Tafoya shrugs off Trump endorsement in close Senate race
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Michele Tafoya just got what most Republican candidates crave more than anything: President Donald Trump's endorsement.
She demurred.
"I heard about that," Tafoya said when asked about it Tuesday. "Look, this campaign is about bringing all Minnesotans together, whether they voted for President Trump or whether they voted for Kamala Harris."
Was it a surprise to her?
"Most of the things that the president says are a surprise to somebody," said Tafoya, who had called a press conference to talk about a public safety plan following a string of suburban shootings.
Tafoya's tepid response to the endorsement reflects Trump's toxicity in a state still reeling from his deadly immigration crackdown. Tafoya, a former NFL TV sideline reporter and conservative podcaster, has tried to balance her party's allegiance to the president with his deep unpopularity in a state that hasn't elected a Republican senator since 2002.
Tafoya did not acknowledge the endorsement on social media or in news releases, while her opponent seized on it. Democratic Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan posted a clip on social media of Trump telling supporters at a rally in Ohio on Monday that "you have to vote for Michele Tafoya" and then followed it up with a press release.
"She supported his war in Iran, she's with him on his tariffs, his ICE and mass deportation agenda, and his attacks on abortion rights. She's even defended January 6 rioters who tried to overturn a free and fair election for him," Flanagan campaign spokesperson Lexi Byler said in a statement.
Tafoya pushed back on the ICE and mass deportation charge Tuesday, saying she's the granddaughter of immigrants and the mother of an adopted Colombian-born daughter, and that she supports both law and order and the nation's legacy of immigration.
Still, her Trump tightrope walk has included some flips and flops.
In 2022, she publicly asked Trump not to run again. Then she supported his candidacy and said she would be "honored" to have his support in her bid for Senate. Tafoya's campaign ads describe her as a pro-abortion rights Republican and independent voice, but in fundraising messages she's asked donors for their support to protect the "President's Senate majority."
Republicans are bullish on Tafoya because of her sharp television presence, high name recognition and moderate views on abortion as well as Flanagan's weakness on fraud in state-run safety-net programs. (Though national Republicans are apparently not confident enough to put real money behind her.)
Tafoya worked in a couple of barbs at Trump and his administration in her prepared remarks on Tuesday at the Capitol, where she unveiled a five-point public safety plan alongside leaders from the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association, the state's largest advocacy group for police officers.
The plan was a response to a string of shootings by young Somali Americans, and the arrest of a Somali American teenager for trying to conspire with a terrorist organization to carry out an attack at the Mall of America.
Point one: Say the phrase "Somali gang violence," because, she said, "a politician who cannot even say the phrase Somali gang violence will never fix this problem."
But don't say it like Trump. Tafoya said Trump's recent call for Minnesota to "fight back" against Somali immigrants was "not appropriate."
Two of her public safety plan points address issues exacerbated by the Trump administration: working to improve cooperation between local, state and federal law enforcement as well as speed up federal prosecutions.
On improving coordination she said, "Our local officers should not be big-footed by the feds like we saw with ICE during Kristi Noem's Metro Surge disaster, but we can get them more support."
The comment was a reference to federal law enforcement blocking state investigators from the scene of the killing of Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents and withholding evidence in the killing of Renee Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent during the incursion of some 3,000 federal agents to the state last winter.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Minneapolis has seen a wave of career prosecutors resigning in protest over the Trump administration's directives during Operation Metro Surge, including to open an investigation into Good's widow.
She didn't answer how she'd help rebuild the office.
"It's a fair question, and I just met someone who just took a job there, so I think they're working on filling those spaces," Tafoya said.
Tafoya received the enthusiastic endorsement of law enforcement over Flanagan.
Dave Titus, executive director of the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association, said they've had more conversations with Tafoya than with Flanagan, even though Flanagan's two terms in office included numerous public safety crises, such as the protests and riots following the murder of George Floyd.
"Regardless of one's political party affiliation, we endorse candidates that are public safety-minded, support our mission, and are driven to assist us in making Minnesota a safer place," he said.
Titus declined to say whether the organization would make an endorsement in the gubernatorial race. The association previously backed Sen. Amy Klobuchar's campaigns for Senate.