“He’s being portrayed as this blue-collar, likable, rural guy, and he’s the furthest thing from it,” said Nate O’Reilly, a 30-year veteran of the construction industry and former president of the Southeastern Minnesota Building & Construction Trades Council.
The Zumbrota resident once considered himself a staunch DFL supporter who strongly backed Gov. Tim Walz.
“I didn’t just vote for him, I campaigned for him,” said O’Reilly.
But that all changed after a contentious encounter with Walz during the height of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout—an encounter that, according to O’Reilly, came with career repercussions.
As a representative of the Iron Workers Local 512 at the time, O’Reilly says he attended a union and trades event in 2021 that featured Walz, along with several other politicians and lobbyists.
“He [Walz] knew me from being a business rep for the workers,” recalled O’Reilly. “So, when he came over, we shook hands. I said, ‘work is good, members are working,’ that typical conversation you have.”
Raising concerns about the vaccine mandate
O’Reilly says he decided to raise a concern with the governor that had been brewing among his 2,000 union members: the vaccine mandate.
“Walz said, ‘no, no, no, no, I don’t have anything to do with that, you guys are private unions,’” recounted O’Reilly, describing Walz’s response as noticeably agitated.
“I said, ‘yes, you do, because you signed the executive order mandating vaccines for government employees, and that has real repercussions for our members and workers,'” stated O’Reilly.
O’Reilly then asked whether the phrase “my body, my choice” applied to the vaccine, a question he says sent Walz through the roof.
“That’s when he flipped out.”
O’Reilly alleges that this confrontation with Walz led to backlash within his own organization.
“The next workday, my superior said that Walz’s people reached out to her and basically said how dare I question the governor,” said O’Reilly. “They really twisted it like I was attacking him.”
Following the incident, O’Reilly says he was sidelined in his role as a union representative.
“Prior to that, I was regularly asked to testify on bills related to workers and employment, or advocate for green energy projects, and that all stopped,” O’Reilly explained. “I was no longer included in those types of meetings or discussions.”
A shift in political stance
Despite his long history of supporting Democratic candidates, O’Reilly has since changed his political stance.
“I wasn’t a Republican and still don’t claim to be, but I will never vote for a Democrat again,” said O’Reilly. “Tim Walz is an authoritarian socialist and only wants to listen to people that share his worldview.”
O’Reilly also took issue with a recent comment from Walz, in which the governor said, “one person’s socialism is another person’s neighborliness.”
“Neighborly is me making an apple pie and sharing it with my neighbors,” said O’Reilly. “Tim Walz’s view is I make an apple pie, and he takes it from me and gives it to whoever he wants.”
Alpha News reached out to Gov. Walz’s office for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
Jenna Gloeb
Jenna Gloeb is an Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist, media producer, public speaker, and screenwriter. Most recently, she worked as a reporter and on-air host for CCX Media. Jenna is a Minnesota native and resides in the Twin Cities with her husband, son, daughter, and two dogs.
