Trump praised Walz in 2020 over handling of George Floyd protests

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/08/07/trump-praised-walz-2020-george-floyd-protests-00173152

 Donald Trump praised Tim Walz’s response as Minnesota governor to civil justice protests in 2020, undercutting a Republican line of attack against the newly minted vice presidential candidate, according to a recording that emerged Wednesday.

Trump — who wanted state authorities to take tough measures to address the civil unrest that erupted around the nation in response to the killing by police of George Floyd in Minneapolis — told governors on a conference call that Walz responded well.

“I know Gov. Walz is on the phone, and we spoke, and I fully agree with the way he handled it the last couple of days,” he said, according to a recording of the call obtained by ABC News.

The remarks were reported at the time but they re-emerged after Kamala Harris announced Walz as her running mate and the Trump campaign launched attacks on the Minnesota governor’s response to the unrest.

Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance said Tuesday during a rally that Walz “allowed rioters to burn down the streets of Minneapolis” and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) claimed in a post on X that Walz “did nothing while Minneapolis burned.”

Campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt repeated the criticism in a statement to POLITICO, saying that Walz “allowed Minneapolis to burn for days.” She portrayed Trump’s comments on the call as grudging.