Now former Gov. Mark Dayton (D-MN) officially left office Monday afternoon as moving trucks were spotted outside the Governor’s Mansion over the weekend.
In his final exit interview with TPT Almanac, Dayton was asked by host Mary Lahammer for his opinion on the divisiveness in American politics today.
“So much of it now is one man’s destructive nature. It’s not the way government should be. This guy tweeting at 3 o’clock in the morning. I mean, it’s just—it’s frightening,” Dayton responded.
Dayton also addressed his declining health, which hospitalized him for a month in October. His administration was criticized for waiting several weeks to inform the press in November that he was still hospitalized after undergoing surgery. During his hospital stay, his administration sent out press releases stating that he was meeting with staff and top officials.
“Well, I’ve been having trouble with my spine for a few years now, and I got a couple surgeries, which improved things. But it was deteriorating so I realized I had to deal with it again. So in October I had another spinal surgery, which had a bad after effect. It damaged my lungs, which has had the most limiting effect in terms of my capacity to move around the state,” he said.
He went on to express “regret” over “everything [he] wasn’t able to do” in his last months as governor because of his health, and was pressed by Lahammer on the fact that he was placed in intensive care during his hospital stay.
“We said I was in Mayo during the time I was there. I was in intensive care a brief period of time,” he said. “I think it over dramatizes it. I mean, intensive care sounds like I’m about ready to croak.”
As of now, Dayton plans to retire from politics and focus on his health, saying that’s what his “priority has got to be.”
Morning Take reports that Dayton hosted a final dinner Sunday night at the Governor’s Mansion with his family and some of his first top campaign advisors. His son posted a photo of the dinner to Instagram, calling it the “last supper.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BsUBtXolcKg/
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of Battleground State News and The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Image “Governor Mark Dayton” by TPT.org.
