Hot dish 10.08.24

By Sydney Kashiwagi

Good morning and welcome back to another DC Dish!

America got to see two sides of Gov. Tim Walz last night. A more stern vice presidential candidate on “60 Minutes” who had to respond to his misspeaks and as “America’s sweetheart” on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” my colleagues Rochelle Olson and Ryan Faircloth wrote last night.

Kimmel asked if it was strange to go from teaching social studies to being in the middle of it. Walz talked about how students picked him to play Santa Claus and how running a school lunchroom, “you’re either an optimist or you’re dead.”

Kimmel joked that the governor had arrived early to rake leaves off the porch. “Think Donald Trump ever handled a rake? Not even in a sand trap,” Kimmel said.

On “60 Minutes,” Walz faced questions about his past statements. Notably his misspeak on exactly when he traveled to China. CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker pressed Walz on whether he could be trusted to tell the truth.

“Yeah, well I can. I think I can. I will own up to being a knucklehead at times, but the folks closest to me know that I keep my word,” Walz responded.

CD2 DEBATES: Rep. Angie Craig and her GOP opponent former federal prosecutor Joe Teirab faced off in two debates in less than a week.

My colleague Chris Megan was there for both and saw them spar over abortion, inflation and the economy, social security, immigration and election integrity.

Craig criticized Teirab for his opposition to abortion while the former federal prosecutor defended his position and his role on the board of a pregnancy crisis center, which his mother went to when she was pregnant with him. “I’m against a federal ban, this is not a federal issue, this is a state issue,” Teirab said.

Teirab tied Craig to rising costs and inflation through her support for President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act.

The congresswoman attacked Teirab for getting caught on tape earlier this year discussing possible Social Security changes with a voter, including privatizing the program and raising the retirement age.

But the pair also had points of agreement throughout both debates. One notable moment was the outcome of the 2020 election, which former President Donald Trump maintains he won. “It was fair. It was unambiguous. Joe Biden was elected as president,” Teirab said.

MINNESOTA MAN SENTENCED FOR JAN 6: Paul Orta Jr., 35, of Blue Earth received a six-month prison term Monday for being at the front of the crowd with other Trump supporters during the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol more than 3½ years ago, my colleague Paul Walsh reports.

Orta Jr. was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after pleading guilty to civil disorder and aiding and abetting. A criminal complaint filed in November 2023, laden with photographs, showed Orta tossing aside police barricades, rushing toward a line of officers and going into restricted areas of the Capitol as the House of Representatives was certifying Biden’s election victory over Trump.

‘THE BAD GUYS WON WWII:’ GOP Senate candidate Royce White said on social media in 2022, the Heartland Signal recently uncovered. “There were no ‘good guys’ in that war. The controlling interests had a jump ball. If you look closely, you see the link between liberalism and communism in the Allied forces,” White said at the time.

White defended his past position in a long post on X while also bashing the media for covering his remarks. He also stated that the “winners of World War 2 were the global elites.”

She detailed the races that should be on your radar. Voters will be asked to pick a candidate in two contested races for the Minnesota Supreme Court, as well as a judge to serve on the state’s Court of Appeals and district court judges serving in Hennepin and Ramsey counties, as well as in central and northern Minnesota.

POVGOV HUDDLE TONIGHT: If you’re free tonight, join my colleagues at Angry Inch Brewing in Lakeville. My editor Laura McCallum will lead a discussion with fellow reporters Rochelle Olson, Chris Magan and Ryan Faircloth on the elections and all things politics. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are free, register here.

MINNESOTA FARMERS MAKE WHITE HOUSE APPERANCE: Two Minnesota farm leaders — Renville County’s Gary Wertish (president of Minnesota Farmers Union) and Big Stone County’s Anne Schwagerl (vice president of Minnesota Farmers Union) — will be in attendance for a White House summit Tuesday with farmers and ranchers across the U.S., my colleague Christopher Vondracek reports.

According to Politico, the event is expected to feature speeches from USDA Sec. Tom Vilsack and Policy Adviser Neera Tanden. Last week, the Biden Administration announced another nearly $8 billion in climate-smart ag funding projects.

WHERE’S WALZ:

READING LIST

Keep us posted at hotdish@startribune.com.