Some weeks ago, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota made a request for federal disaster relief after hundreds of millions of dollars in destruction occurred in Minneapolis. That damage came at the hands of rioting and looting in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd.

NEWS: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has asked President Donald Trump for a federal disaster declaration to deal with damage from the late May rioting in Minneapolis and St. Paul. pic.twitter.com/Owc2iqsC9Y

— Theo Keith (@TheoKeith) July 2, 2020

Those cities burned because Walz and the local leadership refused to stop the carnage, even as people were injured and killed in the chaos. The President had urged Minnesota to deploy troops early on, something that wouldn’t happen until later, after the damage was already done. Instead of accepting Trump’s offering of active duty troops, Walz refused while Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey trashed the President’s urging to get tough and stop the anarchy.

Now, these two figures want taxpayers from other states to help pay for their political cowardice and Trump has given them an answer that I’ll summarize – Go jump in a lake.

Great news! @realDonaldTrump has DENIED Minnesota's disaster request to repair half a billion dollars in damage from the riots. Governors and Mayors who ordered police to stand down and watch their cities burn shouldn't get a penny in taxpayer aid! https://t.co/8WAgm7AFa7

— Rep. Jeff Duncan (@RepJeffDuncan) July 11, 2020

This is indeed great news. Consciously letting rioters destroy your city is not a valid reason to then collect disaster relief funds. The reason Walz and Frey didn’t take action is because they were scared of the political consequences. Now, they get to live with the results of their decisions.

The federal government has denied Gov. Tim Walz’s request for aid to help rebuild and repair Twin Cities structures that were damaged in the unrest following George Floyd’s death.

Walz asked President Donald Trump to declare a “major disaster” for the state of Minnesota in his request to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on July 2. More than 1,500 buildings were damaged by fires, looting and vandalism in the days of unrest that followed Floyd’s May 25 death in Minneapolis police custody, racking up more than $500 million in damages, according to Walz.

The governor’s spokesman, Teddy Tschann, confirmed late Friday that the request for federal aid was denied.

“The Governor is disappointed that the federal government declined his request for financial support,” Tschann said in a statement. “As we navigate one of the most difficult periods in our state’s history, we look for support from our federal government to help us through.”

Support from the federal government? That was offered in the role of forces to prevent the destruction and Walz refused it. That’s on him. Forcing someone from Texas to pay for his dereliction of duty would be a travesty. When a hurricane hits, no one can stop that. But the resources were there to stop the rioting on the first night. They weren’t used because, in Walz’s own words, they could be seen as an “occupying force.” That’s a political calculation and nothing more.

Minnesota will have to learn the hard way that there are consequences to continually electing left-wing politicians. I’m all for outreach and attempting to change the status quo in these blue states, but that’s not going to come via handing them half a billion dollars to clean up the mess they purposely made.