Chris Christie: ‘Absolute Malpractice’ by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz; ‘Gave Permission’ to Nationwide Riots

Gov. Chris Christie fields questions at a wide-ranging news conference, March 3, 2016 at t
Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images

Former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) described the conduct of Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) as “one of the worst cases of malpractice” he had seen from a governor, offering his remarks in an interview on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Sunday with host Joel Pollak.

“The absolute malpractice by the governor of Minnesota” was a driver of ongoing protests and riots, Christie stated. “When you’re governor of a state, you are the commander-in-chief of the national guard in your state.”

Christie said Walz should have prepared the Minnesota National Guard for deployment following the killing of George Floyd in anticipation of social unrest.

“That national guard, as soon as that police killing occurred, they should have been prepositioned because you had to believe there was a significant risk of some real problems and civil unrest,” Christie assessed. “The fact that the governor of Minnesota essentially did almost nothing for 48 hours — was barely visible in Minnesota, was not having the national guard prepositioned and ready to go — it is malpractice. And not only did it create destruction and mayhem in Minneapolis, but it really gave the permission slip to the rest of the country to act in the same way.”

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Christie added, “Gov. Tim Walz, in my view, had committed one of the worst cases of malpractice you can commit as a governor, which is to fail to protect the lives and property of the citizens who elected you.”

On Saturday, Walz said Minnesota’s law enforcement is insufficiently staffed to control the rioting in the state. “We cannot arrest people when we’re trying to hold ground,” he stated. He also took responsibility “for underestimating the wanton destruction and the size of this crowd.”

Walz said, “This is the largest civilian deployment in Minnesota history that we have out there today. And quite candidly, right now, we do not have the numbers. We cannot arrest people when we’re trying to hold ground because of the sheer size, the dynamics, and the wanton violence that’s coming out there.”

Pollak asked if the government will be aided by the designation of Antifa as a terrorist organization, a move President Donald Trump stated would happen.

Christie replied, “It helps the FBI more because it allows them to put different additional resources on both the investigation and apprehension of people who are engaged in that type of conduct. I think the biggest group that was aided by that declaration was the FBI because this will permit them legally to be able to put more resources onto these kinds of issues than they might have otherwise been permitted to do.”

Breitbart News Sunday broadcasts live on SiriusXM Patriot 125 from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Eastern.

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