Donald Trump has been attacking Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) over his response to the protests in Minneapolis following the murder of George Floyd, but at the time, then-President Trump praised the governor for his handling of the unrest.
“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 of Walz, who he also describes as “an excellent guy,” a June 1, 2020 phone call, according to a recording obtained by ABC News.
“I was very happy with the last couple of days, Tim,” Trump added. “You called up big numbers and the big numbers knocked them out so fast it was like bowling pins.”
Trump also claimed on the call that Walz listened to his advise to use the National Guard, a claim which the Harris-Walz presidential campaign said is not true.
Walz deployed the National Guard using an executive order more than seven hours before Trump posted on social media threatening to do the same, Politico reported.
Trump’s resurfaced comments come as Republicans are attacking Walz over his response to the unrest after he was named as Harris’ running mate on Tuesday.
In a statement on Tuesday, Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told ABC News that Walz “allowed Minneapolis to burn for day.”
“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.
