Social media was abuzz on Tuesday after an unearthed video of the wife of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ running mate recounting her actions during the 2020 Minneapolis riots went viral.
Gwen Waltz is the First Lady of Minnesota and wife of Democratic Governor Tim Waltz. She has been selected by Vice President Harris as her running mate for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination.
A crucial part of Walz’s record as governor has been his response to the death of George Floyd in the state in 2020, which sparked nationwide protests against racism and police brutality.
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An image of Minnesota First Lady Gwen Waltz and the 2020 riots in Minnesota. (Getty Images)
“We had another sleepless night during the riots,” Waltz’s wife told KSTP in July 2020. “We could smell the tires burning and it was real. We had the windows down for as long as we could because we felt that was a test of what was going on.”
As the video began circulating on social media, conservative commentators expressed surprise at Gwen Waltz’s comments.
“What do you call this? Bizarre? Unusual? Strange? Unconventional? Bizarre?” says Noah Rothman, a senior writer at National Review Online. “It must describe the cathartic delight one gets from burning down other people’s property.”
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“It’s very disturbing,” journalist Abigail Shrier said. “We need to know more about the Waltz family.”
Dustin Grage, president of a conservative consulting firm based in Minnesota, He said the comments were “bizarre.” “her [Walz’s] She also coordinated with the rioters to let them know the National Guard would be out all night.”
“Everything you need to know about the left-wing elites can be found in this short clip,” said Daily Wire host Matt Walsh. I said it with X“Tim Waltz’s wife sat by her window during the Floyd riots, enjoying the smell of poor neighborhoods burning. She did everything but play the violin.”
Governor Walz has come under fire for his response to the riots, with conservatives accusing him of doing nothing while the state was engulfed in violence.
Vice President Kamala Harris, a 2024 Democratic presidential candidate, praised her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, as he spoke at Temple University’s Liacoras Center in Philadelphia on Tuesday, the first day of a tour of battleground states. (Matthew Hatcher/AFP via Getty Images)
As a result of the delayed response, hundreds of businesses in Minneapolis and St. Paul were devastated and had to turn to local governments for help in recovering, in addition to what they had lost during the disaster. Pandemic-related closures.
First Lady Walz said she was aware that Minnesota was under national scrutiny at the time.
“With COVID-19, the whole state was watching what Tim did,” Walz said, “but with Mr. Floyd’s death, the whole country, the whole world, was watching how we responded to it in Minnesota.”
Riots, looting linked to George Floyd protests leave a trail of destruction in cities across US
With Walz in the national spotlight, his record has come under renewed scrutiny, with Republican critics criticizing how both he and Harris handled the 2020 crisis.
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“Minnesota is The 2020 BLM Riots“Harris incited the insurrection while Walz stood by and allowed Minneapolis to burn,” said Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis.
Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee and former President Trump’s running mate, on Tuesday criticized Walz’s 2020 record and called his addition to the Democratic field an “interesting tag team.”
“If you think back to the riots of the summer of 2020, Tim Walz is the guy who got rioters to burn down Minneapolis,” he said, referring to the riots that began in Minnesota following the death of Floyd during an arrest in Minneapolis. “And Kamala Harris He’s the one who bailed the rioters out of jail.”
