Missouri Governor Jay Nixon (D) came under political fire from his Lt. Governor Peter Kinder (R) for failing to deploy the Missouri National Guard in Ferguson before rioting got out of control. Kinder appeared on Fox News Tuesday morning with Martha MacCallum and expressed strong criticism about the Governor’s lack of action and lack of communication.
“You know what the difference is between an executive and a Senator or Member of Congress?” Kinder asked MacCallum. He then answered his own question stating, “You actually have to do something.” Thus began a very angry commentary by the Missouri Lt. Governor against the Governor who declared a state of emergency six-days ago yet failed to move the national guard into place to protect the citizens of Ferguson.
“It is not enough to stand at a press conference and mouth some lines that are prepared,” Kinder continued. “You have to actually act.”
“We see the National Guard rolling in this morning,” he observed, “but where were they last night? I am going to put one question out there that the media must put to him — He declared a state of emergency almost a week ago and mobilized the National Guard and then they were kept away at a crucial time while Ferguson burned.”
MacCallum asked if Kinder knew that for a fact. Kinder replied, “We know that they were kept away because they did not come in and stop that from the get-go. They were deployed in other parts of the St. Louis region, in the City of St. Louis and maybe other parts of St. Louis County. Why were they not in there [Ferguson] at the first sign of an overturned police car or a smashed police car window with a show of force that would have stopped this.”
“Here is the question that the Governor must answer.” Kinder stated. “Is the reason they were not in there because the Obama Administration and the Holder Justice Department leaned on you to keep them out?”
“I cannot imagine any other reason why the Governor who mobilized the National Guard would not have them in there to stop this, before it started,” Kinder said angrily.
Kinder was also critical of the decision to announce the grand jury’s decision so late in the evening. “As the news broke yesterday afternoon that they would announce it at 8 o’clock Central Time last night,” the Lt. Governor said, “a lot of us were scratching our heads. I think I would have chosen 6 a.m. this morning and had the grand jury meet accordingly to meet that time schedule, rather than an evening announcement when darkness had fallen and the bad folks who were out in force last night had several hours to do their work.”
“Your listeners should know that there is no communication by this Governor with the rest of state government,” Kinder said accusingly. “I sent a staff member of mine down the hall, on the same floor, to the Governor’s Office about an hour ago to inquire about a brief before I went on your air, and I have nothing, Martha. I have nothing.”
MacCallum responded stating, “The fact that the Lt. Governor cannot get any answers from the Governor, I think is a pretty shocking state of affairs.”
“It’s been this way for the six years of his governorship with about four or five exceptions that were not nearly as serious as this when they did reach out to me for some pending announcement.”
“If you’re going to have the National Guard deployed and a state of emergency declared and then hold them back,” Kinder concluded, “I say the governor owes the people of Missouri a log of explanation on that beginning this morning.”
Bob Price is a senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas and a member of the original Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.