‘An Affront to Democracy!’ Minnesota’s Governor Nukes Trump For Still Wildly Claiming He Won The State
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) tore into former President Donald Trump over an interview the presumptive GOP nominee gave to a local report last week, in which he claimed he actually won the state despite losing by almost 7 points.
“To have Donald Trump come here and yesterday give an interview saying that he won in 2020. That’s not just weird stuff. Saying that is an affront to the democracy,” Walz fumed at a recent presser.
“That is absolutely a line that cannot be crossed. So I hope we’re not, you know, immune to the fact that that is such an outrageous statement. It is such an attack on the very fundamentals of our democracy. He lost by over seven points. And for him to crow that he thinks he has a chance. I remind folks, Joe Biden came closer in Texas than Donald Trump came in Minnesota,” Walz concluded.
Trump spoke with KSTP’s Tom Hauser via a remote video and was put on the spot about having vowed to never return to Minnesota should he lose in 2020.
“I think at one point you vowed never to come back to Minnesota after you lost the state in 2020,” said Hauser. “Is this a signal that you think you have a realistic chance to win the state of Minnesota in 2024?”
KSTP: I think at one point you vowed never to come back to Minnesota after you lost the state in 2020.
TRUMP: Well, I never said I’d never come back. I never even thought of that.
KSTP: *cuts to tape of Trump saying “if I lose Minnesota, I’m never coming back” at a rally* pic.twitter.com/XCm9wNb4bJ
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 17, 2024
“Well, I never said I’d never come back; I never even thought of that,” replied Trump, adding, “I thought I won in 2020 – easily.” Hauser then played the clip of Trump saying exactly that at 2020 Duluth campaign rally, “If I lose Minnesota, I’m never coming back, I don’t care. I’m never coming back.”
On Friday, Trump doubled down on the comments telling the Minnesota GOP dinner in St. Paul, “I thought we won it in 2016. I thought we won it in ’20 — I know we won it in 2020. We got to watch those votes.”
NBC News noted of Trump’s outlandish falsehood, “The false claim was the latest in a spate of election denialism and conspiracy theories the former president has promoted since his 2020 presidential loss. President Joe Biden won Minnesota in 2020 with 52.4% of the state’s votes, compared to Trump’s 45.3%. The margin between the two candidates was more than 233,000 votes.” The last Republican to win Minnesota in a presidential election was Richard Nixon, who won every state but one in 1972.
Watch the clip above.
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