A Cabinet-level political appointee of Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz had his walls decorated with posters of brutal communist dictators, according to a photo posted on Facebook in December 2021. The photo was discovered by a Minnesota resident and shared with Fox News Digital.
Ida Rukavina, director of the Minnesota Department of Iron Mine Resources and Rehabilitation, was appointed by Walz in 2022 to oversee economic development in the northeastern part of the state, home to the world's largest untapped copper and nickel reserves.
According to the metadata attached to the image, Rukavina posted a photo of her dog on Facebook on December 19, 2021, but the image appears to have been deleted. In the background, posters of communist leaders Mao Zedong and Che Guevara were clearly visible on the walls. Posters of Mao Zedong, China's communist dictator from the late 1940s until his death in 1976, whose policies are blamed for the deaths of millions of people, include images frequently praised during his reign. It included the communist slogan “Revolution is innocent.''
Meanwhile, a poster celebrating Guevara, a prominent communist who murdered and tortured hundreds of political opponents during the Cuban revolution, was paired with a novel about his life on Lukavina's bookshelf.
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An image from a now-deleted December 2021 Facebook post by Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board member Ida Rukavina shows her wall decorated with communist posters. has been done. (Aida Rukavina/Facebook)
Fox News Digital reached out to both Rukavina and the Walz campaign several times, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
Rukavina's affinity for communist leaders comes amid scrutiny over Waltz's ties to communist China. By his own admission, the governor has visited the country several times, including on a 1993 trip paid for by the Chinese government. Mr. Walz, a former social studies teacher, often accompanied his students on these trips, one of whom described the governor-turned-vice presidential candidate as saying: “He is a Maoist through and through.”
Rukavina is Waltz tapped to confirm. “The communities of northeastern Minnesota have the resources they need to thrive.” Part of the region Rukavina oversees includes one of the only major domestic sources of nickel in the United States. The United States currently exports nickel from a variety of countries, including Russia, Canada, and Norway.
In 2024, the United States experienced a negative trade deficit of $79.4 million in raw nickel. According to the Observatory of Economic Complexity.
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Ida Rukavina, Commissioner of the Minnesota Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Authority, and Deputy Commissioner. (Minnesota Iron Range Department of Resources and Rehabilitation)
Rukavina is the daughter of the late Democratic Minnesota congressman Tom Rukavina, who is said to have had communist and socialist sympathies.
“Tommy Rukavina is what I used to call 'Communist Tommy' on the House floor,” joked Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.). In a statement praising his relationship With a dead politician.
Meanwhile, according to local news outlets, Rukavina once boasted that he was the last socialist in the Minnesota state legislature. Pioneer Press. “He's gotten a little more conservative as he's gotten older. He's a socialist now,” former Democratic state Rep. Carly Mellin said, local news outlets added.
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The late Tom Rukavina served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1987 to 2013. (Charles Bjorgen/Star Tribune via Getty Images)
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Meanwhile, last week, Daily Caller News Foundation One of Walz's other political appointees in Minnesota turned out to be a member of China's third-largest political party. The party has been given permission to operate in the communist country because it has promised to “rally closely around” its outlet, the Communist Party of China Central Committee. Reported.
The appointed Minnesota attorney, Zhang Wang, was selected by Walz in 2020 to serve on the Minnesota Council of Asia-Pacific Minnesota. The council advises “the Governor, the Legislature, state agencies, organizations and the public of the Asia-Pacific region.” Issues affecting the Chinese community in Minnesota. According to the newspaper, Mr. Wang is currently the vice-chairman of the council. His profile on the council's official government website; His term is scheduled to end in January 2025.
