The Minnesota governor said that the path to tyranny “is littered with people telling you you’re overreacting”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was testifying before Congress about his state’s handling of immigration when he learned Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., was forcibly removed from a Department of Homeland Security news conference Thursday.
The irony, he told the attendees of the Center for American Progress’ “Listening to Lead” event Friday, was in lawmakers grilling him and his colleagues, Govs. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y. and JB Pritzker, D-Ill., over the “incredible crime of treating people like human beings” as FBI agents tackled a sitting senator to the ground and handcuffed him in Los Angeles.
“I am not prone to hyperbole. I am prone to, like, popping off a little bit. I know that,” Walz said, prefacing his argument that Americans are living in a “dangerous” time. “I believed all along we were marching towards authoritarianism, and people were telling me in December, ‘You know, you’re overreacting.’ And I said, “The road to authoritarianism is littered with people telling you you’re overreacting.”
I’m not a Minnesota resident, but it sure looks like he’s taking direct and local action as the governor of Minnesota. The guy seems to have done a lot of good work for his constituents. As a governor, that’s really the most effective action he can take right now.
In the past, yes he has shown some spine for action but in today’s environment having him and Harris “invisible” until now projects a very weak position. The only Democrats that remained active and visible and “in your face” were AOC and Bernie. Rest of them seem to have evaporated. I’d love to be proved wrong. So, how many public gatherings did he address and outlined strategy for applying pressure on current Federal administration? How many times did he stand up and mobilized others to stand up to present onslaught of lawlessness streaming from DC? I get it, he’s Mi governor, but he also aimed for VP chair so one would expect him to act at “above state” level.