Bob Barton, a Minnesota resort owner, told Breitbart News that his business will be destroyed within a month if Gov. Tim Walz’s (D-MN) “stay home order,” ostensibly issued to “slow the spread of Covid-19 across the state,” remains in effect. He offered his remarks during Friday’s “Liberate Minnesota” protest outside of Walz’s residence in Saint Paul, MN.
Via executive order on March 25, Walz decreed closures of bars, restaurants, and “other places of public accommodation.”
Transcript below:
I’m here because unless the governor lifts to stay-at-home order, in another 30 days, I’m out of business. And when you own a resort, typically, a resort owner lives on the resort. I don’t lose just my business. I lose my home because we have a three-month season in which we make our living, and [Walz is] already talking about truncating it by a month now. Me and hundreds of other resorts will go out of business this year.
In this state, over 30 years ago, there were over 2,500 resorts. We’re down to a hair over 800. I would think that we’re going to lose half of those this year, and northern Minnesota is all tourism-based. We’re all interrelated, whether it’s a resort, or a bait store, or a hardware store, or a grocery store, or gas station, you name it — when one sector goes down, we all go down.
If he does not lift this stay-at-home order, there will not be an economy to recover in northern Minnesota. Primarily resorts, once they’re gone, they never come back. We’re going to lose an entire third of the state.
He is being incredibly short-sighted, and like John said, when we come down here for our legislative days for our association, everybody comes in, [Paul] Gazelka comes in and says, “Oh, we love you resorts. You’re the greatest thing in the world.”
We met with [Tim] Walz: “Oh yeah, we love what you do. Keep doing what you’re doing.” And then they turn around and either don’t try to help us or actually, in Walz’s case, try to put us out of business. It makes no sense.
What am I gonna do, Gov. Walz? Come July or August, when the bank comes and takes my property and my life savings — everything I’ve ever earned in my life went into the purchase of that property — what am I going to do? What do I do for my family, for a job, for a place to live? You’re giving me no options.
“What this governor is doing [is] out of control and unconstitutional,” said John Casper, a Minnesota resident, to Breitbart News. He described Walz as a “communist” governor.
WATCH:
Ali-Jae Nicolai / Breitbart NewsDescribing Barton as his friend, Casper warned that Walz’s “stay home order” will destroy Minnesota’s resort industry.
Follow Robert Kraychik on Twitter.
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