Exclusive – Tom Emmer Unloads on ‘Absolute Failure’ Tim Walz: ‘He Represents Illegal Aliens, Criminals,’ Not Minnesotans

Tim Walz ushered in lawlessness under the guise of tolerance, demonized law enforcement, and abandoned law-abiding Americans during his failed tenure as Minnesota governor, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview.

Fresh off a national rejection in November’s resounding electoral defeat, sharing the ticket with Kamala Harris, Walz is testifying Thursday before the House Oversight Committee to defend what Republicans have alleged is a refusal to enforce immigration laws or cooperate with federal law enforcement. He will be joined by fellow Democrat Govs. JB Pritzker (IL) and Kathy Hochul (NY).

Walz must suffer from a serious shamelessness to tout his failed record on Capitol Hill, Emmer believes. “He is the most incompetent executive I think our state has ever had,” Emmer told Breitbart from his office in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday.

Yet Emmer is not surprised by Walz, who possesses more ambition than authenticity.

“This is a guy who lies with conviction. You’ve got to check everything that comes out of his mouth,” Emmer said. “And he plays this hokey, folksy, ‘Hey, you know, we’re into joy and love,’ and all this stuff. And as you saw in the presidential campaign last year, people want substance, and this guy lacks serious substance.”

That substance deficit is perhaps most on display with the issue of border security, and Walz credits his dismissal of the law with a blanket acceptance of others, however unworthy or criminally inclined.

“If you’re going to ask him about all the illegal aliens that he thinks he represents in Minnesota, he’s going to tell you that we don’t hate anyone,” Emmer said. “Well, it’s got nothing to do with hate.”

Walz’s faux tolerance endangers the Minnesotans he swore to protect, Emmer told Breitbart News.

“Tim Walz has notified all of our sheriffs that if they detain an illegal alien in their county, which means putting them into a jail cell, they will be sued,” he said. “He’s already sued Anoka County, which is in my district, and it’s been expensive. He’s got a suit pending with Carver County, which is in my district.”

The sheriffs in his district just “want to do their job,” Emmer said, but with Walz, “you’ve got a guy who thinks illegal aliens, criminals, rapists, murderers, terrorists, that they’re more important than the citizens that are paying his salary.”

Emmer believes Walz’s poll-tested language might play well when catering to his radical base, but it will not save him from Thursday’s thorough examination of his record.

“I hope that Tim Walz is exposed — along with the guy from Illinois and the excuse from New York — for what they’re doing,” he said. “This is about bad leadership, people would say. I would say it’s about no leadership whatsoever. This guy will tell you whatever you want to hear, but he will never tell the truth.”

Emmer said failures of policies like Walz’s are on full display in Los Angeles, where the Mexican Flag riots have left millions in property damages as fires and looting spread throughout the city.

“What you’re seeing right now transpire in Los Angeles is kind of the cumulative effect of a lawlessness” and “a complete lack of leadership,” he said. “In other words, they’re doing the same thing that Tim Walz is doing. They’re not enforcing the law. More importantly, they’re not cooperating with federal authorities, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities, to enforce our laws.”

Similar protests have begun popping up in other cities throughout the country, marked by many left-wing protesters rising up against President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to deport illegal aliens, including violent criminals, drug dealers, and gang members.

“I would hope that we don’t get to that level in Minnesota, but I would tell you that there need to be a lot stronger signals,” Emmer said. “Perhaps the Justice Department has to look very close at what they’re doing to frustrate the ability of the good faith peace officers that we have in our state who are trying to protect the citizens, as opposed to letting the governor get away with protecting criminals, rapists, murderers, you name it, terrorists from foreign countries.”

Walz might dispute that Minnesota is technically a sanctuary state, but criminal illegal aliens are flocking to the state because they know they will be safe there, Emmer said.

“Under the past administration, there was an Al Shabaab terrorist who was detained at the southern border … but was released into the country,” Emmer detailed. “Guess where that terrorist was located about a year later? In the Twin Cities. We’ve got other just as heinous examples.”

For Emmer, the problems stem from Walz acting as “a governor who doesn’t represent the people of Minnesota. He represents illegal aliens, criminals, et cetera. He’d rather side with them than the Minnesotans. He’s supposed to be taking care of their safety. It is the Tim Walz way.”

President Donald Trump’s big beautiful bill (BBB) includes what top adviser Stephen Miller calls, “the largest border security investment in history.” Emmer believes the BBB will help give federal law enforcement the resources to better enforce immigration laws in cities and states run by anti-law Democrats like Walz.

“I think you’re going to see the federal government be more aggressive. This is what Donald Trump campaigned on,” he explained. “These Democrats that are fighting him, like Tim Walz, they clearly didn’t listen to the American people again last November.”

Immigration laws exist to protect all Americans, regardless of party, Emmer said.

“You don’t have to agree with everything the administration does … [but] the one thing we should all be able to agree on [is] there’s a reason why we have Immigration and Customs Enforcement, because we need to enforce the laws that are on our books,” Emmer said. “For some reason, Tim Walz and Democrats like him are not interested in enforcing the laws that are on the books, which are there, by the way, for the benefit of the American citizen, to make sure that people can live safely and securely within their own home, within their own community, within their own state.”

Throughout 2024, Walz has traveled the country, often showing up at some unconventional locations ahead of an expected run for the Democrat presidential nomination in 2028. “I don’t think he has a lane, but he’s on this pity tour where anybody who will invite him, he’ll show up,” Emmer said.

Yet, Democratic Party nominee may be one position for which Emmer thinks Walz is perfectly suited — from the Republican point of view.

“I’d love to see Tim Walz actually be the, quote, unquote, standard bearer” for Democrats, he said. “He is an absolute failure as a candidate at the national level, and he’s probably never been weaker in the state of Minnesota than he is right now.”

Emmer broke down the numbers, and in Walz’s 2022 reelection bid, he received only 52 percent of the vote after receiving 54 percent in 2018.

“We have 87 counties. He lost 74 of them,” in 2022, Emmer recalled. “In those 74 counties that he lost, he got 37 percent of the vote. There’s 13 metro counties that took him over the top, and that’s before he went on national TV and embarrassed himself and our state through his blatant lies” in the vice presidential debate.

Despite his downward trend, Walz appears undeterred in grasping for higher office.

“Unfortunately for some people like Tim Walz in this business of politics and elected office, he just can’t get enough of himself,” Emmer lamented, adding that the thought he might not be relevant “probably scares him to death.”

“What he doesn’t understand is he’s already not relevant,” Emmer said. “I mean, he’s a footnote in history.”

Bradley Jaye is Deputy Political Editor for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter and Instagram @BradleyAJaye.