by Hayley Feland
A former Minnesota legislator has released a fresh book detailing why he believes Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz should not be elected as the country’s next vice president.
Former Republican Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, who served in the Minnesota Senate for 12 years, joined Liz Collin Reports to talk about his fresh book, “Behind the Curtain: Opposition to Gov. Tim Walz.”
Gazelka told Collin he wasn’t sure if he wanted to publish the book until the news broke that Walz had been selected as Kamala Harris’ running mate.
“All of a sudden, Tim Walz climbs to the top and becomes the vice presidential candidate. And I say, look, I have to announce this. I feel like he’s running for the second highest office in the country,” Gazelka said. “And I’m the reference point for not hiring them. So I was pretty direct. I’m always respectful. I think everybody on Capitol Hill knows I’m a civilized person, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t tell the truth when I see it.”
Gazelka shared his thoughts on Walz’s leadership mistakes that he believes voters need to hear about ahead of the upcoming presidential election. choice.
He spoke about Walz’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, when Walz closed businesses and churches for months, emphasizing the inconsistency of some of the orders. “The classic example was, okay, bars, now you have 50 people. They were closed, but now you have 50, but churches, you have 10 and whatever you do, don’t sing, you know,” Gazelka said. “Who gives you the right to do that?”
Gazelka said the 2020 riots are another example of Walz’s penniless leadership. “It was the most frustrating time for me and Governor Walz because he was literally frozen. I’m pretty sure I was the first one to say he was frozen because he just didn’t want to act,” he said.
The governor “did nothing” and “sat on his hands” while the city of Minneapolis burned, Gazelka said. “I called the White House and said, can you help? Because he’s frozen out,” Gazelka said.
He criticized the governor for not taking action days earlier when the riots began, saying police and the military believed they could have ended it much sooner if they had been given permission. “And if Walz had a better relationship with the police, we could have stopped it,” he said.
Watch the full interview:
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Hayley Feland is a reporter at AlphaNews.
Photo “Minnesota Riot Damage” by Fibonacci Blue. Licensed under CC BY 2.0.
