Minnesota business owner tears into Walz for COVID, BLM riot leadership: A 'total and complete failure' (2024)

A Minnesota business owner who was forced to shut his doors after suffering financial devastation from the coronavirus pandemic and crime issued a scathing rebuke of Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., calling him an "evil person" for his handling of COVID-19.

"Walz is absolutely a totaland complete failure," Greg Urban said Wednesday on "America Reports." "He's an incredibly divisiveleader.He shut down the state foralmost two years.Anybody that would go againsthis rules, so much as opening acoffee shop, would end up injail for long periods of time."

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Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris is welcomed by Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, before she delivers remarks at a campaign event, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in Eau Claire, Wisc. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Urban, the owner of Wild Greg's Saloon, said he was forced to shutter his Minneapolis bar when it could not rebound after COVID-19 lockdowns eased.

Urban's locations in Austin, Texas; Pensacola, Fla.; and Lakeland, Fla., bounced back relatively quickly, but "there was no road map ahead" for Minneapolis, he told Fox News' John Roberts.

"Minneapolis was a failed city, and it really hasn’t gotten any better.We were losing money every singlemonth, where every other city came backvery quickly from COVID, and youcan only lose money so manymonths in a row as a businessowner before you have to pullthe pin," he said.

In his first term as governor, Walz oversaw Minnesota's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and favored heavy-handed restrictions, including lockdowns and mask mandates. Walz's administration also set up a hotline to report residents who violated COVID-19 mandates, as FOX 9 Minneapolis reported at the time.

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"Walz was a completedictator through that wholeperiod.Really an evil person, more thana dictator," Urban said. "He actually made it illegal forfamilies to gather for Christmasand Thanksgiving.And so people, then, if they sawtheir neighbor carrying out aturkey leg on Thanksgiving, theycould call the tip line and Walzcould dispatch his COVID policeto come take them to jail."

Walz's handling of the pandemic came under scrutiny after Harris, the Democratic nominee, named him her running mate in the 2024 election. Critics are also pointing to Walz's response to the Minneapolis Black Lives Matter riots after the 2020 killing of George Floyd, calling it a failure and low point of his first term as governor.

Walz deployed the National Guard to stop the violence, which included the torching of a police station. But GOP lawmakers have said both the governor and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey were too slow to act.

A building goes up in flames during the George Floyd riots in Minneapolis. (Getty Images)

"He stood by.He had every resource to end theriots very quickly, and he chosenot to.He stood by. He let the burning,the looting, the protesting gofor several days, and it wasjust a terrible thing for thiscity, and the city still hasn’trecovered."

Urban said patrons were afraid to come downtown, further laying into Walz for letting rioters and criminals run rampant.

"They were scared because of thecrime.A lot of people were gettingmugged," he said. "Their cars stolen, cars brokeninto, there were no police.You call the police, and unlessthere is a murder in progress,they might not even respond, or[it could] take an hour or two.It was a very troubling time, and Tim Walzrefused to provide any stateresources, state police, thingsother cities — such as maybe Austin,Texas, for example — had somehelp from the state.Here in Minnesota, Tim Walzprovided no leadership to helpMinneapolis."

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He said he heard people compare Walz to Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., but he disagreed with the simplified characterization.

"I heard the comment yesterdaythat Walz is Newsom withless hair and wearing flannel.The reality is, Walz, I think,is more radical left thanGavin Newsom,"Urban said. "In a state of5 million people, I think itslides under the radar a littlebit, but Tim Walz was anabsolute dictator."

Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. (Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune via Getty Images)

Urban also called out Walz for a comment he made at Tuesday's rally with Harris on the topic of personal freedoms.

"In Minnesota, we respect our neighbors and their personal choices that they make. Even if we wouldn't make the same choice for ourselves, there’s a golden rule: Mind your own damn business," Walz told the crowd.

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Urban said Walz should have taken some of his own advice.

"The ideaof ‘mind your own damn business’ sure did not happenwith him," he said.

Walz's office did not respond to Fox News' request for comment.

Fox News Digital's Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.