Former President Trump recently criticized Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D) during his campaign for his handling of the 2020 George Floyd protests, though he praised the governor in a phone call at the time.
In a previously obtained call, PBS News Hour Reported on Wednesday ABC NewsPresident Trump cited the protests in Minneapolis in May 2020 after George Floyd was killed by police.
“I know Governor Walz spoke to me on the call and I completely agree with the way he’s handled it over the last few days, and I asked him to do that,” Trump said during a call with governors in 2020 during the height of Black Lives Matter protests. CNN also reported on the story at the time.
Trump’s comments contrast with his recent remarks about Waltz, who was named Tuesday as Harris’ running mate in the upcoming presidential election.
At the time, President Trump said on a conference call that people had occupied police stations and called the city a “laughing stock. ” Trump claimed that at his urging, Governor Walz had called in the National Guard to help with the protests.
“I’ve never seen anything like this. The whole world was laughing at me. I spoke to the governor two or three days later, and I think he said it on the phone, and he’s a great guy,” Trump said, adding, “I said we have to use the National Guard.”
“At first they didn’t, but then they started to do so,” Trump continued.
Governor Walz has come under criticism from some Republicans for being slow to activate the National Guard to quell the protests.
In a later conference call, the former president said he was “very pleased” with Walz’s decision to deploy more police to the protests. “You had a lot of cops, and they knocked them down like bowling pins,” Trump said.
Trump on Wednesday called Walz’s announcement a “shocking choice” because he’s a “very liberal guy.” He pointed to the Minneapolis riots, saying they were the only time he interacted with Walz while in office.
The Hill has reached out to the Harris-Waltz and Trump campaigns for comment.
