Controversial social media posts reportedly sent by Hope Walz, daughter of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, have resurfaced after her father was named as Democrat Kamala Harris' vice presidential pick.
Amid the May 2020 riots following George Floyd's killing by a Minneapolis police officer, Hope Walz, then 19, published three posts from a now-deleted account that conservatives took to task due to perceived revelations about National Guard troops movements.
On May 30, 2020, Walz's daughter, now 23, reportedly reposted and responded to an account on X, formerly Twitter, that urged all protesters to "GET OUT NOW" because the National Guard and SWAT were allegedly on their way to the scene of the Minneapolis riots. In the post thread, she insisted to protesters that the National Guard "WILL NOT be present tonight."
Her reported post stated that "there is a lot of misinformation that is further spreading fear and chaos at the scene of the protests..the guard can not be sent in within minutes. it takes time for them to deploy because they come from all over the state. to be clear, the national guard will not be present tonight. just because someone asked for something doesn't mean it's happening right away or even happening at all. i don't know about swat but what i do know is the guard will not be present arresting people tonight."
On the same day, Fox News' Pete Hegseth reposted Hope Walz's comments on X and asked, "Why is the daughter of Minnesota's Governor (@GovTimWalz) sharing information about National Guard movements & capabilities to Minneapolis 'protesters'?'"
Sharing a screenshot of Hope Walz's reported posts, Minnesota conservative media personality David Strom wrote on X at the time, "Hope Walz has apparently left Twitter. Here is her tweet giving intel to the rioters."
Newsweek emailed an account connected to Hope Walz and Tim Walz's office for comment Tuesday afternoon.
For some Republicans, one of the most significant points where they see an effective attack on Tim Walz is focusing on the Minnesota governor's response to the 2020 protests and riots following the murder of Floyd in Minneapolis, an event that occurred "under his watch." Tim Walz was criticized at the time for being slow to deploy the National Guard against demonstrations that were turning increasingly violent and unruly in late May of 2020.
On May 28 that year, Tim Walz made the call to activate the Minnesota National Guard. According to reporting by CNN, Walz's office says the governor activated the Guard in response to requests from officials in Minneapolis and St. Paul due to the ongoing rioting. On May 30, two days after his initial activation of a smaller number of Guard troops, Tim Walz ordered a full mobilization for the first time in Minnesota's 164 years of statehood.
Minnesota Republican Paul Gazelka, then the state's Senate majority leader, told Newsweek on Wednesday morning in a phone interview that Tim Walz's response to the riots should have been faster and more forceful.
"In that crisis, he didn't do well. It was like he was frozen and couldn't make a decision," Gazelka said.
At a recent news conference, Tim Walz defended his office and state government during those turbulent times.
"I simply believe that we try to do the best we can," he said when asked about his response to the riots.
In an interview with NPR that published Tuesday, Gazelka also said of Tim Walz, "We found compromises that worked well for the state of Minnesota. He did eventually agree to the tax cuts that I was pushing, and I agreed to fund education at levels higher than I thought we should."
Tim Walz, 60, served in the Army National Guard for 24 years, which makes him the longest-serving military veteran to be a major-party vice presidential nominee.
As his vice presidential hopes became more of a possibility—then official on Tuesday—his daughter's tweets from 2020 began to resurface by conservatives and supporters of Donald Trump's Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement.
"Here is a bizarre clip from an interview with Gwen Walz [wife of Tim Walz] stating that she left her windows open during the Minneapolis Riots so she could smell the burning tires. Her daughter also coordinated with rioters to let them know that the National Guard would not be activated one night," Minnesota Republican strategist Dustin Grage wrote on X.
Grage's video had been viewed nearly 640,000 times as of 4:20 p.m. ET Tuesday.
Conservative commentator and former Newsmax host John Cardillo, who has nearly 320,000 followers, reposted Grage and said on X, "This is a really important point. Walz's daughter is a leftist activist who was instrumental in sparking the Minneapolis riots. She used intel gleaned from her dad's office to let rioters know the National Guard would not be deployed. The end result was devastation."
"On May 28, 2020, Tim Walz's daughter tweeted out that the Minnesota National Guard would NOT be deployed to Minneapolis. Later that night, Minneapolis police's 3rd precinct was burned to the ground. This is beyond negligence. This is criminal," the @_johnnymaga account posted on X.
Paul A. Szypula, a MAGA influencer with over 200,000 followers, wrote Tuesday on X, "Tim Walz's wife Gwen grotesquely says during the 2020 BLM riots she kept windows open to smell burning tires and enjoy the moment. Also, her daughter Hope leaked National Guard plans to rioters to help them avoid arrest. The Walz family is criminal."
— Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸 (@Bubblebathgirl) August 6, 2024Tim Walz’s wife Gwen grotesquely says during the 2020 BLM riots she kept windows open to smell burning tires and enjoy the moment.
Also, her daughter Hope leaked National Guard plans to rioters to help them avoid arrest.
The Walz family is criminal.pic.twitter.com/GDy31FVeOt
Hope Walz registered to vote in 2019, according to records reviewed by Newsweek, and has a fishing license. In 2023, the governor posted an Instagram photo of his daughter fishing and said fly-fishing was his "new favorite way" for them to spend time together. Hope Walz attended the University of Minnesota, according to publicly available records.
She was convicted of two petty misdemeanors for speeding, once in 2017 and once in 2019. She was forced to pay $225 in a fine and fees in 2017 and $198 in 2019. In a citation summary from 2019, a police officer wrote that radar indicated she was driving at 81 mph in a 55 mph zone. She told the officer she thought the speed limit was 70 mph and was unaware of how fast she was going, according to the citation.
The controversy related to posts about the Floyd riots and the National Guard weren't Hope Walz's only posts to make headlines that year. In August 2020, she reportedly threatened to fight then-Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Gazelka.
"i don't know who will understand this but i guess that's the point ... paul gazelka it's on site and i mean it," she reportedly wrote.
According to one Urban Dictionary entry, the term "on site" means "two or more people, who have a long-standing disagreement, agree to physically handle their problem upon seeing each other; whether it be a planned or coincidental meeting you are expected to fight your opponent."
Alpha News, a media outlet dedicated to covering news in Minnesota that launched in 2015, said Tim Walz's daughter reportedly responded to criticism of her alleged threat by noting that Gazelka is a "grown [expletive] man" while she's a "5'4 19-year-old girl."
Of Hope Walz's social media posts directed at him, Gazelka said he had "private conversations" with Tim Walz and said that he "didn't intend to go after his daughter."
Gazelka added that, "Kids get wrapped up in the fray, but she is an adult. I know Tim as a dad, and I wouldn't be surprised if he wanted her to get rid of that stuff [the posts]."
Update 08/07/24, 11:50 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Paul Gazelka.
