STEINHATCHEE, Fla. — Governor Ron DeSantis took time during his press conference on the state's response to Hurricane Debby to offer his thoughts on Vice President Kamala Harris's selection of his new running mate.
On Tuesday, the vice president named Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate. DeSantis offered his thoughts on the pick.
In his comments, DeSantis started out mispronouncing the Vice President's name before he brought up the 2020 George Floyd protests and riots and said Walz "let the city of Minneapolis burn." DeSantis said the ticket "represents the spirit of those 2020 BLM riots."
The governor then shifted to asserting a link between Walz and Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar. DeSantis called Walz "an Ilhan Omar-style leftist" who has the "same policies as his fellow Minnesotan Ilhan Omar."
During his roughly two minutes of comments on the Democratic ticket, DeSantis also included two references to San Francisco.
He ended his comments by saying, "We do not need to see poop on the street and cities burning down."
His full comments can be read below:
Let me offer some comments on Kamala Harris picking the Governor of Minnesota Tim Walz to be the Vice President.
We all remember the BLM riots of 2020 in Minneapolis. Those were riots that Harris egged on and raised money to bail out the rioters with the Minnesota Bail Fund. They’re riots that Tim Walz as Governor sat back and let happen. He sat back and let the city of Minneapolis burn. That city has been gutted as a result of those riots.
We would never allow that to happen in the State of Florida
This is a ticket that really represents the spirit of those 2020 BLM riots.
You have a very vapid San Francisco Democrat and then you’ve got an Ilhan Omar-style leftist Tim Walz who has the same policies as his fellow Minnesotan Ilhan Omar.
We do not need an America that represents the policies of San Francisco or the failed policies of Minneapolis. We do not need to see poop on the street and cities burning down. That is not a prescription for America to work its way back.
ABC Action News spoke with several small business owners across Polk County, and the topic on everyone's mind heading into the 2024 election was inflation.
