Gov. Tim Walz accused of ‘massive overreach’ as VP pick’s COVID record slammed by critics: ‘Complete and utter failure’; Five Controversies Surrounding Vice Presidential Nominee Tim Walz, From DUI to COVID Fraud, and other C-Virus related stories

By admin On Aug 11, 2024

Gov. Tim Walz accused of ‘massive overreach’ as VP pick’s COVID record slammed by critics: ‘Complete and utter failure’:

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will have to defend draconian decisions and glaring errors he made as a state leader in the COVID pandemic after being selected by Kamala Harris on Tuesday as the 2024 Democratic vice presidential candidate.

Walz, 60, was one of several Democratic governors accused of “massive overreach” in wielding executive power to shutter schools, businesses and churches during the once-in-a-generation pandemic.

The Minnesota governor in 2020 even set up a hotline through which law enforcement received more than 10,000 emails from residents snitching on neighbors ignoring lockdown measures during that first year of the pandemic, Alpha News reported.

In selecting the Minnesota governor, the Harris campaign on Tuesday touted his dedication to countering Republicans who want to “roll back Americans’ rights” — saying he had “stood up for fundamental freedoms” in the past.

But that’s exactly what lawmakers and civil liberties groups accused him of not doing during the COVID years.

“From overseeing the largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in the country, to asking neighbors to tattle on one another for violating lockdown mandates, to forcing hospitalized COVID patients back in their nursing home facilities — Tim Walz proved during the pandemic he does not have the competency to lead in times of crisis,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) told The Post.

“Like the rest of his tenure as governor, Walz’s pandemic response was a complete and utter failure,” Emmer ripped his former House colleague.

The backlash came mostly from Republican lawmakers and conservative groups — but even Democrats in the state legislature were voting against Walz keeping his emergency powers based on his performance close to one year into the crisis.

“In 2020, Governor Walz unilaterally closed places of worship, schools, and businesses for several months, infringing on the rights and freedoms of Minnesotans under the guise of emergency powers,” a spokesperson for the Upper Midwest Law Center told The Post in a statement. “His heavy-handed approach during COVID-19 demonstrated a troubling disregard for constitutional freedoms and the rule of law.” —>READ MORE HERE

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Five controversies surrounding vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, from DUI to COVID fraud:

Vice President Kamala Harris has selected Midwestern governor, Army veteran and former football coach and teacher Tim Walz to be her 2024 running mate after a hurried, intense two-week vetting process.

Walz, 60, is a veteran politician who served in the U.S. Congress from 2007 until 2019, when he was elected governor of Minnesota, defeating Republican Jeff Johnson. He was re-elected to a second term in 2022 after fending off a challenge from Republican Scott Jensen.

Progressives have praised Walz’s strong support for unions and record of accomplishments as governor, which include codifying abortion rights into the state constitution, enacting universal free school breakfasts and lunches for students, regardless of income, and making Minnesota a refuge for children seeking transgender medical procedures.

This strong progressive record and Walz’s plainspoken demeanor reportedly thrilled the Harris campaign, which sought a partner who could reinforce the Democratic ticket’s strength in Midwestern battleground states. But there are several controversies tied to Walz’s tenure as governor that Republicans have already begun to use in their attacks on his record.

1995 DUI Arrest

Walz in past campaigns has sought to downplay his arrest for drunken driving in the mid-90’s, but questions about his run-in with law enforcement continue to dog him. A 2022 report by Alpha News unearthed court records that cast doubt on the version of the story Walz has told on the campaign trail.

On Sept. 23, 1995, when Walz was working as a teacher in his home state of Nebraska, he was pulled over for going 96 mph in a 55-mph zone.

In comments to reporters, Walz’s 2006 campaign for Congress in Minnesota’s 1st District insisted he was “not drunk” and blamed a “misunderstanding” with police on “Walz’s deafness,” which the governor’s then-campaign manager said had since been “surgically corrected.”