Politics
Minnesota lawmaker sounds alarm on Gov Walz's 'radical agenda' ahead of election: 'So heinous'
WYOMING, MN – A Republican lawmaker in Minnesota recently told Fox News Digital that Gov. Walz is “nowhere close” to being a moderate and outlined examples of why he believes that his agenda has been so “heinous” that it’s difficult to even explain it to voters.
“I mean there must be a new word for ‘center’ because he’s nowhere close,” Minnesota Republican State Senator Mark Koran told Fox News Digital. “The most radical policies that we have, as a conservative Republican in Minnesota, the most difficult process we have is trying to describe the bills that were passed in the last few years. The agenda is so heinous, removing parental rights, the transgender ideology which puts our children in harm’s way. He signed every one of those bills and to me, most don’t believe it because it is so radical when we try to educate them.”
Koran told Fox News Digital that Republicans were able to work with Walz’s predecessor, Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton, even if they disagreed on issues but Walz operates in a “very different environment” due to proxy voting and the “great power” Democrats have in Minnesota where the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) controls the statehouse.
“They have a trifecta which gives you great power, but they don’t have a mandate,” Koran said. “They only have the majority in the House, in the Senate in Minnesota by less than 1820 votes…they don’t have a mandate for a radical political agenda and so, to me, the most functional element, based on Governor Walz’s words of preserving democracy is he supports policies and procedures that rip out the very foundation of our system of governance.”
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MN GOP State Sen. Mark Koran told Fox News Digital that Gov. Tim Walz’s agenda is not in line with Minnesota voters
“He supported and signed every single bill that came through the legislature this year where they changed the simple rules and added proxy voting. Minnesota legislators no longer have to show up. They just get to count votes and what that does is it robs full representation for all voters in Minnesota and actually granted themselves ultimate power and the legislative agenda to operate for which the voters haven’t granted them.”
Koran told Fox News Digital that Walz’s track record as governor on a variety of key issues raise serious questions about his ability to effectively serve as vice president. Koran specifically took issue with the way Walz reacted to the rioting in Minneapolis after the death of George Floyd in 2020.
“Him being so close and being a member of the National Guard, they should have been in as soon as the civil unrest, which they knew was going to happen, they should have been on call and should have been ready and raring to go,” Koran said. “There should have been no hesitancy.”
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U.S. Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Governor Tim Walz takes the stage on Day 3 of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center, in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., August 21, 2024. (REUTERS/Mike Segar)
“They decided to let a precinct go, to let this civil unrest go on for many days, and I think if you look back in your research, when they finally did call out the guard, the National Guard leadership basically had to ask, ‘what’s the actual mission?’” Koran continued.
They were given no direction and that’s very difficult for people to understand. I grew up in St. Paul and the fires reached within a half a block or five houses from where I raised my kids,” he added. “St. Paul fared a little better only because their police acted differently than they were allowed to act in Minneapolis but he’s the leader of the state, he should have taken decisive action and he didn’t.”
Koran also took issue with Walz’s leadership on COVID, where he has faced vocal criticism from Republicans for his stringent crackdowns including promoting a tip line for neighbors to “snitch” on each other for COVID lockdown infractions.
“If you watched Minnesota they made up this chart and dials and political theater around what the issue was,” Koran said about the early days of COVID. “For the first two weeks we got together, we were concerned we were trying to figure out what is this really? Beyond the two weeks, none of the data. They wouldn’t share the data with us. As a legislator, I represent 85,000 people. They wouldn’t share the data.”
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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz greets Vice President Kamala Harris as she arrives on stage during a campaign rally at Thomas and Mack Center, University of Nevada in Las Vegas, on Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
“The data, as we know today, didn’t match any of the actual outcomes to justify the actions and keeping people locked up in their homes in Minnesota. We were probably one of the states, not the most extreme, but certainly one of the states who locked and crushed our small to middle-sized businesses, closed their churches and basically robbed us of the civil rights that we have within Minnesota. He failed horribly at it.”
When asked if there’s one thing voters nationwide should know about Walz if they are being introduced to him now for the first time, Koran said that the governor is “extraordinarily well polished at saying many words and saying nothing at all at the same time.”
“He’s already proven he’s agreed with the most radical progressive agenda that exists around the world,” Koran said.
“When you look at the political agenda and the policies they passed, he is not what’s good for Minnesota. He’s not good for the country. He’s already agreed to throw out the Constitution. Our basic system of governance and even though the vice president doesn’t have a significant defined role, he’s already agreed to be complicit with the most radical agenda that is anti-American, anti-hardworking legal U.S. citizen, and that’s what we can’t have in the White House.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris-Walz campaign for comment but did not receive a response.
President Biden awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction to Pope Francis on Saturday, granting one of the nation’s highest honors to a figure he called “the People’s Pope.”
“Pope Francis, your humility and your grace are beyond words, and your love for all is unparalleled,” Mr. Biden wrote on X. “You are a light of faith, hope, and love that shines brightly across the world.”
Mr. Biden honored the pontiff during a weekend in which he was scheduled to meet with the pope in person at the Holy See. The president, however, canceled the three-day trip to Italy to coordinate the federal response to raging wildfires in Los Angeles, according to a White House statement.
Rather than the usual award ceremony, in which the president places the award around the neck of the recipient, Mr. Biden posted on X an image from the Oval Office in which a military aide presented the medal. The White House announced the honor after Mr. Biden spoke to Pope Francis on Saturday and informed him of the award.
It was the first time during Mr. Biden’s term that he had awarded the medal “with distinction,” a more prestigious version of the honor. Mr. Biden received the recognition from President Barack Obama in 2017. Other recipients include Pope John Paul II and Colin L. Powell.
Mr. Biden, a Catholic, has seen Pope Francis as an admired ally on the global stage and turned to him as a sounding board, and the pope has lobbied for Mr. Biden to use his presidential power during his final weeks in office.
Last month, Pope Francis called Mr. Biden and asked him to commute the sentences of those on federal death row. Days later, Mr. Biden used his clemency power to soften their sentences to life in prison without the possibility of parole, sparing their lives.
A citation included in the White House announcement for the award said that Pope Francis was “unlike any who came before.”
“His mission of serving the poor has never ceased,” the statement read. “A loving pastor, he joyfully answers children’s questions about God. A challenging teacher, he commands us to fight for peace and protect the planet. A welcoming leader, he reaches out to different faiths.”
Mr. Biden awarded the honor days after bestowing the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 18 leaders of the political, financial and celebrity establishment.
Former Vice President Mike Pence revealed his brief exchange with President-elect Trump, which was caught on camera at former President Carter’s state funeral.
The pair have not been seen publicly together since leaving the White House in disagreement over the 2020 election results. At the service at the National Cathedral, Pence stood up to shake Trump’s hand, and they appeared to exchange pleasantries.
Former second lady Karen Pence, who was seated next to her husband, did not stand up or acknowledge Trump.
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In an interview with Christianity Today, Pence said he “welcomed” the opportunity to speak with Trump.
“He greeted me when he came down the aisle. I stood up, extended my hand. He shook my hand. I said, ‘Congratulations, Mr. President,’ and he said, ‘Thanks, Mike,’” Pence said.
Former Vice President Al Gore, left, watches as former Vice President Mike Pence, center, shakes hands with President-elect Trump before a state funeral service for former President Carter at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., Jan. 9, 2025. (Mandel Ngan/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
Pence also recalled one of his final conversations with Trump in 2021, when he told Trump he would continue to pray for him. Trump responded, “Don’t bother,” the outlet reported.
“I said, ‘You know, there’s probably two things that we’re never going to agree on. … We’re probably never going to agree on what my duty was under the Constitution on Jan. 6.’ And then I said, ‘And I’m never going to stop praying for you,’” Pence told Christianity Today. “And he said, ‘That’s right, Mike, don’t ever change.’”
He said he kept his word.
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Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., speaks before former President Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, at a campaign event, Nov. 1, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
While the two appeared to remain cordial at the service for Carter, Pence told the outlet he doesn’t think Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is the right fit to manage Health and Human Services and was concerned about former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard serving as national intelligence director.
Fox News Digital reached out to Trump and Advancing American Freedom, a public policy advocacy organization founded by Pence, for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this article.
President-elect Donald Trump has not responded to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s invitation to tour California’s fire damage, Newsom said Saturday afternoon.
Newsom sent a letter on Friday inviting the incoming president to California to meet with fire victims, survey the devastation in Los Angeles County and join him in thanking first responders. The invitation, which the governor’s office said was emailed to Trump’s team, marked a slight change in tone in the political battle between Newsom and Trump, with Newsom imploring Trump not to politicize the tragedy.
Newsom delivered an acid-laced reply when asked Saturday whether he expected Trump to respond to the invitation.
“He’s an incoming American president,” Newsom told a reporter Saturday as he stood on a Los Angeles airport tarmac in front of a hulking CalGuard Black Hawk helicopter. “I would expect any leader of the free world, the most powerful person in the United States of America, to respect the pleas of 40 million Americans that happen to live in the state of California, hundreds of thousands of people that are still evacuated and a recovery effort that includes, right now, cadaver dogs to look for human remains, to be here for the American people at a time of emergency and a time of recovery.”
Trump’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Kathryn Barger echoed Newsom’s call with her own invitation to Trump on Saturday, imploring the incoming president to stand with county residents as they rebuild.
A catastrophic cluster of fires has wrought unprecedented destruction on the greater Los Angeles area in recent days, leveling thousands of structures and killing at least 13 people. The rebuilding effort will cost billions and test relationships at all levels of government.
President Biden, who has a close relationship with Newsom, has pledged that the federal government will cover 100% of disaster assistance costs to California for the next 180 days. But Biden leaves office on Jan. 20, and the recovery effort will likely sprawl for years to come.
Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks with reporters at LAX on Saturday.
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)
Newsom whose term in office ends in 2026, is widely seen as eyeing the White House. As governor, Newsom took advantage of the state’s position as the liberal antithesis to Trump to elevate his own national profile during the president-elect’s first term.
The war of words between the two men on social media and in news headlines gave Newsom an opportunity to define himself as a fighter for Democratic values that he argued the Trump regime sought to erode. Newsom and California similarly gave Trump a chance to call out the follies of Democratic rule, endearing the president to his own base.
Less than 36 hours after Trump won the 2024 presidential election, Newsom called a special session of the Legislature to give the California Department of Justice an extra $25 million to wage legal battles against the incoming administration.
The special session immediately reignited the California versus Trump narrative from four years ago, though Newsom has attempted to downplay any political motivation and said his experience proved the need to prepare to protect environmental policies, abortion access and other state priorities.
When asked Saturday whether he regretted calling the special session and publicly reigniting tensions with the incoming president, Newsom emphatically pushed back.
“Our preparing for the inevitable — which is an assault on our values, our diverse communities — we would be absolutely remiss not to prepare for that,” Newsom said, citing the myriad lawsuits the state litigated with Trump during his tenure and prior threats to withhold disaster assistance from the people of California.
But he also suggested that he worked as closely with Trump during the COVID-19 pandemic as any Democratic governor in America, taking the slightly more measured approach that he has put forth. During the president-elect’s first term, Newsom and Trump also maintained a friendly behind-the-scenes relationship, which appears to have since dissipated.
Newsom has forcefully pushed back on right-wing attacks on social media in the wake of the fires on social media in recent days and launched a website Saturday to actively debunk misinformation about the fire. The site refutes claims from Fox News that California cut its firefighting budget and shoots down allegations in social media posts about the state mismanaging forest lands.
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