Republicans Kick Off Walz Attacks With Focus on George Floyd Protests

Republicans are giddy at Vice President Harris picking Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) as her running mate and are quickly kicking off their attacks against him, headlined by his handling four years ago of the protests that followed the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) posted on the social platform X that Walz “let rioters burn Minneapolis to the ground in 2020.” House GOP Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) said in a statement that Walz “supported BLM rioters who torched Minneapolis to the ground.” And Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), former President Trump’s running mate, brought up the demonstrations in a campaign speech Tuesday.

“You think the black business leaders in Minneapolis are grateful — the working-class business leaders are grateful — that Tim Walz allowed rioters to burn down their business?” Vance said in Philadelphia.

The focus on the protests against police brutality in 2020 — which started in Minneapolis after a police officer killed Floyd by kneeling on his neck and spread nationwide — offers a preview of the Republican campaign against Walz, and the Democratic ticket as a whole.

The GOP has been struggling since President Biden dropped out and Harris became the probable Democratic nominee, providing the party in power a major shot in the arm in the form of both donations and enthusiasm. {snip}

The choice of Walz, a former member of Congress and second-term governor who has backed a number of policies favored by progressives, has provided Republicans with a new target that checks many of the boxes for GOP attacks.

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In a press blast, the MAGA Inc. political action committee supporting Trump pointed to news stories about Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) accusing Walz of not acting fast enough to send National Guard backup, and to a report from Minnesota state Senate Republicans that said Walz’s failure to recognize the severity of the riots led to “delayed reaction and increased violence.”

For Republicans, Walz’s connection to the Minneapolis demonstrations fits in with their focus on crime in major U.S. cities and with a favorite line of attack against Harris: that she posted on social media in 2020 to raise money for a fund that paid bail for protesters in Minneapolis who were arrested.

While bashing Walz, Stefanik said that Harris “fundraised to bail out violent criminals from prison,” while Scalise charged that Walz had been soft on “the same rioters Kamala Harris raised money to bail out.”

“They’re a dangerous duo that’ll let crime destroy our communities,” Scalise said.

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