Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Wednesday said he was bewildered when President Donald Trump compared the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis to the U.S. invasion of Venezuela during their phone call. (Watch the video below.)
Walz recounted the bizarre exchange to MS NOW’s Jacob Soboroff, saying that Trump tried to defend the lethal deployment of federal officers by claiming similar operations worked in other cities.
“He told me that he doesn’t understand what’s wrong with Minnesota. ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with you people,’” Walz explained. “I said, ‘Nothing’s wrong with us, Mr. President. We’re one of the most effective states and one of the best places to live.’ And he told me that, ‘Well, look, Tim, we did this in New Orleans. We did it in Louisville. There’s no problems.’ And I said, ‘You didn’t kill anybody in Louisville or New Orleans. And the operation here looks very different from that.’ And then he told me it was successful in Venezuela.”
“He talked to you about Venezuela?” Soboroff followed.
“He did,” Walz replied. “I’m not sure what gave him the indication that at this point in time, what’s happening to my state, that I’m interested in Venezuela. But he told me how well that went. Which really was strange to me was he saw an operation in Venezuela against a foreign nation in the same context he saw an operation against a U.S. state and a U.S. city.”
