United States: The spouse of Kamala Harris’s vice-presidential running mate ignited a social media storm on Tuesday after a previously undiscovered video clip surfaced depicting her remarks during the tumultuous 2020 Minneapolis riots.
Gwen Walz, the First Lady of Minnesota and wife of Democratic Governor Tim Walz—who was selected by Vice President Harris to join the 2024 Democratic presidential ticket—stirred controversy with her startling statements.
Governor Walz’s tenure has been marked by his approach to the aftermath of George Floyd’s death in 2020, which triggered nationwide protests addressing racial inequality and police misconduct, according to reports.
“Those nights were fraught with sleeplessness during the unrest,” Gwen Walz revealed to KSTP in July 2020. “The stench of burning tires permeated the air—a stark reality that we lived through. I kept the windows ajar for as long as possible because it felt like a palpable connection to the events unfolding.”
The remarks incited outrage among conservative commentators as the clip rapidly gained traction across social media platforms.
“What would one call this? Strange? Unusual? Anomalous? Eccentric? Quirky?” Noah Rothman, a senior writer at the National Review Online, mused. “There must be a term for deriving satisfaction from the destruction of others’ property.”
Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, described the comments as “odd.”
“Profoundly unsettling,” journalist Abigail Shrier remarked. “We need to delve deeper into the Walz family’s actions,” as reports.
Dustin Grage, president of a conservative Minnesota-based consulting firm, labeled the comments “bizarre,” further noting, “Her [Walz’s] daughter also collaborated with rioters to inform them that the National Guard wouldn’t be mobilized one evening.”
“Everything you need to understand about leftist elites is encapsulated in this brief clip,” Daily Wire host Matt Walsh commented on X. “Tim Walz’s wife relished the scent of impoverished neighborhoods ablaze during the Floyd riots. She nearly took out a violin to play along.”
Governor Walz was heavily criticized for his response to the riots. Conservatives accused him of inaction as the state descended into chaos. The delayed response resulted in the devastation of hundreds of businesses across Minneapolis and St. Paul, forcing them to seek local government aid for recovery, compounding their pandemic-related challenges.
Reportedly, First Lady Walz acknowledged that Minnesota was under national scrutiny at the time. “With COVID-19, the entire state was observing Tim’s actions,” Gwen Walz stated. “But with Mr. Floyd’s death, the eyes of the entire nation and the world were fixed on how we, in Minnesota, responded.”
This record is once again under the microscope as Walz steps into the national spotlight, with Republican critics zeroing in on both Walz and Harris’s handling of the 2020 crisis.
“Minnesota was the epicenter of the BLM riots of 2020,” Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis asserted. “Harris incited the unrest, and Walz stood by as Minneapolis went up in flames.”
Ohio Senator JD Vance, the Republican vice-presidential candidate and running mate of former President Trump, criticized Walz’s 2020 actions, labeling his inclusion on the Democratic ticket as “a curious alliance,” as per reports.
“If we recall the rioting in the summer of 2020, Tim Walz was the one who allowed rioters to torch Minneapolis,” he remarked. “And then Kamala Harris was the one who helped bail the rioters out of jail.”
