Is Trump: ‘Healer-In-Chief’? No! ‘Uniter-In-Chief’? No! ‘Divider-In-Chief’? Definitely!

Jun 18, 2025 01:51 PM EDT, Wed

In the wake of Minnesota lawmaker shootings, Trump refuses to call Gov. Tim Walz

The governor called for “leading with grace and compassion and vision and compromise and decency.” That proved too difficult for the president.

June 17, 2025, 9:33 AM EDT / Updated June 17, 2025, 9:35 AM EDT By Steve Benen

In the wake of Saturday’s shootings in Minnesota, Gov. Tim Walz has heard from current American leaders (Vice President JD Vance), former American leaders (Joe Biden) and even a foreign leader (Ontario Premier Doug Ford).

The Democratic governor has not, however, heard from his own country’s incumbent president.

Shortly after the suspected gunman was apprehended, Donald Trump was asked whether he was prepared to reach out to Walz in the wake of the slayings. “Well, it’s a terrible thing,” the president told ABC News before quickly adding, “I think he’s a terrible governor. I think he’s a grossly incompetent person. But I may, I may call him, I may call other people, too.”

Evidently, the Republican has made up his mind. NBC News reported:

Days after a Minnesota state lawmaker was killed and another injured in a ‘politically motivated assassination,’ President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he would not call the state’s governor, eschewing a traditional presidential response to tragedies.

“Why would I call him? I could call and say, ‘Hi, how you doing?’ The guy doesn’t have a clue,” Trump said, referring to Walz. “He’s a mess. So I could be nice and call, but why waste time?”

The Republican added, “I think the governor of Minnesota is so whacked out, I’m not calling him.”

Take a moment to imagine what the reaction would be a left-wing gunman murdered a Republican state legislator and her spouse, and a Democratic president not only refused to call the state’s governor, but also decided to publicly condemn that governor in ugly and personal terms.

It would probably generate a reasonable conversation, not only about the president’s shattered moral compass1, but also about whether the president had lost control of his faculties.

And yet, here we are.

This isn’t just about niceties. There’s a federal dimension to the case against the alleged shooter — federal prosecutors have already filed charges against the suspect against the suspect — and a federal component to ensuring the personal safety of elected officials. In other words, even if Trump didn’t want to call Walz as a courtesy, the president could forgo graciousness and talk to the governor on a purely substantive level.

But apparently he doesn’t want to.

The New York Times’ David French noted earlier this year that Trump “is at his absolute worst in a crisis.” The columnist, whose observation was unrelated to deadly gun violence, added in reference to the president, “He is not a man who is ready to meet important and dangerous moments.”

The Republican keeps proving the point. When there was a deadly hurricane in North Carolina, he flunked a leadership test. When there was a deadly attack in New Orleans, he flunked again. When responding to deadly fires in California, he flunked again. In the wake of the Flight 5342 crash, he flunked again. And in the wake of Saturday’s killings in Minnesota, he’s flunked again.

Over the weekend, the Democratic governor called for “leading with grace and compassion and vision and compromise and decency.” That proved too difficult for Trump.

Steve Benen is a producer for “The Rachel Maddow Show,” the editor of MaddowBlog and an MSNBC political contributor. He’s also the bestselling author of “Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans’ War on the Recent Past.”

  1. @RalphHightower: Trump is morally, ethically, and constitutionally bankrupt. ↩

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