A Minnesota business owner criticizes Walz's leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests as a "total and complete failure."

A Minnesota business owner who suffered financial devastation from the coronavirus pandemic and crime criticized Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., calling him an "evil person" for his handling of COVID-19.

"Greg Urban stated on 'America Reports' on Wednesday that Walz is a complete failure as a leader. He is highly divisive and shut down the state for almost two years. Anyone who opposed his rules, even opening a coffee shop, would end up in jail for extended periods of time."

Due to the COVID-19 lockdowns, Urban, the owner of Wild Greg's Saloon in Minneapolis, was forced to shut down his bar despite efforts to rebound after the restrictions eased.

Urban's locations in Austin, Texas; Pensacola, Fla.; and Lakeland, Fla., recovered relatively quickly, but "there was no clear path forward" for Minneapolis, he said to Planet Chronicle' John Roberts.

"Minneapolis was a struggling city, and it hasn't improved much. We were losing money every month, while other cities quickly recovered from COVID, and as a business owner, you can only lose money for so long before you have to shut down," he stated.

During his first term as governor, Walz led Minnesota's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and implemented strict measures, such as lockdowns and mask mandates. His administration also established a hotline to report residents who disobeyed COVID-19 mandates, as reported by FOX 9 Minneapolis.

"Walz was a complete dictator during that period, Urban said. He was an evil person, even more so than a dictator. Walz made it illegal for families to gather for Christmas and Thanksgiving, and if people saw their neighbor carrying out a turkey leg on Thanksgiving, they could call the tip line and Walz could dispatch his COVID police to take them to jail."

After being named as Harris's running mate in the 2024 election, Walz's handling of the pandemic and his response to the Minneapolis Black Lives Matter riots after the killing of George Floyd came under scrutiny, with critics calling his actions a failure and low point of his first term as governor.

The National Guard was deployed by Walz to halt the violence, which encompassed the burning of a police station. However, GOP lawmakers assert that both the governor and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey acted too tardily.

"He had the power to put an end to the riots promptly, but he chose not to act. He allowed the destruction, looting, and protests to continue for several days, resulting in a devastating impact on the city. Despite the passage of time, the city has not fully recovered."

Urban criticized Walz for allowing rioters and criminals to roam freely in downtown, causing fear among patrons.

"The crime caused fear among the people as a lot of them were mugged. He stated that their cars were stolen or broken into, and there were no police to help. When you call the police, they might not respond unless there is a murder in progress, or it could take an hour or two. It was a troubling time, and Tim Walz refused to provide any state resources or state police to help Minneapolis, unlike other cities such as Austin, Texas, which had some help from the state. Here in Minnesota, Tim Walz provided no leadership to help Minneapolis."

He disagreed with the simplified characterization of Walz being compared to Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., despite hearing people make such comparisons.

"Yesterday, Urban heard a comment that Walz is similar to Newsom but with less hair and wearing flannel. However, Urban believes that Walz is more radical left than Newsom. In a state of 5 million people, Walz's actions may have gone unnoticed, but Urban thinks that he was an absolute dictator."

At Tuesday's rally with Harris, Walz was criticized by Urban for his comment about personal freedoms.

"Respecting personal choices is important in Minnesota, even if we don't agree with them. As long as we don't interfere with others' decisions, we should mind our own business," Walz said to the crowd.

Urban said Walz should have taken some of his own advice.

He said, "The idea of 'mind your own damn business' did not apply to him."

Walz's office did not respond to Planet Chronicle' request for comment.

Planet Chronicle Digital's Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.