Politics
WATCH: Tim Walz Gets Grilled During House Hearing, Panics
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz sat under the white hot glare of a congressional committee Thursday morning, his balding head gleaming off beams from the building’s high ceilings as he sweated in response to questions about his recent public statements.
The former vice presidential candidate was perhaps the most high-profile among a handful of Democratic governors who arrived in Washington on Thursday to testify against President Donald Trump’s decision to federalize thousands of members of the California National Guard and order them to Los Angeles, the site of extended riots following the arrest of 150 suspected illegal immigrants.
Since the riots began on Saturday, Walz has on multiple occasions referred to U.S. Customs and Immigration officers as “Gestapo” soldiers from the Nazi regime, comments that Rep. James Comer (R-KY) sought to highlight at Thursday’s hearing. He pointed to a similar comment by fellow committee member Stephen Lynch (D-MA).
“Now that Mr. Lynch has endorsed it, it seems to be a Democrat talking point,” said the Kentucky Republican. “Governor, do you and other Democrat politicians understand that referencing the Gestapo is offensive?”
Comer cited a 413% increase in threats against ICE officers and their families according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, a fact that has led Trump administration officials to defend immigration authorities’ use of bandanas to cover their faces during public operations.
“Do you think that comments like that and rhetoric like that put ICE officers and other law enforcement in greater danger?” Comer asked?
Walz began by steadfastly denouncing attacks on police officers.
“Th-thank you for the question, Mr. Chairman. First and foremost I think any attack on law enforcement is unacceptable wherever it’s at, whether it’s state, local-”
Comer, sensing a dodge, cut him off, turning to a case in Illinois where officers were attacked by pro-illegal immigration activists.
WATCH:
Comer’s callout of Walz comes after DHS singled out his rhetoric in a May 19 press release after the governor called ICE “Trump’s modern-day Gestapo.”
“Governor Walz’s comments comparing ICE agents to the Gestapo is sickening. This type of rhetoric and demonization of ICE officers has led to our officers facing a 413% increase in assaults,” said Assistant Press Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “While politicians like Walz fight to protect criminal illegal aliens, our ICE officers will continue putting their lives and safety on the line to arrest murderers, kidnappers, and pedophiles that were let into our country by the previous administration’s open border policies.”
Every single Democratic governor signed a letter this week calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to direct Trump’s federalization of thousands of members of the California National Guard to quell the L.A. riots, a decision that Gov. Gavin Newsom called “unlawful.” He, Walz, and others have leveraged Trump’s use of National Guardsmen and Marines to begin suggesting that an authoritarian coup to democracy is taking place.
The president’s rapid response quickly fired back, writing that Newsom claimed Trump was “traumatizing” communities “by taking criminal illegal immigrant killers, rapists, gangbangers, drug dealers, human traffickers, and domestic abusers off the streets.”
In the DHS release on Walz, Trump officials pointed to a number of violent illegal immigrants arrested in his home state, including some charged with domestic assault, illegal weapons sales, and the sale of fentanyl.
