'Not my governor': Minnesota small business owner criticizes Harris VP pick's 'radical' COVID-era policies

A local small business owner criticized Democratic vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz as the worst governor Minnesota has ever had.

Since Walz took office, Diane Kruger, who runs a business selling Scentsy products in Minnesota, has detailed how his policies negatively impact her.

"Kruger, while working her booth at the Cottonwood County Fair in Minnesota, told Planet Chronicle Digital that she is angry and disgusted with the state's current condition. She blamed the Democrats, who gained a trifecta in the House and Senate and the governor, for ruining the state. Kruger believes that Minnesota is now more communist than California."

During the coronavirus pandemic, Walz's policies negatively impacted Kruger's business, which is still recovering.

"In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, my business income decreased by at least 50% because the shutdown of the economy in Minnesota in March prevented me from hosting house parties, performing shows, and organizing events. As a result, I am still struggling to recover."

Walz's expansion of access to abortion and implementation of policies requiring school bathrooms to keep tampons in male restrooms for transgender-identifying individuals were characterized as "radical" by Kruger.

"Governor Walz is the worst we've ever had in Minnesota, and I don't care what anyone says," she declared. "I always referred to him as 'tyrant Timmy' or 'dictator Walz.' He's not my governor, so I won't call him that."

If Walz is elected as the vice president in November, the Minnesotan believes "we won't have a country left."

Kruger stated that a Harris-Walz administration would turn the United States into a communist country in a year and would be the worst thing that the country would ever experience.

In recent days, several small business owners and residents in Minnesota have expressed their agreement with Kruger's viewpoint about Walz's governorship, and Rep. Pete Stauber, representing Minnesota's 8th Congressional District, has shared that he has spoken with businesses that have either left or are not expanding in the state.

He has supported the highest income tax rate in the nation at 10%, added a $10 billion tax on the hardworking Minnesotans, and has taken a $19 billion surplus.

Charles Lutvak, campaign spokesperson for Harris-Walz, stated to Planet Chronicle Digital that Gov. Walz successfully led Minnesota back with effective leadership, skilled management, and intelligent policies, including reducing taxes for working families and achieving the lowest state unemployment rate in history.

New Fashion Tailoring and Alteration owner Long Her in St. Paul, Minnesota, told Planet Chronicle Digital that he watched helplessly as his business was destroyed during the 2020 George Floyd riots and that Governor Walz failed to protect business owners like him.

Planet Chronicle Digital reached out to the Harris-Walz campaign.