A Fox9 reporter asked an important follow-up question of Minnesota House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt, while the Zimmerman-area Republican was place-baiting on crime. The editors of the Mankato Free Press are having none of Daudt sound bite philosophy.
House Minority Leader, Republican Kurt Daudt, seeming to admit some serious spin for the cameras: https://t.co/wrw22IeKTA pic.twitter.com/c0zLTXBzvD
— Andy Mannix (@AndrewMannix) February 18, 2020
Mannix, a reporter for the Star Tribune, was drawing attention to a remark by Daudt, reported by Fox 9's Theo Keith in 'Not true!' Frey, House Republicans tussle over Twin Cities crime:
'A good sound bite'
Daudt accused [Minneapolis Mayor Jacob] Frey and St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter of spending too much money on bike lanes and bans on plastic straws and plastic bags, at the expense of police. But when pressed by a reporter, Daudt acknowledged that's not how state aid to cities works.
"No, but it'll make a good sound bite for the news tonight," Daudt said.
Frey jumped on the minority leader's "sound bite" comment, accusing him of playing politics without reaching out to Minneapolis city officials before releasing their proposals.
"It was stated just a moment ago by Rep. Daudt that he was just looking for a sound bite on the media, and I think that is exactly the case," Frey said.
The disagreement spilled into a hallway in the state Capitol basement, where Frey and state Rep. Matt Grossell, R-Clearbrook, accused each other of lying.
City Pages Mike Mullen sums up the irony of the Republican Caucus including Grossell in a discussion of urban crime in Republican tells Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey 'Don't touch me' [VIDEO]:
Later, Frey confronted Rep. Matt Grossell (R-Clearbrook), a former Clearwater County sheriff's deputy so concerned with crime in St. Paul, he's done a little himself. (Maybe you've heard of Grossell's boozy night demanding employees in Regions Hospital produce a pair of... Crocs?)
Heckova a caucus resource.
The editors of the Mankato Free Press are not impressed by Daudt's leadership in this issue. They write in Our View: Legislature: Sound bite legislating serves no one:
Why it matters: A legislative kickoff press conference by the House GOP took aim at big cities and their public safety issues and was orchestrated for “sound bites.
If the Minnesota Republican Party feels a need to continue playing the big city-bad, small town-good narrative, Minnesotans got a good dose of it Monday.
House Republicans in the minority held a press conference highlighting crime in the big cities and extolling their Democratic counterparts to do something about it. It’s an easy target as no Republicans represent a district in Minneapolis or St. Paul.
House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt took a swing at big city policies like more bike lanes and plastic straw bans while the big cities are doing nothing to protect those outstate folks who are afraid to go to a Twins game at night.
The framing of the issue surrounded issues of gangs, drugs and enforcement of fares on light rail trains. Knowing the bias of white thought on these issues, the House GOP show had racist undertones.
Daudt continued his assault on the big cities with false statements that Twin City mayors were doing nothing to hire more officers. Both have done so, just not at levels police chiefs requested.
In one egregious piece of “narrative” proposed legislation, the GOP calls for a law prohibiting “disarming” police officers in good standing. It apparently stemmed from a mayoral questionnaire filled out by another candidate other than Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who rightly said the GOP was again getting it wrong.
These kinds of lightning rod proposals, even though they will go nowhere in the DFL-controlled House make good sound bites, as Daudt noted. The former speaker has had no trouble telling us his job is to not answer reporter questions, stay on message and now, go for the sound bites that divide.
In fact, the statements of Daudt and others seem to have the goal of dividing legislators and Minnesotans on the serious issue of public safety. It continues an rural-urban divisive narrative the Republicans feel served them well in previous elections.
Minnesotans expect more from elected leaders.
GOP proposals for increasing metro transit police (already in the works) and boosting state trooper and Bureau of Criminal Apprehension budgets can be reasonably debated. We favor increased penalties for straw buyers of guns, as the Senate GOP has proposed.
And both cities should consider how safe people feel at night when they spend their money with businesses. But there’s no room for the “sound bite” legislation when Minnesotans expect legislators to solve critical issues facing the state.
Perhaps the editors are a bit too optimistic in hoping Republicans old and new to work to solve critical issues facing the state when there's a chance to placebait about the Evil Metro.
Photo: Kurt Daudt, placebaiter and Minnesota House Minority Leader. Tim Pugmire | MPR News.
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