Fmr. Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura shares his impressions of Gov. Tim Walz

>>> WELCOME BACK TO "POLITICSNATION." WHEN VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS PICKED GOVERNOR TIM WALZ TO BE HER RUNNING MATE THIS WEEK, HE JOINED A LONG LINE OF MINNESOTA POLITICIANS TO ACHIEVE NATIONAL FAME, INCLUDING VICE PRESIDENTS AND PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEES. HUBERT HUMPHREY AND WATER MONDELL. ANOTHER WAS JESSE VENTURA, A FORMER PROFESSIONAL WRESTLER AND NAVY VETERAN WHO RAN SUCCESSFULLY FOR GOVERNOR IN 1998 ON THE REFORM PARTY TICKET. FORMER GOVERNOR VENTURA JOINS US NOW. HE IS CURRENTLY THE SPOKESMAN FOR JESSE VENTURA FARMS. THANK YOU FOR COMING ON TODAY, GOVERNOR. LET'S START WITH THIS. YOU ONCE HELD THE SAME JOB AS GOVERNOR WALZ, AND YOU FOLLOWED HIS CAREER, WHAT ARE YOUR IMPRESSIONS OF HIM? >> WELL, FIRST AND FOREMOST, LET ME SAY REVEREND SHARPTON, IT MUST HAVE TAKEN YOU AND JESUS TO GET ME BACK ON MSNBC, BECAUSE I NEVER THOUGHT I'D BE ON THIS NETWORK EVER AGAIN. AND IT TOOK TWO PEOPLE LIKE YOU TWO I THINK TO ACHIEVE THAT. BUT HAVING SAID THAT, I'LL TELL YOU ABOUT GOVERNOR WALZ, WHAT I SEE ABOUT HIM. I'M A COMPLETE INDEPENDENT, AND WHEN HE WON HIS FIRST ELECTION AS GOVERNOR, WITHIN 24 HOURS HE CALLED ME AND SET UP A MEETING WITH ME TO PICK MY BRAIN. NO OTHER GOVERNOR HAS EVER DONE THAT, REPUBLICAN OR DEMOCRAT, BUT TIM WALZ DID. AND WHAT THAT SHOWED ME, TIM WALZ IS THE KIND OF GUY WHO'S OUT FOR SUCCESS, AND HE WILL REACH ACROSS THE AISLE BECAUSE HE CAME TO ME, THE ULTRA INDEPENDENT IN MINNESOTA, TO SEEK ME OUT TO GIVE HIM INFORMATION THAT WOULD HELP HIM GOVERN. AND I HAPPILY DID SO. I'LL TELL YOU WHAT ELSE HE DID. 20 OR SO YEARS AGO I TRIED TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA. THE MATCH SIMMERED FOR 20 YEARS AND FINALLY BECAME A FLAME, AND GOVERNOR WALZ CALLED ME, AND HE SAID GOVERNOR VENTURA, YOU NEED TO BE IN MY OFFICE MONDAY AT 11:00. I'M GOING TO SIGN INTO LAW ENDING THE PROHIBITION OF MARIJUANA IN MINNESOTA. IT WAS YOUR IDEA, YOU'RE STILL ALIVE, YOU SHOULD BE THERE TO TAKE -- TO TAKE CREDIT FOR THIS, BECAUSE YOU'RE THE ONE THAT DONE IT. THAT'S THE KIND OF PERSON TIM WALZ IS. >> WOW. WELL, FORMERER PRESIDENT TRUMP'S VICE PRESIDENTIAL PICK JD VANCE, WHO IS A FORMER MARINE, HAS LED THE REPUBLICAN CHARGE ATTACKING GOVERNOR WALZ OVER HIS 24 YEARS OF MILITARY SERVICE. VANCE HAS ACCUSED WALZ OF STOLEN VALOR FOR LEAVING THE NATIONAL GUARD IN 2005 TO RUN FOR CONGRESS. JUST A FEW MONTHS BEFORE HIS UNIT WAS DEPLOYED TO IRAQ. AS SOMEONE WHO UNDERSTANDS HOW MILITARY SERVICE WORKS, YOU DEFINITELY DO, WHAT'S YOUR RESPONSE TO THIS? >> MY RESPONSE IS THIS. FIRST AND FOREMOST, ANY POINT AFTER 20 YEARS YOU CAN RETIRE WHEN YOU WANT TO. SECOND, VANCE IS MISSING THE POINT. WHAT HE OUGHT TO BE ASKING IS THIS -- WHY IS THE NATIONAL GUARD BEING SHIPPED OUT AND FIGHTING IN FOREIGN WARS IN OTHER LANDS? THAT ISN'T THEIR ROLE. THEIR ROLE IS TO BE HERE IN OUR NATION PROTECTING US INSIDE OUR OWN COUNTRY. THAT'S WHY THEY'RE CALLED THE NATIONAL GUARD. WHAT HAPPENED WAS THIS. GEORGE BUSH AND DICK CHENEY, WHEN THEY STARTED THEIR FOLLY WITH THE IRAQ WAR, THEY COULDN'T BRING -- THEY NEEDED BODIES. THEY COULDN'T BRING BACK A DRAFT. IT WOULD BE POLITICAL SUICIDE. SO WHAT DID THEY DO? BUSH SIGNED AN EXECUTIVE ORDER NOW SENDING OUR NATIONAL GUARD OVER IN THE WORLD COMBAT ZONES. THAT IS RIDICULOUS. THAT IS FOR THE REGULAR MILITARY TO BE DOING THAT. THE ARMY, NAVY, AIR FORCE, MARINES. NOT THE NATIONAL GUARD. AND BESIDES THAT, GOVERNOR WALZ ALREADY HAD 24 YEARS IN. HE'S AN E9. AN E9 DOESN'T GO OUT ON PATROL. AN E9 DOESN'T LEAD A DEMOLITION RAID. E9s ARE THE HIGHEST ENLISTED BELONGING TO THAT PARTICULAR UNIT. THEY COME OUT WITH THE COMMANDING OFFICER, AND THEY HAVE A RAPPORT WITH THE CO AND THE HEAD ENLISTED. IT'S A RELATIVELY HONOR POSITION MORE THAN IT IS ANY ELSE. SO WALZ DEPLOYING AND VANCE IS WORRIED ABOUT THAT, I THINK VANCE IS DOING A DISSERVICE TO THE UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS, BECAUSE I KNOW A LOT OF GREAT MARINE, AND MARINES SHOW RESPECT. THAT'S THE ONE THING YOU GET OUT OF A MARINE IS RESPECT. AND VANCE OUGHT TO LOOK IN THE MIRROR AND BEHAVE LIKE A MARINE. >> WELL, LET ME GO HERE, THEN A FORMER WRESTLING RIVAL OF YOUR, HULK HOGAN, DELIVERED QUITE A PERFORMANCE AT THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION LAST MONTH WHEN HE RIPPED OFF HIS SHIRT AND CALLED TRUMP A HERO. I WONDER WHAT YOU MADE OF HIS APPEARANCE WARMING UP THE CROWD FOR THE FORMER PRESIDENT, AND IS THERE ANY CHANCE WE MIGHT SEE YOU MAKE A CAMEO AT THE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION? I KNOW YOU'RE AN INDEPENDENT, BUT IS THERE ANY CHANCE? >> I -- WELL, REVEREND, I WOULDN'T HOLD MY BREATH THAT I'LL BE THERE, BUT AS FAR AS HOGAN GOES, IT DOESN'T SURPRISE ME. BECAUSE WHEN I WAS IN WRESTLING IN THE '80s, I TRIED TO UNIONIZE WRESTLING, AND IT WAS HULK HOGAN WHO CUT MY LEGS OUT FROM UNDER ME. HULLING HOGAN WENT TO VINCE McMAHON, RATTED ME OUT, AND SUBSEQUENTLY LATER ON COST ME MY JOB. SO IT DOESN'T SURPRISE ME TO SEE HOGAN WITH THE REPUBLICANS, BECAUSE HOGAN'S AS ANTI-UNION AS YOU CAN GET. THERE STILL IS NOT A UNION IN PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING. THE REASON I TRIED TO DO IT, I WAS ON AN ELEVATOR AND RAN INTO GENE UP-SHAW, THE GREAT TACKLE GUARD FROM THE OAKLAND RAIDER, AND BIG GENE RAISED HIS FINGER UP AND LOOKED AT ME AND SAID, YOU BOYS NEED TO FORM A UNION. I TRIED TO DO IT, AND IT WAS HULK HOGAN WHO RATTED ME OUT TO VINCE McMAHON, AND I WAS FIRED AND LOST MY JOB. >> NOW, BEFORE I LET YOU GO, ALL OF US HAVE SOME HISTORY WITH TRUMP. YOU RECRUITED TRUMP TO RUN FOR THE REFORM PARTY TICKET IN 2000, WHICH HE DID BRIEFLY BEFORE YOU BOTH LEFT THE PARTY. AND TRUMP HAS BORROWED HEAVILY FROM YOUR STRATEGIC PLAYBOOK, LEANING INTO HIS CELEBRITY NAME RECOGNITION AND FOCUSSING ON ISSUES THAT APPEAL TO WORKING CLASS PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY YOUNG MEN. SO I HAVE TO ASK YOU, IS THE TRUMP OF TODAY THE SAME MAN YOU ONCE BEFRIENDED, AND HOW DO YOU THINK THIS ELECTION WILL PLAY OUT? >> I WILL ANSWER THAT WITH NO, HE IS NOT THE GUY THAT I -- THAT CAME TO ME BACK IN '98 AFTER I WON. BACK THEN, HE WAS MUCH MORE LIBERAL, BUT YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND, DONALD TRUMP IS FOR DONALD TRUMP. AND DONALD TRUMP IS GOING TO DO WHATEVER IT IS THAT SUPPORTS DONALD TRUMP. SO HE LOOKED THE SITUATION OVER. HE OBVIOUSLY SAW THAT HE COULD TAKE OVER THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, SO HE CHANGED HIS VIEWS. YOU KNOW, HE WENT FROM PRO-CHOICE NOW TO NO RIGHTS FOR WOMEN'S REPRODUCTIVE. HE'S GONE FAR RIGHT. HE'S TRYING TO SAY HE'S NOW A RELIGIOUS PERSON. WELL, TO ME, IF YOU'RE GOING TO BE A RELIGIOUS PERSON, YOU HAVE TO LIVE IT. AND DONALD TRUMP HARDLY LIVES IT. I MEAN, HE'S HAD MULTIPLE WIVES. I OFTEN LAUGH AND THINK, WHAT WOULD THE REPUBLICANS HAVE SAID IF BARACK OBAMA WOULD HAVE HAD MULTIPLE WIVES AND MULTIPLE CHILDREN AND RAN FOR PRESIDENT LIKE DONALD TRUMP, WHAT WOULD THE REPUBLICAN RESPONSE BE TO THAT? IT WOULD HAVE BEEN HORRIFYING TO SEE WHAT REPUBLICANS WOULD HAVE SAID IF THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN BARACK OBAMA. AND YET, THEY'LL EMBRACE A DONALD TRUMP WHO, YOU KNOW, HE'S -- REVEREND, I'M AN AGNOSTIC ATHEIST, AND I THINK THAT I'M MORE RELIGIOUS THAN HE IS. >> WOW, THAT'S QUITE A STATEMENT. WELL, I'M HONORED TO HAVE YOU ON, AND EVEN THOUGH YOU'RE AN AGNOSTIC ATHEIST, YOU SAID JESUS AND I, I THINK MORE JESUS, I WOULD SAY, GOT YOU