NEW YORK POST: Gov. Tim Walz accused of ‘massive overreach’ as VP pick’s COVID record slammed

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.

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. Getty Images

 

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

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“From overseeing the largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in the country, to asking neighbors to tattle one another for violating lockdown mandates, to forcing hospitalized COVID patients back into their nursing home facilities — Tim Walz proved during the pandemic that 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.

“Like the rest of his tenure as governor, Walz’s pandemic response was a complete and utter failure,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) ripped his former colleague. Star Tribune via Getty Images
One email in the Minnesota government’s snitch hotline called for COVID lockdowns “to be stricter.” BCA
“Walz unilaterally closed places of worship, schools, and businesses for several months, infringing on the rights and freedoms of Minnesotans,” a spokesperson for the Upper Midwest Law Center told The Post. Star Tribune via Getty Images

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.”


Follow The Post’s coverage on Kamala Harris’ running mate Tim Walz:


“The federal district court of Minnesota overruled Governor Walz’s shutdown of the churches in the Northland Baptist case and the resulting settlement required him to refrain from any further discrimination against churches in his COVID-related orders,” the spokesperson said of their suit against him, which followed an earlier complaint against the governor’s emergency powers that was later thrown out by an appeals court.

“Despite the ruling in our case,” the rep added, “Governor Walz continues his same pattern of overreach, disregard of constitutional protections, and lack of respect toward his fellow Minnesotans.”

Protesters even picketed the Minnesota governor’s mansion over the draconian lockdown. Getty Images

With classrooms closed, average reading and math scores dropped for fourth and eighth grade students between 2019 and 2022, according to U.S. Education Department data.

There were also hundreds of millions of dollars wasted on various COVID relief efforts — some of which fraudsters abused.

The US Department of Labor found that Minnesota overpaid roughly $434 million in unemployment insurance to state applicants from July 2020 to June 2023.

A shocking $250 million scheme that also took place on Walz’s watch allowed a Minneapolis nonprofit to pocket federal funds paid to the Minnesota Department of Education, ostensibly for the feeding of the needy children.

In selecting the Minnesota governor, the Harris campaign on Tuesday said he “stood up for fundamental freedoms” in the past. REUTERS

Operators of the nonprofit, Feeding Our Future, instead used the taxpayer money for their luxury lifestyle — including buying lavish cars and real estate holdings as far away as Turkey and Kenya.

When he tried to shirk responsibility, Walz was swiftly rebuked by a district judge, who determined that the state Education Department “voluntarily” funded the fraudsters without taking heed of “serious deficiencies” in its oversight.

Like disgraced New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Walz also caught flak for contributing to higher rates of nursing home deaths due to their policies, the Star Tribune reported.

Reps for the governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Military Vet on How VP Pick Tim Walz Abandoned Fellow National Guard Members When They Got Deployed

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Tim Walz will unleash hell on Earth!

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Donald J. Trump mail@brandonfails.com

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Tue, Aug 6, 5:46 PM (14 hours ago)
to me

 

MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! >
TIM WALZ WOULD BE THE WORST VP IN HISTORY!

Even worse than Dangerously Liberal and Crooked Kamala Harris - HE’S THAT BAD.

He’ll unleash HELL ON EARTH and open our borders to the worst criminals imaginable.

He’ll rubber stamp Kamala’s GREEN NEW SCAM and light TRILLIONS of dollars on fire.

But the real killer: he’s already pulled in MILLIONS in dirty cash to buy the White House!

I’m organizing a HISTORIC response right here and now - but it won’t mean a thing without you.

So before their hate-America campaign gets off the ground, I’m calling on EVERY SINGLE PATRIOT to read this message to chip in and declare: I’M VOTING TRUMP. >

STAND WITH TRUMP
Crooked Kamala has already cashed HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS in checks from her accomplices.

 

But because of your actions today, we’ll seize back our momentum and keep it going strong all the way back to the White House!

 

So please, if you’re able, chip in before the day is over and STAND WITH TRUMP. >

 

YOU AND I WILL MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

STAND WITH TRUMP
Thank you,
MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN >
MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN >
Donald J. Trump

45th President of the United States

Tulsi Gabbard: Would I Accept a Trump VP Offer?

Dave Rubin of “The Rubin Report” talks to Tulsi Gabbard about how she would respond if Donald Trump asked her to be his vice president; her transformative journey and spiritual growth outside of politics; bipartisan friendships and her departure from the Democratic Party's shifting values; her experience campaigning for Republicans; her readiness to serve the nation if called, prioritizing country over party politics; and much more.

Vice President Kamala Harris Says She Can Fill Presidential Position And That Trump Should Be Accountable for Jan. 6

Kamala Says She Can Fill Presidential Position And That Trump Should Be Accountable for Jan. 6

US Vice President Kamala Harris attends the 11th ASEAN-US Summit as part of the 43rd ASEAN Summit in Jakarta on September 6, 2023. (Photo by YASUYOSHI CHIBA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN’s Brooke Mallory
11:55 AM – Wednesday, September 6, 2023

SEE: https://www.oann.com/newsroom/kamala-says-she-can-fill-presidential-position-and-that-trump-should-be-accountable-for-jan-6/;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

In light of President Biden’s deteriorating health and advanced age, Vice President Kamala Harris stated in an interview on Wednesday that she was prepared to carry out her constitutional responsibility to take over as president in any event where Biden would not be able to continue fulfilling his position.

Biden, who is 80 and will turn 81 in November, is still the oldest president to have ever led the United States.

If Democrats win the election again in 2024 and Biden is sworn in as president for a second time, he will be 86 at the very end of his term. Harris said it was “hypothetical” that she may take office as America’s new president, but also insisted that she was fully prepared if that occasion were to arise.

“Joe Biden is going to be fine, so that is not going to come to fruition,” Harris told The Associated Press in Indonesia, where she was attending a regional summit. “But let us also understand that every vice president, every vice president, understands that when they take the oath they must be very clear about the responsibility they may have to take over the job of being president.”

“I’m no different,” she added.

Despite the fact that the majority of people believe Biden is too old for government, including many Democrats who answered related polls, the vice president still rejected concerns about his age.

According to a recent AP/NORC survey, 69% of Democrats and 77% of Americans believe that Biden is too senile to serve a second term.

Republicans running for president have consistently made the case that voting for Biden would actually mean voting for Harris, including former South Carolina governor and GOP hopeful Nikki Haley.

“I see him every day,” Harris said, speaking of Biden. “A substantial amount of time we spend together is in the Oval Office, where I see how his ability to understand issues and weave through complex issues in a way that no one else can to make smart and important decisions on behalf of the American people have played out.”

“And so I will say to you that I think the American people ultimately want to know that their president delivers. And Joe Biden delivers,” she added.

In the past, Harris entered the 2020 presidential race but rapidly lost interest after the Democratic primary debates.

She eventually withdrew from the race in December and won less support from committed delegates than rivals Michael Bloomberg, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, and Tulsi Gabbard.

After suggesting that former President Trump should be held completely accountable for the protests at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, 2021, and his alleged attempts to rescind the results of the 2020 presidential election, Harris also highlighted her previous experience as a prosecutor.

From 2004 to 2011, Harris was the district attorney for San Francisco, and from 2011 to 2017, she was the attorney general of California.

“Let the evidence, the facts, take it where it may,” Harris said during the interview on Wednesday. “I spent the majority of my career as a prosecutor. I believe that people should be held accountable under the law. And when they break the law, there should be accountability.”

Trump, the current front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, is being accused of trying to rig the 2020 election in Georgia, which is one of four federal charges against him.

Both Biden and Harris have already claimed that Trump is a threat to American democracy, with the 2024 presidential election cycle already underway and the likelihood that he will be the Republican nominee.

“Democracies are very fragile,” Harris said. “They will only be as strong as our willingness to fight for it.”

Harris attended the recent summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on behalf of the U.S. since Biden decided to not attend.

“We as Americans, I believe, have a very significant interest, both in terms of our security but also our prosperity, today and in the future, in developing and strengthening these relationships,” she said.

Harris’ popularity has remained very low during her time serving as vice president, and according to an NBC News survey, she earned the lowest rating of any vice president ever.

Among registered voters, just 32% had a favorable opinion of Harris, compared to 49% who had an unfavorable opinion and 39% who had a “very negative view.”

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