Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D) launched his re-election campaign Tuesday with a call for unity, but the announcement is overshadowed by a record of rhetoric and policies linked to recent violence, including the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk and the Catholic school shooting in Minneapolis, both involving individuals connected to transgender ideology.
Walz declared his bid for another term in a video released Tuesday, beginning by calling his dog into his truck before setting off on a road trip. He said he has “been to every corner of Minnesota” and wants to keep the state “the best place on Earth with the best people.” He noted the state has faced “terrible times this year” but emphasized that Minnesotans “help each other through the hard times.”
“I’m heartbroken and angry about the beautiful people we lost to gun violence, but it’s in these moments we have to come together. We can’t lose hope,” Walz stated. He cited paid family leave, the child tax credit, tax cuts, and public safety investments as achievements of his administration. He also pledged to “get serious about gun violence” and defend “rights and freedoms no matter what you look like or who you love.”
The re-election launch comes as Walz’s words and actions along with those of other radical professionals are under renewed scrutiny in the wake of political violence. After Charlie Kirk’s assassination, actress Justine Bateman resurfaced in past Democrat comments urging aggression, including Walz’s June 2025 statement: “Maybe it’s time for us to be a little meaner, a little more fierce because we have to ferociously push back on this.” Bateman warned that “politicians, people act on what you say,” highlighting similar violent statements from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), and Beto O’Rourke.
Walz has repeatedly used combative language. At a Labor Day picnic earlier this month, he quipped that “There will be news sometime,” a remark reported as appearing to fantasize about President Donald Trump’s demise. In South Carolina in June, he likened confronting Trump to a schoolyard fight, declaring, “When it’s an adult like Donald Trump, you bully the shit out of him back.” On MSNBC in April, Walz asserted Republican lawmakers “need to be afraid,” later clarifying he meant politically.
He has also referred to ICE agents as “Trump’s modern Gestapo” and told MSNBC that President Trump would eventually appear in a military uniform as the nation moved toward “authoritarianism.”
Following the Catholic school shooting on August 31 that left two children dead and 17 wounded, Walz called for an emergency session on gun control, blaming “more guns and the wrong types of guns” in America. He did not mention that the shooter identified transgender, born Robert and later identifying as Robin, who left a manifesto saying, “F*ck those kids” and “Where’s your f*cking God now?”
The Minnesota Catholic Conference revealed Walz had twice denied nonpublic schools’ requests for security grants despite a $17 billion budget surplus, while public schools received funds. Catholic leaders argued the exclusion was discriminatory, pointing to attacks on faith-based schools such as The Covenant School in Nashville in 2023.
Minnesota Democrats’ broader promotion of transgender ideology remains under debate. Walz signed legislation in 2023 making Minnesota a “trans refuge” state and directed schools to install tampons in boys’ bathrooms, earning him the nickname “Tampon Tim.” State Democrats allocated $1 million in 2025 to support gender-affirming care training and advocacy groups. Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan was pictured in 2024 wearing a shirt reading “Protect Trans Kids” alongside a knife graphic.
The Minneapolis shooter expressed regret in his journal for “brainwashing” himself into transition and admitted, “I wish I had never embraced it.” He complained of drug use, vaping, and a lack of meaning in life, with Gays Against Groomers noting “cross sex hormones combined with mental illness is a seriously deadly combo.”
The September 10 assassination of Charlie Kirk intensified concerns that Democrat lawmakers’ promotion of transgender ideology, reinforced by their scapegoating of Republicans, has contributed to an environment that fuels such violence. Suspect Tyler Robinson, 22, allegedly held left-leaning views, disliked Kirk, and lived with a transgender partner described by relatives as someone who “hates conservatives and Christians.” Investigators recovered a bolt-action rifle and casings etched with anti-fascist slogans. Utah Governor Spencer Cox (R) confirmed the partner was “a male transitioning to female.”
Walz’s ties to gun control activist David Hogg stand in direct contrast to Kirk’s legacy. Walz has publicly praised Hogg as “a good friend of mine” and congratulated him on becoming vice chair of the Democratic National Committee earlier this year, a position he no longer holds after being removed. Just days before Kirk’s funeral, Hogg posted on X that he wanted his own death “politicized” to push for stricter gun laws, while Kirk’s widow Erika recalled that her husband hoped to be known for his “courage and his faith.” The comparison captures the spiritual warfare unfolding in America today.
Even in his campaign video, Walz cast Republicans as the source of the nation’s problems, pledging he would “never stop fighting to protect us from the chaos, corruption and cruelty coming out of Washington.” His message underscored how he continues to frame the GOP as the enemy, even as he now claims gun violence as a reason to seek another term.
Read the full article here