And I simply believe that we tried to do the best we can in each of those.”
