Tim Walz in 2024: 'We Respect Our Neighbors.' In 2020: Minnesotans, Snitch on Your Neighbors!

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In his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, vice presidential nominee Tim Walz said, "Because in Minnesota, we respect our neighbors and the personal choices they make. And even if we wouldn't make those same choices for ourselves, we've got a golden rule: Mind your own damn business!"

Walz was, of course, referring to the "personal choice" to kill unborn babies.

But what about other personal choices?

Because during the COVID-19 pandemic, he didn't give a damn about people minding their own business.

Townhall reports, "As governor of Minnesota, he set up a hotline for residents to report on one another, catching those who committed the cardinal sin of violating his COVID-19 mandates. Walz refused to take down the tattletale line, which alerted authorities to suspicions of non-compliance with Walz's draconian lockdown measures, when asked to do so."

At the time, Republican State Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka called for Walz to stop the government monitoring. "It's not necessary and it's not how Minnesotans want to treat each other," he posted on X. "We can all show a bit of kindness to our neighbors as we manage our times and needs differently in the stay at home efforts."

Of course, Walz didn't take down the hotline and the harassment persisted. "We're not going to take down a phone number that people can call to keep their families safe," Walz said at a press conference.

So much for minding your own damn business.

If you failed to follow Walz's social distancing rules during COVID-19, punishments were as high as a $1,000 fine or a 90-day jail sentence.

"I urge all Minnesotans to voluntarily comply with this Executive Order," Walz wrote. Anyone who "willfully violated" it was "guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction must be punished by a fine not to exceed $1,000 or by imprisonment for not more than 90 days," he ordered.

By April 2020, the state had received about 500 "suspected violations" of Walz's directive.

When Tim Walz says "Mind your own damn business" what he really means is to shut up about women aborting their babies. The taking of innocent life should be everyone's business.

But neighbors merely visiting each other? He absolutely made that his business during the pandemic and there's no reason to think he would hesitate to implement that kind of authoritarian control again.