As Donald Trump‘s allies are desperately trying to dig up dirt on Kamala Harris’s newly-named running mate, Tim Walz — with many criticizing Walz’s handling of the 2020 protests following the murder of George Floyd — Trump himself praised the Minnesota Democrat at time.
On Tuesday, Trump’s vice presidential pick, Senator J.D. Vance, claimed that Walz was “cheering on” rioters in Minneapolis as the city “burned.” The false statement was echoed in a press release by the Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee, and the MAGA Inc. super PAC, per NBC News. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) wrote on X that Walz “let rioters burn Minneapolis to the ground in 2020,” while House GOP Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) posted that Walz “supported Defund the Police BLM that torched cities to the ground.”
Despite the slew of Republicans denouncing Walz, audio obtained by ABC News reveals that Trump told a group of governors during a phone call that he was “very happy” with the Minnesota governor for bringing in “big numbers” of law enforcement into the city and pointed to his leadership as an example for others to follow.
“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 said on the June 1, 2020, call, adding that Walz was an “excellent guy.”
“I was very happy with the last couple of days, Tim,” Trump continued. “You called up big numbers and the big numbers knocked them out so fast it was like bowling pins.”
Elsewhere on the call, Trump asserted that he had encouraged Walz to call in the National Guard and commented, “I said, you got to use the National Guard in big numbers.” According to ABC News, a Harris-Walz campaign spokesperson said this was not true.
Despite his favorable sentiments at the time, Trump called Harris’ choice for vice president a “shocking pick.” During a Wednesday interview on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends,” Trump said, “I never thought this was going to be the one who was picked.” The ex-president said Walz was “a very liberal man,” adding, “I could not be more thrilled.”
Trump also claimed that Walz was as liberal as Bernie Sanders. But, as The Hill pointed out, Walz’s voting record shows he’s much more moderate than the independent senator from Vermont.