Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura didn’t hold back while reacting to recent events in Minneapolis — or to President Donald Trump, whom he repeatedly called “the draft-dodging coward.”
Ventura spoke Thursday, Jan. 8, outside his alma mater, Roosevelt High School, in an interview with local outlet FOX 9 Minneapolis–St. Paul. He criticized the Trump administration’s decision to deploy ICE agents in the city and said he came to show support for the school community.
Classes at Roosevelt were canceled Friday after Border Patrol agents reportedly “tackled several people and deployed chemical irritants” as students and teachers were leaving the building the day before.
“I just came here today to show my support as a graduate of Roosevelt and tell them how proud I was of what they did, of keeping ICE off of this campus,” Ventura, a former professional wrestler, said. “This is a place of learning, and you learn. You learn things like the Constitution. You learn about warrants. You learn about things of that nature. And what we’re getting right now is violating all that, what kids are being taught.”
Ventura argued that federal action without warrants has broader implications beyond immigration enforcement.
“We don’t need federal troops coming in here without warrants,” he continued. “Some people have said this undermines local law enforcement. It undermines the entire Constitution. The military cannot be turned loose unless it’s a national emergency. They’re going to tell me this is a national emergency.”
When asked whether he was referring to Trump, Ventura cut in.
“Who was that? You mean the draft-dodging coward? I don’t call him by name.”
He went on to criticize Trump’s history during the Vietnam era, contrasting it with his own background and the experiences of people he grew up with.
“He’s the draft-dodging coward who, when it was his time to serve his country, he did what all rich White boys did,” the 74-year-old said. “I wasn’t a rich White boy. I grew up in South Minneapolis. Most of my friends are Vietnam veterans. We had to go. But the rich White boys never had to go, did they? And he didn’t have to go, did he? And yet he’s going to tell me what courage is.”
Ventura also described the federal presence in multiple cities as a dangerous shift, claiming it’s pushing the country toward something that resembles authoritarian rule.
Ventura, an independent politician who served as governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003, said the deployment of federal forces has turned the U.S. into “a third-world country.”
“I’m an expert. I been to them,” he said. “I spent 17 months in Southeast Asia while the draft dodger was playing golf.”
“You know how I know we’re a third-world country? Because in third-world countries, they have the military doing their police work in the cities… I was in the Philippines the day Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law and went under dictatorship. We went from nobody to a guy with a machine gun on every corner. That’s what happens in a dictatorship. In comes the military. That’s what’s happening here, and people better wake up to it.”
Ventura said he supports Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey — both Democrats — for speaking out against the ICE agents, particularly after the shooting death of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good on Jan. 7.
“Good for them and good for these people that stood up,” he said. “They’re teaching their students something that we are a country that we have to be a country of law and a country of the Constitution.”
He added that his views toward the Republican Party hardened after Jan. 6, 2021.
“I took an oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” Ventura said. “I view, after January 6, [2021], the Republican Party as a domestic enemy to our Constitution. I can’t get any bolder than that, can I?”
Although Ventura has previously said he doesn’t plan to run for office again, he suggested his anger over the administration’s actions could prompt him to reconsider.
“Maybe it’s time for Jesse,” he said. “I only did one term. I’m owed a second.”
