Walz's response to 2020 Minnesota riots is under the microscope as he joins the ticket

Even before Vice President Kamala Harris selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate Tuesday morning, Walz was facing fresh scrutiny over what critics said was a delay in calling in the National Guard during the 2020 protests that engulfed Minneapolis after the murder of George Floyd.

Republicans all the way up to former President Donald Trump have claimed Walz was responsible for that delay, criticism that quickly coalesced into one of the main arguments against the freshly formed Democratic presidential ticket Tuesday, though Trump also offered praise to Walz for his handling of the situation in 2020.

Just hours after Harris picked Walz, GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance claimed Walz, who struck a conciliatory tone after Floyd’s murder and the violence that followed, was “cheering on” rioters in Minneapolis as it “burned” during the May 2020 protests — a criticism also quickly echoed by the Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee and the Trump-aligned MAGA Inc. super PAC.

Trump himself has also falsely claimed — including last month during a rally in St. Cloud, Minnesota — that as president it was he, not Walz, who called in the National Guard during the protest, after Walz dragged his feet. While that claim is not true, Walz and the Minneapolis mayor have long pointed fingers at each other over the delayed response, with Republicans blaming both of them in a later legislative investigation.

Criticism over a delay in responding to riots

In May 2020, in the days after a Minneapolis police officer killed Floyd, protests erupted throughout Minneapolis and St. Paul and, in short order, throughout cities across the U.S. In Minnesota, some of the protests quickly turned violent, resulting in massive