Election 2024: Trump praised Walz in 2020 for his response to unrest sparked by Floyd's killing, audio shows

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) As former President Donald Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance blasted Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for his response to the violence that erupted after the killing of George Floyd, Trump told the governor at the time that he fully agreed with Walz's handling of the situation.

“What they did in Minneapolis was incredible. They came in and dominated, and it happened immediately,” Trump told Walz and other governors and officials in a June 1, 2020, phone call. The Associated Press obtained an audio recording of the call Wednesday, which has taken on new significance now that Walz has been tapped as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate against Trump and Vance.

Other administration officials on the call included Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Attorney General William Barr.

ABC News reported the call earlier Wednesday, a day after Harris introduced Walz as her vice presidential pick. CNN released a transcript of the call in 2020.

Protests erupted in Minneapolis and around the world after Floyd was killed by Derek Chauvin, a white former police officer who knelt on the black man’s neck for nearly 9 1/2 minutes on May 25, 2020. A bystander’s video captured Floyd’s screams fading away. His death has forced a reckoning with police brutality and racism. Some protests have turned violent.

Three days later, Walz mobilized the Minnesota National Guard to help restore order in Minneapolis after riots that included a police station and numerous businesses on fire. Trump offered Walz federal aid later that day, but the governor did not accept his offer.

At a May 2024 fundraiser in St. Paul, Trump repeated a claim he had made recently that he was responsible for deploying the National Guard. The whole city was burning. … If you didn’t have me as president, you wouldn’t have Minneapolis today, Trump told a Republican audience. Trump made similar claims at a rally in St. Cloud last month.

In fact, it was Walz who gave the mobilization order in response to requests from the mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Walz was criticized at the time, however, for not acting more quickly. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Walz came face to face over who was responsible for the delays.

In the June 1, 2020, call, Trump described Walz as an excellent man and later said, “I don’t blame you. I blame the mayor.” The president did not criticize the governor at the time.

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Tim, you called big numbers and the big numbers knocked them out so fast, it was like bowling pins, Trump said.

But Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt put a different spin on that call in a statement to the AP on Wednesday.

Governor Walz let Minneapolis burn for days, despite President Trump’s offer to deploy troops and pleas for help from Minneapolis’ liberal mayor, Leavitt said. In that daily phone call with governors on June 1, days after the riots began, President Trump praised Governor Walz for FINALLY taking action to deploy the National Guard to stop the violence in the city.

Walz thanked Trump on the call, as well as Esper and Milley, for your very helpful strategic advice. … Yes, our city is grieving and suffering.

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Merica reported from Washington.

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