Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who is facing growing backlash over his rhetoric on federal immigration enforcement, is "projecting" blame onto President Donald Trump, Minnesota Republican state Sen. Michael Holmstrom said on Newsmax Tuesday.
Holmstrom's comments to Newsmax's "Newsline" followed Walz's comparison of people hiding from immigration enforcement to Anne Frank hiding from the Nazis, a remark that drew widespread criticism.
The governor also wrote in an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal that he fears "the tension between ICE agents and the communities they're ransacking" could boil over and suggested Trump wants Americans to see "more chaos on your TV screens," a view Holmstrom rejected.
He pointed to comments he attributed to Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, saying she "actually told protesters to go out and put their bodies on the line."
He said Trump, in contrast, had recently offered praise for the governor.
"President Trump, yesterday in his statement, actually somewhat said nice things about the governor," Holmstrom said.
"He actually kind of complimented him and said that he was working towards the common good," the senator said. "Then Walz comes up with this Wall Street Journal article and completely stabs the president in the back."
Holmstrom said the governor, in his view, cannot afford to be seen unfavorably by Democrats.
"He cannot be seen by his base as being favorable to President Trump," Holmstrom said. "So he's going to come out and attack Trump at every opportunity and project what he's been doing onto the White House."
Holmstrom also had sharp words about Minnesota state Rep. Brad Tabke, a Democrat, after reports that he had posted specific locations of federal agents and urged people to identify ICE activity.
"I would tell Brad that he has disgraced his office," Holmstrom said.
Holmstrom then questioned Tabke's election margin and claimed there were ballots that could not be traced.
"This is not an individual who should be taken seriously."
He predicted Tabke would lose reelection, saying, "He will be forgotten in the histories of Minnesota."
In closing, Holmstrom said he was "disgusted" by confrontations tied to recent protests and warned that similar scenes would not be tolerated outside the Twin Cities.
"They did this in the heart of St. Paul, where any violence towards these protesters, any self-defense, probably would have resulted in radical DAs charging the victims," Holmstrom said. "They do that five miles out of the cities. They do that out in my district. There's going to be serious problems."
"Minnesotans do not accept this," he added. "And we're not going to let it happen again."
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