Fox News host Jesse Watters calls Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz a ‘lame duck’ after President Donald Trump said the two had a constructive phone call on ‘Jesse Watters Primetime.’
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is catching heat for defying President Donald Trump on a key energy policy.
The progressive Midwestern leader issued an executive order Tuesday blocking mining permits and leases near a swath of land in northeast Minnesota called the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, a significant portion of which is under federal jurisdiction.
That's despite President Donald Trump signing legislation in April that reversed a Biden administration-era order blocking new mining leases near the Boundary Waters for a period of 20 years.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., the highest-ranking Minnesotan in Congress, called Walz's move "stupid" and "dangerous."
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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signed an executive order banning critical mineral mining in part of his state after President Donald Trump reversed such a ban earlier this year. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
"This lame duck loser is trying to make us more energy and mineral-dependent on our adversaries," Emmer told Fox News Digital.
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He said the order would "harm Minnesota (and) good union jobs in northern Minnesota," and "put our national defense more at risk with our enemies, adversaries like Communist China."
The legislation, which passed the House and Senate before getting to Trump's desk, was led by Rep. Pete Stauber, R-Minn.
Walz's order focuses on the mining of metals like copper and nickel, which have a variety of uses, including boat components, electric vehicle components, military equipment and commercial electronics.
A lake within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Sept. 4, 2019, in Ely, Minn. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
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Northeastern Minnesota is home to the largest known untapped source of nickel and copper in North America, the Duluth Complex.
