By WILL WEISSERT and STEVE KARNOWSKI
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump claimed Monday that he would have ordered flags lowered to half-staff following the assassination of a Minnesota Democratic state lawmaker this summer time had he been requested by the state’s governor. However Trump on the time refused to even name Democratic Gov. Tim Walz to specific his condolences, saying it could solely “waste time.”
Trump made the comment throughout an unrelated Oval Workplace occasion as he defended his resolution to decrease U.S. flags after final week’s slaying of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
After saying that he was deploying the Nationwide Guard to Memphis, Trump was requested Monday why he signed an order decreasing flags nationwide after Kirk’s killing throughout an occasion in Utah, however didn’t achieve this after former Democratic state Home Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband had been shot and killed in June.
Trump replied, “Effectively, if the governor had requested me to do this, I might have performed that.”
“However the governor of Minnesota didn’t ask me,” the president mentioned.
He continued, “I wouldn’t have considered that. However I might have if any person had requested me,” and added: “Had the governor requested me to do this, I might have performed that gladly.”
Walz’s spokesperson didn’t instantly touch upon the president’s remarks.
However Walz tweeted a video name for unity on Monday night that featured references to Hortman’s assassination and the current capturing at a Minneapolis Catholic church that killed two college students and injured 21 folks. The video included feel-good scenes from the current Minnesota State Honest however didn’t point out Kirk.
“The world feels loopy proper now, however we gained’t lose hope. We are going to get via this, collectively,” Walz mentioned.
Trump’s assertions omitted the truth that — days after Hortman and her husband had been shot useless of their house within the northern Minneapolis suburbs — the president was requested if he’d be calling Walz. Trump prompt that doing so would “waste time.”
Presidents typically attain out to governors, mayors and different elected officers at occasions of tragedy, corresponding to after mass killings or pure disasters, to supply condolences and, if wanted, federal help. However Trump mentioned then that Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee in opposition to Trump in final 12 months’s election, was “slick.”
“I believe the governor of Minnesota is so whacked out. I’m not calling him. Why would I name him?” Trump advised reporters aboard Air Power One in June. He then added, “The man doesn’t have a clue” and “he’s a large number. So, you already know, I may very well be good and name him however why waste time?”
Teddy Tschann, a spokesperson for Walz, responded on the time with an announcement saying, “Governor Walz needs that President Trump can be a President for all Individuals, however this tragedy isn’t about Trump or Walz.”
Trump additionally mentioned Monday that he deliberate to attend Kirk’s funeral this weekend in Arizona and added that he’d seemingly be talking.
“I suppose I’ll say just a few phrases, I don’t know,” he mentioned. “However I suppose I’ll.”
Karnowski reported from Minneapolis.
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