He brokered a compromise to end a bitter partisan stalemate over insulin prices. He was willing to at least consider gun control legislation, such as universal background checks, and legalizing recreational marijuana.
Jensen, 66, often deviated from Republican orthodoxy during a single term in the Minnesota Senate that ended last year. “I’m seeing patients that are actively being harmed or dying from sort of misinformation that he is propagating,” Klein said. Matt Klein, a Democrat and fellow doctor who got to know Jensen in the Legislature, said he’s astonished at what he’s heard from Jensen during the pandemic. (The Centers for Disease Control advises vaccinations even for people who have already had the virus.) Jensen has not been vaccinated against the coronavirus, although he says he would “absolutely” get vaccinated against the coronavirus if he didn’t already have antibodies from a mild case. Jensen has discussed the cases on social media but declined to release the letters he received from the board, whose investigations are not public unless they result in disciplinary action. The Minnesota Board of Medical Practice has opened - and dropped - four investigations against Jensen, based on anonymous allegations that he spread misinformation and gave bad advice about COVID-19. Earlier this year, he had been temporarily banned from advertising on the site and was kicked off TikTok for allegedly spreading misinformation, though the social media platforms never said exactly why. Jensen’s video drew a cautionary label from Facebook attesting to the safety of vaccines. Messages like the video have been a key part of how Jensen, a former state senator with a reputation as a moderate before the pandemic hit, has emerged as the early frontrunner among Republicans seeking to unseat Democratic Gov.