{"id":2321258,"date":"2024-08-08T14:27:02","date_gmt":"2024-08-08T18:27:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/walz-pick-puts-2020-lockdowns-and-riots-on-the-2024-ballot\/"},"modified":"2024-08-08T14:37:11","modified_gmt":"2024-08-08T18:37:11","slug":"walz-pick-puts-2020-lockdowns-and-riots-on-the-2024-ballot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/walz-pick-puts-2020-lockdowns-and-riots-on-the-2024-ballot\/","title":{"rendered":"Walz Pick Puts 2020 Lockdowns And Riots On The 2024 Ballot"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwalz-pick-puts-2020-lockdowns-and-riots-on-the-2024-ballot%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2321258&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The\u200c text discusses the implications of the 2020 elections on ongoing societal issues, emphasizing that the upcoming 2024 elections will\u2062 serve as a significant referendum \u200bon race relations and government lockdowns. It critiques \u2064Vice President Kamala Harris\u2019s choice \u200dof \u200cMinnesota Governor Tim Walz as a \u200crunning mate, highlighting his \u200dcontroversial handling of the\u200c 2020 \u200dprotests following George Floyd&#8217;s\u2064 death and\u200d his policies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The author portrays Walz as ineffective, noting his delayed response to riots\u200b and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/report-usps-running-covert-operation-monitoring-americans-social-media-for-inflammatory-posts\/\" title=\"Report: USPS Running \u2018Covert\u2019 Operation Monitoring Americans\u2019 Social Media For \u2018Inflammatory\u2019 Posts\">strict lockdown measures<\/a>,\u2064 which\u200d critics\u200b say \u2063contributed to increased COVID-19 deaths in\u2063 nursing \u2064homes. \u200cFurthermore,\u200b the text argues that lockdowns\u2062 were largely ineffective\u200b in controlling the virus, citing evidence that suggests harsher restrictions correlated with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cuomo-nyc-should-be-able-to-resume-indoor-dining-at-25-capacity-starting-valentines-day\/\" title=\"Cuomo: NYC should be able to resume indoor dining at 25% capacity starting Valentine\u2019s Day\">higher infection rates<\/a>.\u200d It accuses leaders like Walz of failing to promote public health initiatives and instead \u2064fostering a culture \u2063of neighbor\u200b surveillance, all while dissenting opinions on lockdowns faced\u200b suppression. The overarching message is critical of \u2063government responses to both social unrest\u2063 and \u200cthe pandemic, suggesting that a more nuanced debate \u2064was hindered by censorship and political agendas.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>If the 2020 elections were too early (and too <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2020\/12\/04\/fraud-or-no-fraud-this-election-wasnt-fair\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">corrupt<\/a>) to have a true referendum on the race wars and lockdowns, then 2024 will be it. <\/p>\n<p>Vice President Kamala Harris&rsquo; pick to join her on the ticket as she leads her party&rsquo;s effort to maintain the White House is a reminder of everything that went wrong with America in 2020.<\/p>\n<p>After the media <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/07\/26\/cbs-denies-kamala-harris-raised-money-to-bail-out-blm-rioters\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sought to whitewash<\/a> Harris&rsquo; fundraising for the 2020 BLM rioters in Minneapolis, the Democrat presidential nominee selected the governor of Minnesota, who let far-left anarchists tear down that city in what became the most <a href=\"https:\/\/v2-9mdnszte.thefederalist.com\/2020\/09\/16\/george-floyd-riot-damage-could-cost-insurance-companies-upwards-of-2-billion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">expensive outbreak<\/a> of political unrest in American history, to take her job. Gov. Tim Walz took <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2024\/08\/06\/walz-harris-george-floyd-minneapolis-violent-protests\">days<\/a> to issue a substantial deployment of the National Guard, and his wife <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2024\/08\/06\/tim-walz-gwen-smell-burninig-tires-2020-riots\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">opened<\/a> the windows of their home to &ldquo;smell the burning tires&rdquo; because it was a &ldquo;touchstone&rdquo; moment.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<div lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<p>This clip of Minnesota First Lady Gwen Walz is making the rounds.<\/p>\n<p>Her reflection on the 2020 riots: <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I could smell the burning tires&hellip;I kept the windows open as long as I could because I felt like that was such a touchstone of what was happening.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/YcxgFIi5QN\">pic.twitter.com\/YcxgFIi5QN<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&mdash; Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PhilipWegmann\/status\/1820870083498975657?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 6, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Seems like totally not-so-weird behavior.<\/p>\n<p>While the riots were exploding, Walz was encouraging residents to rat out neighbors who were violating the state&rsquo;s COVID guidelines. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Though Walz instructed police to merely issue citations to people caught violating stay-at-home orders &mdash; which is still bad enough &mdash; he also maintained the right, via executive order, to issue $1,000 fines and send violators to jail for 90 days,&rdquo; Reason Magazine Senior Editor Robby Soave <a href=\"https:\/\/reason.com\/2024\/08\/06\/tim-walz-was-a-covid-19-tyrant\/#:~:text=Indeed%2C%20Walz%27s%20coronavirus%20policies%20were,promoter%20of%20social%20distancing%20rules.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>. &ldquo;His government maintained that private, indoor gatherings should be limited to 10 people. Outdoor gatherings were arbitrarily capped at 25 people. On July 23, 2020, Walz declared a statewide mask mandate for most indoor spaces and even some outdoor spaces.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>How neighborly. Imagine living next to Tim Walz, your &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/07\/tim-walz-is-a-folksy-socialist\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">folksy<\/a>&rdquo; neighbor ready to turn you in for non-compliance with dystopian protocols. Seniors, meanwhile, braced for the wave of infected patients planted in their nursing homes to share the sickness. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;He was also one of the foremost defenders of a monstrous COVID-19 policy choice,&rdquo; Soave added, &ldquo;sending sick, elderly patients back to nursing homes where the infection often spread to other vulnerable people, causing a disproportionate number of coronavirus deaths in such settings.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Walz defended the deadly decision by noting that the policy had been adopted by several other like-minded Democrat governors, most of whom <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/07\/24\/biden-doj-wont-investigate-deadly-nursing-home-policies-in-these-democrat-run-states\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">got away<\/a> with it after the Biden administration refused to probe the catastrophic orders.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This was what everyone was doing,&rdquo; Walz <a href=\"https:\/\/www.parkrapidsenterprise.com\/newsmd\/walz-this-was-not-a-mistake-to-discharge-covid-19-patients-into-homes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a> at a May 2020 press conference. &ldquo;This was not a mistake.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<div lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<p>Remember the New York covid nursing home scandal that ended Andrew Cuomo&#8217;s career? Well, Tim Walz had the exact same policy in Minnesota&mdash;send sick patients back to nursing homes&mdash;except he subsequently said it was &#8220;not a mistake.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>This alone should be disqualifying. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/urdwLESEht\">pic.twitter.com\/urdwLESEht<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&mdash; Robby Soave (@robbysoave) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/robbysoave\/status\/1820956653270753429?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 6, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Of course, the lockdowns didn&rsquo;t work. We knew with a substantial body of evidence as early as September 2020 the government-mandated efforts at social distancing did virtually nothing to stop the virus. Donald Luskin, the CEO of the data analytics firm Trend Macro, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/the-failed-experiment-of-covid-lockdowns-11599000890\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">presented<\/a> a statistical study in the Wall Street Journal that month to show &ldquo;locking down the economy didn&rsquo;t contain the disease&rsquo;s spread and reopening it didn&rsquo;t unleash a second wave of infections.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Measuring from the start of the year to each state&rsquo;s point of maximum lockdown &mdash; which range from April 5 to April 18 &mdash; it turns out that lockdowns correlated with a greater spread of the virus,&rdquo; Luskin wrote. &ldquo;States with longer, stricter lockdowns also had larger Covid outbreaks. The five places with the harshest lockdowns &mdash; the District of Columbia, New York, Michigan, New Jersey and Massachusetts &mdash; had the heaviest caseloads.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Obesity, meanwhile, seemed to be killing everybody. Also in September 2020 came an article in Science Magazine which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencemag.org\/news\/2020\/09\/why-covid-19-more-deadly-people-obesity-even-if-theyre-young\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a> since the pandemic began, &ldquo;dozens of studies have reported that many of the sickest COVID-19 patients have been people with obesity.&rdquo; In one study published that year cited by the flagship journal, overweight patients with COVID-19 were 113 percent more likely to be hospitalized compared to patients of an otherwise healthy weight. Obese patients were 74 percent more likely to end up in intensive care units (ICU) and 48 percent more likely to die.<\/p>\n<p>But our politicians, Walz included, didn&rsquo;t embark on a Michelle Obama-style <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/09\/01\/i-used-to-mock-michelle-obamas-efforts-on-childhood-obesity-now-i-miss-her-activism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">campaign<\/a> to promote a nationwide commitment to metabolic health. Instead, people like Walz implored everyone to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-calls-travel-lid-for-wednesday-an-hour-after-bobulinski-interview-airs\/\" title=\"Biden Calls Travel Lid for Wednesday an Hour After Bobulinski Interview Airs\">stay home<\/a> and tattle on their neighbors. <\/p>\n<p>Critics of the dystopian protocols, however, were silenced under the same censorship regime that rigged the 2020 election and therefore prevented the country from having a true referendum on the authoritarian response. When a team of elite scientists from the nation&rsquo;s most prestigious academic institutions came together in October 2020 to publish the Great Barrington Declaration demanding an end to the lockdowns, they were <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/09\/28\/doctor-whose-censorship-case-is-at-the-supreme-court-we-had-to-speak-up\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">silenced<\/a> by the censorship regime leveraging influence over Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n<p>Major platforms spent the election year suppressing both the Hunter Biden laptop and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/walz-pick-gives-finally-gives-america-a-referendum-on-2020\/\" title=\"Walz Pick Gives Finally Gives America A Referendum On 2020\">anti-lockdown medical experts<\/a> in the kind of censorship protocol endorsed by Walz, who <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/latest-news\/watch-walz-says-theres-no-guarantee-to-free-speech-for-misinformation-hate-speech\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a> in a 2022 MSNBC interview, &ldquo;there&rsquo;s no guarantee to free speech on misinformation or hate speech, and especially around our democracy.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>    <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WxoH1fgEg9A?si=h55j33jBiPYA-HrC&amp;enablejsapi=1\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>    <\/p>\n<p>With Elon Musk&rsquo;s ownership of Twitter, rebranded as X, maybe America will finally get the referendum on 2020 Americans deserve four years after Covid. Or maybe not, considering censorship goes well beyond a single website. Google, for example, has already attempted to <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/07\/29\/the-left-is-trying-to-memory-hole-trumps-assassination-attempt\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">suppress<\/a> information about the assassination attempt on the Republican presidential nominee.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Tristan Justice is the western correspondent for The Federalist and the author of Social Justice Redux, a conservative newsletter on culture, health, and wellness. He has also written for The Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal. His work has also been featured in Real Clear Politics and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at Tristan@thefederalist.com. Sign up for Tristan&#8217;s email newsletter <a href=\"https:\/\/socialjusticeredux.substack.com\/about\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If the 2020 elections were premature and tainted to serve as a genuine referendum on issues like race conflicts and lockdowns, then 2024 will be the real test. Vice President Kamala Harris\u2019 choice for her running mate in her campaign to keep the White House highlights all that went wrong in America during 2020. After media attempts to downplay Harris\u2019 fundraising efforts for BLM protesters in Minneapolis, she selected Minnesota&#8217;s governor, who allowed extreme left activists to wreak havoc in a city that experienced one of the most costly episodes of civil unrest in U.S. history. Governor Tim Walz took several days before significantly deploying the National Guard, while his wife opened their home windows to &#8220;smell the burning tires,&#8221; calling it a &#8220;touchstone&#8221; moment.<\/p>\n<p>This clip featuring Minnesota First Lady Gwen Walz has been circulating widely as she reminisces about the riots: \u201cI could smell the burning tires&#8230; I kept my windows open as long as I could because I felt like that was such a touchstone of what was happening.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>While chaos unfolded, Walz encouraged citizens to report neighbors violating COVID restrictions. He directed police merely to issue citations for stay-at-home order violations but retained authority through executive orders to impose $1,000 fines or jail time for up to 90 days on offenders. His administration limited private indoor gatherings to ten people and outdoor gatherings arbitrarily capped at twenty-five people while instituting a statewide mask mandate.<\/p>\n<p>Imagine living next door to Tim Walz\u2014your seemingly friendly neighbor ready to report you for not adhering strictly to these oppressive measures. Meanwhile, vulnerable seniors faced risks from infected patients being placed back into nursing homes.<\/p>\n<p>Walz was also among those defending controversial COVID-19 policies that led sick elderly patients back into nursing homes where infections spread rapidly among other at-risk individuals, resulting in many coronavirus deaths there. He justified this decision by claiming it mirrored actions taken by other Democratic governors who similarly escaped scrutiny after Biden\u2019s administration declined investigations into these disastrous orders.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis was what everyone was doing,\u201d he stated during a May 2020 press conference. \u201cThis was not a mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Recall how Andrew Cuomo\u2019s career ended due partly to New York&#8217;s nursing home scandal? Tim Walz implemented an identical policy in Minnesota\u2014returning sick patients back into nursing homes\u2014but he later insisted it wasn\u2019t an error; this alone should disqualify him from consideration.<\/p>\n<p>Lockdowns ultimately proved ineffective; evidence emerged by September 2020 indicating government-mandated social distancing had little impact on curbing virus transmission rates. Donald Luskin from Trend Macro presented statistical findings showing lockdowns did not contain disease spread nor did reopening trigger subsequent infection surges.<\/p>\n<p>Luskin noted that states with stricter lockdowns experienced higher virus transmission rates; those with harshest restrictions\u2014like D.C., New York, Michigan, New Jersey and Massachusetts\u2014faced significant caseloads.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, obesity emerged as a major risk factor during this period; numerous studies indicated many severely ill COVID-19 patients were obese\u2014a study cited by Science Magazine revealed overweight individuals were significantly more likely than healthy-weight counterparts both needing hospitalization and facing mortality risks associated with COVID-19 complications.<\/p>\n<p>Yet politicians like Walz didn\u2019t launch initiatives promoting public health improvements akin to Michelle Obama\u2019s campaigns but instead urged citizens stay indoors and report non-compliance among neighbors.<\/p>\n<p>Critics opposing these authoritarian measures faced suppression under censorship regimes similar those influencing election outcomes preventing authentic discourse regarding governmental responses during crises like COVID-19 pandemic when elite scientists sought an end-to-lockdown declaration via Great Barrington Declaration but encountered silencing tactics employed across major platforms throughout election year including Hunter Biden laptop stories alongside anti-lockdown medical experts\u2014all endorsed by figures such as Walz himself who remarked about misinformation control concerning democracy rights during interviews post-election cycle<\/p>\n<p>With Elon Musk now owning Twitter (rebranded X), perhaps Americans might finally receive clarity regarding events surrounding elections four years ago amidst ongoing censorship challenges extending beyond single platforms\u2014for instance Google attempting suppression related Republican presidential nominee assassination attempt news coverage recently reported upon too.<\/p>\n<p>Tristan Justice serves as western correspondent at The Federalist authoring Social Justice Redux\u2014a conservative newsletter focused culture health wellness topics previously contributing pieces Washington Examiner Daily Signal Real Clear Politics Fox News graduated George Washington University political science journalism minor follow him Twitter @JusticeTristan contact via email Tristan@thefederalist.com sign up newsletter here<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":494,"featured_media":2321259,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Walz.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[37562,36126,5894,13764,27318],"class_list":["post-2321258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-2020-lockdowns","tag-2024-ballot","tag-politics","tag-riots","tag-walz"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Walz.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2321258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/494"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2321258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2321258\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2321259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2321258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2321258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2321258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}