The White House issued a sharp response Thursday after Minnesota Governor Tim Walz delivered a state of the state address that strongly criticized President Donald Trump’s immigration policies and described the current national situation as “chaos.” According to Fox News, White House’s response emphasized Walz’s questionable handling of past crises in Minnesota and challenged his credibility on issues of chaos and governance.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Harrison Fields told Fox News Digital that Walz has no right to complain about chaos when he allowed his largest city to be devastated while his wife enjoyed the view from their mansion, referencing the unrest in Minneapolis following the death of George Floyd in 2020. Fields also pointed out Walz’s alliance with Vice President Kamala Harris, calling her tenure one of the most tumultuous administrations in the history of the United States.
“It’s rich of Tim ‘Jazz Hands’ Walz to decry chaos when he let his largest city burn to the ground while his wife opened their mansion’s windows to savor the fumes,” Fields said, adding that “Walz also willingly served alongside Vice President Harris, who presided over one of the most chaotic administrations in American history.”
During his speech, Walz condemned Trump’s efforts to deport illegal immigrants, including those suspected of gang activity or terrorism sympathies. He accused the Trump administration of undermining America’s reputation as a beacon of hope, claiming that university students were being detained and fathers deported without due process.
“The president has also chosen, and I stress this, chosen, to tear up the values that once made America the shining light of the world,” Walz claimed. “In this land of the free and home of the brave, we have university students being swept up, shoved into unmarked vans, and fathers being tossed into Salvadorian gulags without a hint of due process.”
Walz also appeared to reference the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant and alleged MS-13 member who was deported to El Salvador. While Trump officials maintain that Abrego Garcia has gang ties and a domestic violence accusation, Democrats have advocated for his return.
Additionally, Walz criticized federal immigration authorities for arresting foreign students whose visas were revoked over alleged involvement in anti-Israel protests. He also accused the Trump administration of trying to cut Medicaid and weakening the federal government’s ability to provide essential services, arguing these moves hurt working-class Americans and leave the country vulnerable.
“The President of the United States has chosen, chosen to destroy the federal government’s ability to help people,” Walz claimed. “He literally hired the richest man in the world to take a chainsaw to the basic services that Minnesotans rely on to build better lives. His plan leaves nobody there working to prevent the next pandemic, nobody to pick up the phone at the Social Security office, nobody making sure kids with special needs get the quality education they deserve.”
