Harris, Walz and the Minnesota Freedom Fund
'It's a bit euphemistic to describe rioters as protesting'
Kamala Harris announced that her running mate will be Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who drew national huzzahs in the last few weeks for underlining the Democrat message that JD Vance is a major-league weirdo.
Vance congratulated Walz for the gig and lowered the boom: “Tim Walz allowed rioters to burn down Minneapolis in the summer of 2020, and the few who got caught, Kamala Harris helped bail them out of jail.”
One of many stories omitted by the pro-Kamala media was her June 2020 tweet soliciting donations to something called the Minnesota Freedom Fund: “If you’re able to, chip in now to the @MNFreedomFund to help post bail for those protesting on the ground in Minnesota.”
It’s a bit euphemistic to describe rioters as “protesting.” Democrats usually call rioters “insurrectionists” if they love Trump. If they’re racially obsessed leftists, then they deploy affirming terms, like a “rebellion” or a “reckoning.”
In a check of the Nexis database for Harris and the MFF, here are a few media outlets that have skipped this story for years: ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, The New York Times and USA Today. NPR offered a few stories hailing the MFF, but none mentioning Harris. The Washington Post “Fact Checker” squad rushed to Harris’ defense on it.
There were some assorted exceptions. By August of 2020, the Associated Press reported in passing that Harris (alongside actors Steve Carell and Seth Rogen) supported the MFF; and KMSP, the Fox affiliate in Minneapolis, “reported the fund used donations to recently free people charged with murder, sex crimes and other violent offenses.”
CNN’s Jake Tapper briefly noted Harris’ MFF tweet on July 29 as an issue. But in 2021, CNN host Don Lemon ran a clip of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), but then lectured bizarrely: “So, let’s set the record straight. There was no bailing out. Right? Kamala Harris tweeted about a fund to help people post bail, which is entirely legal. Stop it, Lindsey. You guys know better than that. Well, maybe you don’t.”
A new Twitter controversy erupted on July 25 when Minneapolis CBS affiliate WCCO complained, “Trump falsely accuses Harris of donating to Minnesota Freedom Fund, bailing out ‘dangerous criminals.'” WCCO was extremely technical. Trump said at a rally, “One of the dangerous criminals Kamala helped bail out of jail was Shawn Michael Tillman,” who murdered a man after his release.
Like the usual Democrat fact-checkers, WCCO took “helped bail out of jail” to mean “donated,” when it’s quite clear Harris asked for people to “chip in now” to the bail fund. She “helped” the fund.
Twitter’s Community Notes quoted Harris’ tweet from 2020: “The tweet contained a donation link. This tweet has not been deleted and is available.” Elon Musk tweeted: “CBS lies about Trump lying.”
This social media battle did nothing to nudge the pro-Kamala media to action. WCCO reporter Esme Murphy interviewed Harris in 2022, and her question didn’t even mention the “chip in” tweet. Instead, she merely asked Harris, “Do you have any thoughts about this?” You can hear the extremely evasive Harris answer in the full interview on YouTube, but it didn’t make Murphy’s story on TV.
For his part, Walz appointed Minnesota Freedom Fund Executive Director (and “Soros Justice Fellow”) Tonja Honsey to the state’s Sentencing Guidelines Commission. He even kept her on his team after she admitted she faked an “indigenous” ancestry like Elizabeth Warren.
Issues like Harris fundraising for bailouts of violent rioters and criminals will only surface when pro-Harris media outlets disparage Trump for bringing it up. “Prosecutor” Harris and “moderate” Walz have a narrative they need to enforce.
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