Former state senator and physician’s comments on COVID deaths went viral.
Physician and former Republican legislator Scott Jensen is jumping into the race for governor in 2022, only the second candidate to announce a run against DFL Gov. Tim Walz.
Jensen, who retired in January after one term in the state Senate, gained national prominence early last year after questioning federal guidelines around reporting COVID-19 deaths in interviews with Fox News and other outlets. Since leaving the Senate, he’s continued to be critical of the state’s response to the pandemic, posting a series of online videos that characterized Walz as in an “abusive relationship” with Minnesotans.
“Over the past year, Scott has gained national attention for his criticism of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) guidelines on the classification of coronavirus deaths due to inflated numbers,” reads a release announcing his campaign for governor. “He has been and will continue to search for truth and expose the facts surrounding COVID-19 and the measures Gov. Walz has implemented.”