The message of individual liberty of Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee in the 2024 election, clashes with his record during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Minnesota governor made his campaign debut Tuesday at a rally in Philadelphia alongside Democratic presidential candidate and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, where he delivered sharp criticism of the Republican Party.
“Some of us are old enough to remember when Republicans talked about freedom,” Walz told the audience. “We now know that what they meant was that the government should be free to invade doctors’ offices.”
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Vice President of the United States and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris applauded her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, as he spoke at Temple University’s Liacoras Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the first day of his “Battleground States Tour.” (Matthew Hatcher/AFP via Getty Images)
He continued, “In Minnesota,[…]There is a golden rule: Focus on yourself.
Conservative activists have pushed back against Walz’s self-description, pointing to his record on coronavirus lockdowns and parental rights.
“He should follow his own advice, because not only did he close schools and make kids wear masks during the pandemic, he encouraged neighbors to snitch on each other over taking their kids to the playground,” said Tiffany Justice, co-founder of Moms for Liberty.
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Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris addresses the crowd at a presidential campaign rally in Atlanta, Georgia. (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Critics point to Gov. Walz’s memo requiring masks to be worn indoors during the COVID-19 pandemic, which went into effect in 2020 and expired in 2021.
The Upper Midwest Law Center sued, arguing the mandate was unconstitutional, but an appeals court ruled In the end, he sided with Waltz.
Last year, Governor Walz established a COVID-19 hotline for Minnesota residents to call authorities if they suspected their neighbors were violating lockdown measures.
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Minnesota Governor Tim Walz spoke at the Local Heroes Showcase at the St. Paul Union Depot in Saint Paul, Minnesota. (Matt Krohn – USA Today Sports)
“From overseeing the nation’s largest COVID-19 fraud scheme, to soliciting neighbors to snitch on each other for violating lockdown orders, to forcing hospitalized COVID patients to return to nursing home facilities …” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer told the New York Post. “Tim Walz has proven throughout the pandemic that he is incapable of leadership in times of crisis.”
Fox News Digital’s Chris Pandolfo, Michael Lee and Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.
