Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images, Jim Vondruska/Getty Images.
Dear Commons Community,
In the hours after Vice President Kamala Harris announced Governor Tim Walz as her running mate, allies of former President Donald Trump rushed to denigrate the Minnesota Democrat, seizing on criticism of his handling of the riots in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in May 2020.
“He allowed rioters to burn down the streets of Minneapolis,” JD Vance, the Republican candidate for vice president, said Tuesday.
But at the time, Trump expressed support for Walz’s handling of the protests, according to a recording of a phone call obtained by ABC News — telling a group of governors that Walz “dominated,” and praising his leadership as an example for other states to follow. Here is a partial text of what Trump said in the phone call.
“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,” Trump says in the call.
“I was very happy with the last couple of days, Tim,” he adds. “You called up big numbers and the big numbers knocked them out so fast it was like bowling pins.”
Later in the call Trump praises Walz as an “excellent guy.”
The audio undercuts GOP recent comments of Walz’s handling of the protests.
Trump and company will have to find some other criticism.
Tony
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