News/Commentary

Media’s ‘gotcha’ claim that Trump praised Walz after BLM riots leaves out GLARING detail

August 8, 2024 | | Print Article

Democrats and their corporate propaganda media allies’ latest attack line against former President Donald Trump is, as usual, an obfuscation.

According to the corporate propaganda media, then-President Trump praised Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, current Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, during the Black Lives Matter riots of 2020.

This, according to the corporate propaganda media, means that the Trump campaign’s current attacks on Walz’s overall handling of the violent BLM riots are hypocritical and thus not to be taken seriously.

There’s just one problem with all this …

What’s True

It’s true that Trump did at one point praise Walz.

“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 a phone call with governors recorded on June 1st, 2020, according to a recording of the call obtained and published by ABC News.

“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.”

Listen:

What’s Not True

The insistence by Democrats and their media allies that this small clip proves something is simply not true.

Speaking with ABC News, Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt explained that Trump only praised Walz after he finally — after days of letting the riots fester — took the then-president’s advice and called in the National Guard to quell the unrest.

“Governor Walz allowed Minneapolis to burn for days, despite President Trump’s offer to deploy soldiers and cries for help from the liberal Mayor of Minneapolis,” Leavitt said.

“In this daily briefing phone call with Governors on June 1, days after the riots began, President Trump acknowledged Governor Walz for FINALLY taking action to deploy the National Guard to end the violence in the city,” she added.

ABC News hesitantly admits to some of this in its report.

“Walz … ultimately summoned more than 7,000 guardsmen to the Twin Cities. But that decision came 18 hours after Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey initially asked the governor to activate military personnel,” the network states.

What’s important is the delay between Frey asking for the governor to intervene and the governor finally, after Trump pushed him, taking action.

“This hesitation cost Minnesotans their lives, communities, and livelihoods,” according to an investigative report compiled by Republicans in the Minnesota State Senate.

“Governor Walz and his administration were more concerned with the ‘current environment,’ the ‘climate they were under,’ ‘community and cultural concerns,’ and ‘diversity and inclusion training’ than they were about stopping the riots that were destroying Minnesota,” the report continues.

“While the riots were ongoing, Governor Walz had a philosophical debate privately and on live television. Governor Walz, Mayor Frey, the Minneapolis City Council, and the Commissioner of Public Safety all debated whether having more officers and Minnesota National Guard on the street would escalate violence,” the report adds.

Responding to ABC News’ reporting, critics were quick to note that it doesn’t prove what the network would like you to believe it proves.

Look:

Vivek Saxena
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