Political shots were fired as soon as Kamala Harris selected Governor Tim Walz has her vice presidential running mate. Walz was governor of Minnesota during the 2020 riots that broke out following the death of George Floyd. Donald Trump was president at the time.
Republicans, and Trump, immediately began bashing Walz as a governor who sat by and did nothing while 164 structures were burned and 1,500 structures were damaged causing an estimated $500 million in damages. Former President Trump is resurrecting his old claim that he saved Gov. Walz and Minneapolis by calling out the National Guard. “So I sent in the National Guard to save Minneapolis,” Trump claims.
Regardless of the attempts to brainwash some Americans into believing that Trump is the hero who prevented the 2020 riots from getting worse, it is an easily proven FACT that President Trump did not call out the National Guard because deployment of the National Guard is the responsibility of the governor of any state - not the president.
It is predictable that many will believe that Trump called out the National Guard simply because he said he did and this is one of the biggest threats to our democracy - Americans falling for false information because they want to believe it as opposed to welcoming facts.
The final analysis of Walz’s role in the 2020 riots showed that there was a miscommunication between Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Walz. The governor’s office said that the initial information they received was not adequate to warrant calling out the National Guard so there was a delay in calling out the Guard. But there is no doubt that it was Walz, not President Trump, who called out the National Guard which brought the violence to an end after several days of violence.
What happened in Minneapolis and Portland and other cities following the murder of George Floyd was uncalled for, and remains a scar on our country. Peaceful protests are often taken over by those who wish to commit acts of violence over frustration or the feeling of being disenfranchised, but there is no legitimate or acceptable excuse to create violence.
The Trump campaign must be well aware of the fact that Trump did not call out the National Guard and it will be interesting to see how long this false rhetoric continues. We’re shutting it down now.
But adding to the tragedy of the violence in Minneapolis in 2020 is the fact that many Americans are willing to believe blatant lies if they come from their anointed candidate.
