Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Sunday touted Donald Trump’s recent spate of insults as a badge of honor but said that the president’s Thanksgiving Day Truth Social post — in which he called the former Democratic vice presidential nominee “seriously retarded” — was juvenile and “hurtful” to communities that worked for years to eradicate the slur from polite society.
“I think we all know using that term is just so damaging. It’s hurtful. We have fought three decades to get this out of our schools, and kids know better than to use it,” Walz said about the derogatory term on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “But this is what Donald Trump has done, he’s normalized this type of hateful behavior… at first I think he’s just not a good human being but secondly to distract from his incompetency.”
In a Thanksgiving day post, Trump accused Walz of allowing Somali migrants to take over his state. Earlier this month in a separate Truth Social post, Trump announced the end of Temporary Protected Status for Somali immigrants living in Minnesota. Of the nearly 80,000 Somalis living in the state, a 2023 report by the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota found that just 430 have federal protection from deportation.
“Minnesota, under Governor Waltz, is a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity,” Trump posted on Nov. 21, seemingly referencing a series of recent fraud cases out of Minnesota that resulted in the arrest of 59 individuals, including some Somali nationals, who are accused of stealing $1 billion in taxpayer funds for during the COVID-19 pandemic meant for social service programs.
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The cases have garnered outsize attention in far-right circles online in recent days, with many citing them in calling for restrictions on asylum seekers and immigrants from war-torn countries.
“Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State, and BILLIONS of Dollars are missing. Send them back to where they came from. It’s OVER!” Trump added. “The seriously retarded Governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, does nothing, either through fear, incompetence, or both.”
The money laundering case Trump referred to is being tried by state officials. So far more than 50 defendants have been convicted so far for felony fraud.
Trump’s use of the slur caused a stir within Republican circles as well — and may have imperiled his push to redraw congressional districts in at least one red state.
Indiana Senate Republican Michael Bohacek wrote in a Facebook post that he could not support the president’s redistricting plan for Indiana — citing his daughter with Down Syndrome and the president’s use of the slur.
“I have been an unapologetic advocate for people with intellectual disabilities since the birth of my second daughter,” Bohacek wrote in a Saturday post. “This is not the first time our president has used these insulting and derogatory references and his choices of words have consequences. I will be voting NO on the redistricting, perhaps he can use the next 10 months to convince voters that his policies and behavior deserve a congressional majority.”
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