In an interview with CBS News this week, the mother of slain Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman described her daughter as a person of peace in an increasingly politically violent America.
“The division needs to end,” Linda Haluptzok told the broadcast news outlet just days after the former Democratic Speaker of the Minnesota House and her husband, Mark, were brutally murdered in their Brooklyn Park home. The suspected gunman, Vance Boelter, is also accused of seriously wounding fellow Democrat and Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, in the connected attacks.
“There was a time not that long ago that we could all work together, and whatever steps we need to get back there, I don’t know how we do it, but we all have to try,” Haluptzok said. “And if it’s one person at a time, we have to make it happen. And we can’t let hatred and division rule the actions that are happening now.”
These are understandable sentiments from a mother forced to bury her child after what officials have described as a case of targeted political violence.
But don’t expect the division and hatred to end anytime soon in a country in which more than half of the people who identify as left-leaning believe — at least at some level — it would be justifiable to assassinate President Donald Trump and members of his administration. That startling revelation came after Trump escaped assassination by a fraction of an inch. Trump Derangement Syndrome is very real — and it has turned very violent.
‘Honk If You Hate Trump’
While Democrats crassly campaign on the bodies of the Hortmans, abetted by their allies in the propaganda press, the hatred rolls on from the unhinged and hypocritical left.
Perhaps the best illustration of liberal cognitive dissonance is a recent photo of two “No Kings” protesters standing together on a median holding two signs. One declares: “Hate Dosen’t [Sic] Make America Great!” The other urges motorists to “Honk If You Hate Trump!”
Image: Facebook
And then there’s state Rep. Julie von Haefen. The North Carolina Democrat, within hours of the murders of the Hortmans and the attempted homicides of the Hoffmans, posted a social media post depicting the beheading of Trump. As the Center Square reported, the lawmaker’s post featured another “No Kings” protester holding a sign with an image of a blood-soaked guillotine, with the message beneath proclaiming: “In these difficult times, some cuts may be necessary.” A prop on one end of the handle represented Trump’s severed head, and on the other end a Nazi Party swastika scrawled across another detached head.
Von Haefen took the Facebook post down after taking a lot of heat. She wrote that she agreed the image was “inappropriate,” and “later edited the video to remove the photo.” The lawmaker wanted “to be clear” that she condemns political violence in all forms. She apologized a few days later.
At the same time, Democrats pounced on Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah for his post commenting on the Minnesota shootings that “this is what happens when Marxists don’t get their way.” Minnesota Democrat Sen. Tina Smith, another leftist suffering from a nasty form of TDS, made the corporate media rounds talking about how “cruel” Lee is. Corporate media, of course, was more than happy to oblige because many of its members hate Donald Trump and his supporters as much as Smith does.
The same news outlets that have made myriad baseless claims about everything from Hunter Biden’s laptop to Joe Biden’s mental acuity are excoriating Mike Lee and other Republicans for making “baseless claims” in the hours following the Minnesota shootings.
‘Released the Whirlwind’
Guess who else attacked Lee for potentially “escalating a perilous moment.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the blowhard Democrat who has frequently traded in the currency of political hate, said he was “deeply disappointed and sickened to see a member of the chamber use the tragedy in Minnesota to take cheap political shots at the other side on social media, and risk escalating a perilous moment.” That’s some chutzpa from the same guy who at a pro-abortion rally threatened conservative Supreme Court justices, warning that they would “pay the price” should they vote to overturn Roe v. Wade.
“I want to tell you [Justice Neil] Gorsuch. I want to tell you [Justice Brett] Kavanaugh. You have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price. You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions,” the “deeply disappointed” hypocrite shouted in 2020 with the Supreme Court building as his backdrop.
Gorsuch and Kavanaugh did vote to overturn the unconstitutional 49-year-old ruling that nationally legalized the murder of millions of unborn human beings. And the justices paid a price.
In June 2022, a California man armed with a knife, gun, and zip ties planned to kidnap and kill Kavanaugh. Nicholas John Roske pleaded guilty in April to attempted murder. He faces 30 years to life.
Division is Their Politics
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who is now grieving the loss of his friend Hortman, last month vilified Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents as “modern-day Gestapo” and labeled Trump a “tyrant.”
“Some would say, ‘Boy, this is getting way too political for a commencement address,’” the failed Democratic vice-presidential candidate told students graduating from the University of Minnesota Law School. “But I would argue, I wouldn’t be honoring my oath if I didn’t address this head on.”
Assaults on ICE agents have risen north of 400 percent, and “doxxing” incidents are through the roof, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Walz, again, is imploring Americans to turn down the political temperature.
“The way our nation moves forward is not through hate. It is not through violence. It is through humility, and grace, and compassion,” he said following last weekend’s shootings.
Of course Walz is right. He’s also a hypocrite. He and his fellow hate-filled Democrats have shown us time and time again that their compassion is privileged and division is their politics.
Matt Kittle is a senior elections correspondent for The Federalist. An award-winning investigative reporter and 30-year veteran of print, broadcast, and online journalism, Kittle previously served as the executive director of Empower Wisconsin.
