Becket Adams writes for National Review Online about the latest strange pronouncement from Minnesota’s governor.
America’s weirdest governor re-emerged on the national stage last week to re-energize the floundering Democratic Party and help “fill the [leadership] void.”
However, rather than galvanize his colleagues, Walz, who waves hello with both hands, mostly reminded everyone why he and former Vice President Kamala Harris lost the 2024 presidential election. His reappearance also reminded everyone that the national press, which tried to sell voters a carefully curated image of Walz during the general election, is not so hard-boiled and scrutinous as it pretends to be.
“On my phone,” Walz remarked last week at an event in Wisconsin, “I know some of you know this — on the iPhone, they’ve got that little stock app. I added Tesla to it to give me a little boost during the day.”
The governor, like the Democratic Party itself, has declared Tesla owner Elon Musk persona non grata for his attempts to cut fraud, waste, and abuse in the U.S. federal government.
“Two-hundred and twenty-five and dropping!” Walz said to applause, referring to Telsa’s dipping stock price. “And — and if you own one, if you own one, we’re not blaming you.”
What a remarkably idiotic thing for any governor to say, let alone the governor of Minnesota. …
… As of June 2024, Minnesota had 1.6 million shares of Tesla in its retirement fund and 211,000 shares in its non-retirement fund, according to Minnesota State Board of Investment records. More specifically, the board reported holding 1.6 million shares of Tesla stock “with a booked value of $161 million value, and a market value of $319 million,” according to Republican Minnesota State Representative Shane Mekeland. “The value of the stock is now $377 million based on yesterday’s closing price and is up 34 percent in the past year.”
In other words, Walz’s remark is even dumber than it appears on first blush. He is too dim-witted to realize he’s rooting against the financial interests of his constituents. There’s bad retail politics, and then there’s whatever Tim Walz is.
