Meet the Press: Gov. Tim Walz

Interview

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Yeah, well, Doug is a friend. And it's kind of sad to me to hear that interview he did, which was a good one, asking all the hard questions. We've worked together on really important things that governors do, whether that's a flood diversion around Fargo to make sure that the seasonal floods of the Red River don't -- don't hit, and then agricultural issues. But look, Doug wouldn't answer the questions that need to be answered, and you were asking what's going to come out of this debate. The minute they all step on the stage, the American people have lost. Are they going to debate who can ban the most books? Who -- you know, Doug, he didn't tell you this, but he signed a six week abortion ban, which is hugely unpopular and simply wrong in America. So yeah, we're friends, but I hate to see it go down this road. Those are very simple questions about -- you were asking about the President, about the indictments and so I was a little bit tongue-in-cheek. And the sad part is, I do believe that Doug is probably the most normal of these. That's a pretty weird group of folks that are going to be on the debate stage. Doug's a pretty good guy, but he's trapped in a Republican party with no ideas.

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Absolutely.

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Well, absolutely. First of all, he's been one of the most highly effective presidents we've ever seen. I sit in Congress for 12 years waiting for Infrastructure Week. He actually delivered on this. And look, Dean is a friend of mine, I love him. But I spent last weekend on Makin Island with Tony Evers and Gretchen Whitmer talking about how we're going to make sure that we win this for Joe Biden, because this is not a debate about Joe Biden's age or experience. It's debate -- about protecting the democracy. You just heard probably the most reasonable of the Republican candidates not give you a single answer on things. It's about recruiting jobs back into Minnesota. It's about being able to feed our children. So yes, I do believe the President is the best one. I believe he has delivered and his record shows that. And anything other than that it -- it is simply distraction.

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No, I think it's -- I think it's our system. I think Donald Trump and the Republican Party have poisoned it to people. No one trusts our institutions, no one trusts Congress, no one trusts any of us, because all they do is attack our families, do those types of things. Look, at the end of the day, Democrats understand if you want to have reproductive freedoms, if you want to move towards a climate agenda that actually works, if you want decency in the White House, you've got one choice, and that's to vote for Joe Biden. So I can tell you, we're going to do it, we're going to deliver these swing states up in the upper Midwest. That's what Governor Evers and Whitmer and I were talking about. And I think folks are just tired of it all. But the fact of the matter is, this isn't about Joe Biden's age. This is about the democracy. And they'll -- as we get closer to the election, they'll see that. I'm telling you, after Wednesday and whatever transpires, the craziness on that stage, people start to understand this as we get closer.

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Well, first of all, it's a global phenomenon. Here in Minneapolis, we have the lowest inflation rates of 1%. We're starting to see folks start to recover from this. But the Biden -- the Biden agenda has actually done more to tame inflation, to start to bring back manufacturing, to focus on high-tech chip industry, and to focus on climate change and infrastructure than any other country in the world. So I think folks, yeah, there's angst in this. We went through a global pandemic. We saw an economy that lurched almost to a stop globally. But we're recovering as fast as any other country. So I think it's telling the story, it's getting out there. I do think this will be about the economy. But look, you just heard an entire interview with a presidential candidate that didn't tell you one single idea what they would do, to do anything about that. Joe Biden has CHIPS Act, the investments we're seeing, IRA, it's working.

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Well, I hope the Justice Department makes that case. And look, I'm a parent of a 16 and a 22-year-old. The Bidens love their son, but they also know that he's got his struggles. And he's not on the ballot. Joe Biden is, and Joe Biden's record is. And I think what he needs to do is let the system work and, again, you know, I'm sure he wants the best for his son. But if the justice system says, "Look, these laws were violated and here's the penalty for it," that needs to happen. And I think Republicans, again, this, you know, saying they support law enforcement, while they allow-- and you asked very specifically in that last interview about these attacks on the judges, attacks on our legal system. It's a responsibility to stand up with that. If I thought Joe Biden or had seen any proof that he were trying to influence that, I would certainly speak up. He hasn't done that.

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So I think we still need to continue to focus on it.

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Yes.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's a broader -- that's a broader issue. When I was in Congress I was the chief author of the Stock Act, not trading on congressional knowledge. My colleagues hated it because they said I was poor, I was a schoolteacher. It wasn't about that. It was about restoring faith in the system, not supporting me or not believing that, you know, we were getting over on something. So yeah, I think that's probably -- and I think that's a great question, Chuck. Because it doesn't get at the tit for tat. When you ask about Donald Trump, they talk about Hunter Biden. Now, there's a big difference there. One's running for president, one's not on the ballot. But yes, I think something -- we had the Congressional Ethics Office that sets up. I just think this idea that Donald Trump violated, where you disengage yourself from all financial interest, that didn't happen. And then putting his family in the White House, totally opposed to it. So yeah, I agree with you. Something should happen there.

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Thanks, Chuck.

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