Within 24 to 48 hours of first reopening her wine and coffee bistro in December 2020, Hanson said “the state came down on us with a vengeance,” siccing the health department on her business and eventually bringing about a half dozen civil and criminal cases against her. During her trial, Hanson claimed she was denied due process and blamed “rogue judges,” the attorney general, and Walz for operating in “lockstep.”
“They employed all of their resources against We the People, just trying to run a company, serve a cup of coffee to a willing customer. And they said, ‘nope, you can’t do that,'” Hanson said. “And mind you, there was never an injury. There was never an infection of COVID-19, nor was there ever a death that occurred because I had my doors open and willing customers came in to patronize me.”
Incurring tens of thousands in legal fees and fines, Hanson said eventually her business was forced to close while under intense pressure from the government.
“What happened to me was no accident, and they absolutely wanted to make an example, right?” Hanson said. “It was like literally living a nightmare.”
“I’ve heard some people say that Tim Walz is a real nice guy. Yeah, well he’s not. Take my word for it,” Hanson said. “Through this whole process, I’ve gotten to know other people. Similar things have happened to them when they were trying to run their business and survive. Mostly women, by the way. So Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison really like to go after women. They’re bullies.”
“They’re bullies. And they like to go after women and torment and destroy women’s lives. This is what they have done in the state of Minnesota. So let America know you do not want Tim Walz as vice president. You do not want tyranny at this level,” she continued. “I have seen firsthand. We, the people of Minnesota, have seen what Tim Walz, the type of evil he orchestrates if he is elected as vice president of this country. He, in lockstep with Harris, who is also evil, will perpetuate this same type of evil on the American people. We do not want that. So this is the truth about Tim Walz.”
“I would like to see Tim Walz impeached. I would like to see him prosecuted for the crimes he has committed against the people of Minnesota,” Hanson said.
He signed HF 1938 raising taxes on businesses with foreign income, reducing the standard deduction for high earners, and imposing a new tax on investment income. At the same time, he handed out an array of low-income credits, a one-time rebate, and special-interest breaks for e‑bikes, green aviation fuel, film production, and other items.
The same year, Walz hit the middle class with HF 2887, which raised taxes and fees on vehicles and transportation. The increases included indexing the gas tax for inflation, increasing vehicle registration taxes, raising fees on retail deliveries, and raising sales taxes in the Twin Cities area.
The governor hit the middle class again in 2023 with a large tax hike to pay for a new paid leave program. The legislation imposed a 0.7 percent tax on wages to fund the program’s benefits, but then new legislation in 2024 increased the tax rate to 0.88 percent of wages. The tax will raise $1.2 billion the first year of operation and rising amounts after that.
From there, the requirement would increase to 100% by 2040, with a requirement that 55% of all total retail electric sales be generated or procured from eligible energy sources by 2035.
A report by the Minnesota-based Center for the American Experiment criticized the proposal, saying it would cost $313 billion through 2050 and create capacity shortfalls in the electric grid that would result in blackouts because of output fluctuations from wind and solar energy sites.
Minnesota Republicans criticized Walz’s administration for lax oversight of pandemic programs that cost millions of taxpayer dollars. Federal prosecutors charged 70 people for their role in a $250 million scheme to defraud federal food programs that funded meals for children during the pandemic.
Known as the Feeding Our Future scandal, it was one of the country’s largest pandemic aid fraud schemes. Minnesota’s Office of the Legislative Auditor, a nonpartisan watchdog, said in a June report that Walz’s Department of Education “failed to act on warning signs” and was ineffective in using its authority to respond to the fraud scheme.