The Vice Presidental Debate: What Governor Walz Conveniently Left Out
On October 1st, 2024 Vice President hopefuls JD Vance and Tim Walz met on the national stage to debate highly prominent and pressuring issues facing the nation. While many topics arose, both the Ohio Senator and Minnesota Governor worked their best to defend their running mates in hopes of victory next month. However, while Governor Walz was quick to come for JD Vance, he had no problem glazing over his colossal failures as the Governor of Minnesota. While these issues weren’t addressed in the debate, they are pertinent to know before ballots are cast.
As Governor Walz spent his time explaining why he deserved to help lead the nation, he left out his assistance in letting his own city fall to the ground. In May 2020, a series of violent uprisings and protests stemmed from the death of George Floyd. While riots and protests engulfed the streets of Minneapolis, Governor Walz stood back and watched, waiting nearly four days to call in the National Guard. Not to mention doing nothing to stop the defunding of police, endangering more Minnesotans he claims to care so deeply about. To this day, Minnesotans still face incredible repercussions of his negligence and have been left to fight for themselves.
Governor Walz’s leadership failures don’t end there. As time has passed, more cases of fraud and spending from the Walz administration have come out of the woodwork. Amidst his time in office, Governor Walz has lost $500 million to fraud and is to blame for the siphoning of $250 million meant to sustain children during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even still, the governor refuses to take accountability and Minnesotans remain footing the bill for his mistakes.
Depleting a $19 billion surplus with sloppy spending and hitting Minnesotans with $10 billion in new taxes and fees, it is becoming impossible to have any sort of quality of living. Stealing hard-earned money out of the pockets of those he claims to lead, Governor Walz is robbing families of a life they have worked so hard to earn.
Last but certainly not least, throughout the debate Governor Walz mentioned his time as a school teacher, something he has capitalized on several times throughout the race. What was not mentioned, however, was the status of Minnesota’s education system under his leadership. Amidst the governor’s time in office, students' reading scores are down 16%, math scores are down 17% and science scores are down 23%. Children are struggling to stay afloat in the wake of Governor Walz’s lack of focus and action.
Unrest in city streets, millions lost in fraud, impossible bills for Minnesotans to pay, and negligence to the education of children is only the tip of the iceberg of how greatly Walz has failed to lead. As the election approaches, it is pertinent to keep in mind that if he will do it to Minnesota he will do it to our nation. The time is now to ensure that Governor Walz and people like him have no place in political office.