- "Excellent guy": In 2020, Donald Trump praised Tim Walz for his
Donald Trump sharply criticizes Tim Walz, ever since he became the vice-presidential candidate of Trump's rival Kamala Harris. One of the charges against Walz is his handling of the riots in Minnesota in May and June 2020. At that time, the death of black George Floyd by a white police officer sparked the "Black lives matter" protests. Trump and his team now accuse Walz of being too weak and hesitant in dealing with the sometimes violent protests.
Now, an audio recording of Trump from June 1, 2020 has surfaced, which the Harris campaign team promptly shared on X - and in it, Trump speaks very differently about Walz: "What happened in Minnesota was fantastic. They went in and dominated. And they didn't hesitate." Trump even calls the governor of Minnesota an "excellent guy".
CNN confronted Trump's campaign team with these statements. A "high-ranking Trump campaign advisor" told the US channel: "What's important here is the timing and context of these remarks. He praised a governor who finally did something after days of chaos. It wasn't in real-time. It was after Walz finally did something."
Despite Trump's earlier criticism of Tim Waltz for his handling of the Minnesota riots, he praised Waltz in a June 1, 2020 audio recording, calling his response "fantastic" and an "excellent guy." When CNN questioned Trump's campaign team about the contradiction, a high-ranking advisor attributed the change in praise to the timing and context, as Waltz had allegedly taken action after days of chaos.
