A former governor of Minnesota has slammed Donald Trump as a “draft-dodging coward” in response to the shock killing of a young mom by an ICE agent.
“He’s a draft-dodging coward who, when it was his time to serve his country, he did what all rich white boys did,” Jesse Ventura, a veteran of the Vietnam War, told local outlet Fox 9 on Thursday when asked for his response to the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good earlier this week.
“I wasn’t a rich white boy. We had to go,” he added. “He’s gonna tell me what courage is?”
Ventura, who’s also a WWE Hall of Famer, served as a member of an elite Navy SEALs unit during the Vietnam War.
Trump, who’s increasingly threatened to invade allies and enemies alike following his lightning attack on Venezuela less than a week ago, never served in the military, and in fact avoided the draft on five occasions, the last of which owed to a bone spur diagnosis.
It’s a condition that normally affects much older people. Trump was 22 at the time.
Ventura’s retort to the president comes as the nation reels in the aftermath of Good’s killing Wednesday, which was carried out by an immigration enforcement officer dispatched as part of ongoing deportation raids in Minneapolis, described by ICE as the largest the agency has ever conducted.
“Anytime you have the loss of life that needlessly happens, that’s a tragedy,” Ventura told local reporters. “What occurred yesterday did not have to happen.”
Standing on the steps of his alma mater, whose students had protested both the raids and Good’s killing, he further offered some choice words for MAGA officials cheerleading Trump’s deportations.
“As a graduate of Roosevelt High School and as the former governor of Minnesota, I’m so proud of Roosevelt High School and how they stood up for what is supposed to be America and freedom,” Ventura said. “Freedom is not arresting people without warrants.”
“We have a system here,” he went on. “It’s called a Constitution, and we have a party, the Republicans, who don’t seem to want to abide by the Constitution.”
Such was Ventura’s outrage at recent events in Minnesota that he even teased potentially running again for state governor. “You know what? Maybe it’s time,” he said. “I only did one term. I’m owed a second.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment on this story.
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