Gov. Tim Walz walks back call for ‘meaner' Dems after Minnesota assassinations, urges ‘leading with grace and compassion'
'This cannot be the norm. It cannot be the way that we deal with our political differences,' Walz said of the quadruple shooting Sunday, while announcing the capture and arrest of suspected gunman Vance Boelter, 57, following an intensive manhunt.
4 Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz changed his tune about urging Democrats to be 'meaner' after a quadruple shooting in his state targeting lawmakers and their spouses.
CRAIG LASSIG/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
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4 Boelter is accused of murdering two and attempting to murder two others.
Boelter allegedly disguised himself as a police officer and shot and wounded state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, in their home before going to the home of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and executing her and her husband, Mark.
'Now is the time for us to recommit to the core values of this country … talk to a neighbor rather than arguing. Debate an issue. Shake hands. Find common ground,' Walz said.
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'It's not about hatred. It's not about mean tweets. It's not about demeaning someone. It's leading with grace and compassion and vision and compromise and decency,' the governor added.
It was a complete 180 from the remarks Walz made exactly two weeks before while giving the keynote speech at the South Carolina Democratic Party Convention, in which he called on members to strengthen their resistance measures against Trump, whom he called a 'wannabe dictator.'
'Maybe it's time for us to be a little meaner,' the failed vice presidential candidate said to audience applause on May 31. 'Maybe it's time for us to be a little more fierce because we have to ferociously push back on this.'
'When it's a bully like Donald Trump, you bully the s–t out of him.'
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During Sunday's press conference, Walz called for every American to honor the spirit of the Hortmans.
4 Walz knew Rep. Hortman well, and spoke glowingly of her during a press conference Sunday announcing Boelter's arrest.
Melissa Hortman/Facebook
4 Hortman and her husband were murdered Saturday.
MelissaHortman/Facebook
'Let us take solace in their memory, in Melissa's legacy of selfless, pragmatic, gentle public service,' he said of the state House Democratic leader. She was the only member of the party who joined Republicans to repeal taxpayer-funded health care coverage for adult illegal immigrants in this year's budget bill.
The shocking assassinations sparked the largest manhunt in Minnesota history, eventually trailing the accused killer to a wooded area in rural Sibley County, southwest of Minneapolis, after authorities received a tip about a possible sighting hours earlier.
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