Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic Party’s vice presidential nominee, walked away Sunday after being asked by a reporter what his “reaction” was to the news that the bodies of six Israeli hostages had been discovered in a Hamas tunnel underneath Gaza, including one American citizen.
While at the Minnesota State Fair, Walz was asked “how much” had changed since the “last state fair,” and how Walz was “balancing managing” his role as governor and running for vice president.
Walz, holding a vanilla milkshake, was then asked by a reporter about his “reaction” to the news that the bodies of six hostages held by Hamas had been found, to which he turned and walked away.
“Thanks, everybody!” he said, to cheers from supporters. He ignored the question.
The brief exchange with reporters went as follows.
“How much has changed from the last state fair?” a reporter asked.
“The question was, how much has changed from the last state fair,” Walz said. “I don’t get 12 days, which I normally get. A little bit more of a disruption, and I’m more concerned — obviously disruption to the other folks. But, it’s exciting. I think people are seeing that we’re getting to talk about Minnesota across the country, talk about the economy here, talk about things like the state fair, talk about agriculture.”
“How are you balancing managing the state of Minnesota and running for [vice] president?” another reporter asked Walz.
“I’ve got a good team on the – being able to manage my schedule,” Walz answered. “We appointed three great judges last week in Ramsey County, as you saw. Every night we go through all of the decision memos and meeting with the commissioners. I stay updated throughout the day and I’m in and out — most of my time is day out and then back in.”
“What’s your reaction to the six hostages being found dead in Gaza?” another reporter asked Walz.
“Alright, thanks everybody,” Walz said as he began to turn and walk away.
Walz’s non-answer to the question comes after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) identified the six murdered hostages as being Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, U.S. citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, and Ori Danino.
Ynet News reported that the autopsies of the six hostages’ bodies showed that they had sustained “gunshot wounds to their head and other areas”:
All six hostages whose bodies were discovered and recovered from Gaza on Sunday were found with gunshot wounds to their head and other areas, their autopsies showed.
According to the post-mortem, they were executed no more than 48 hours before being found and signs of neglect in captivity were found on their bodies.
Except for one of the hostages, who showed signs of being bound, no evidence of torture was found. However, the condition of their bodies indicated systematic neglect, including a lack of hygiene over a long period. Additionally, indications were present of previous injuries sustained during their abduction, which had been treated over time.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris issued statements in response to the murders.
In his statement, Biden said that “Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes,” while adding that he had “worked tirelessly” to bring American-Israel hostage Goldberg-Polin home. (Bide has been on vacation for two weeks.)
Harris noted that her “prayers” were with Rachel Goldberg-Polin and her husband Jon Polin, and described Hamas as being “an evil terrorist organization.”
