Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has been firm in his stance against political violence following the tragic assassination of Democratic State Rep. and House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, on Saturday.
“This cannot be the norm,” Walz said during a press conference Sunday night. “It cannot be the way that we deal with our political differences. Now is the time for us to recommit to the core values of this country. And each and every one of us can do it. Talk to a neighbor rather than arguing. Debate an issue. Shake hands. Find common ground.”
He also noted that Hortman promoted working and compromising with others with a “sense of goodwill,” adding that “because of her, we did that. Because of her, we did that year after year after year. That’s the embodiment of how things are supposed to work.”
Meanwhile, Trump-endorsed Rep. Randy Fine of Florida, best known for his outrageous attacks on local officials—including calling a school board member a “whore” and threatening to cut funding for the Special Olympics after being snubbed at a Chick-Fil-A fundraiser—blamed No Kings protesters for the political violence in Minnesota.
“When we have protests on Saturday calling something ‘No Kings’ when Donald Trump isn’t a king … I mean, that is a call for violence when people are waving signs that say, ‘86 47.’ I think we’ve heard this discussion about taking down the temperature after President Trump was assassinated twice. And I don’t think people are getting the message,” Fine told CNN on Monday.
Not to be outdone, endangered animal killer Donald Trump Jr. appeared on right-wing nodder Benny Johnson’s web show to blame transgender people for the political violence.
“It’s like the trans, you know, the radical transgender movement is, per capita, the most violent, you know, domestic terror threat, if not in America, probably the entire world, per capita, because you have all these shooters and murderers or attempted murderers, you know, in such a tiny population of a country. And yet they can’t—they’re beyond reproach, Benny,” he said.
Donald Jr. is spewing the manufactured conspiracy theory, promoted by far-right gun fetishists, that every school shooter is transgender.
Republicans continue to obfuscate the real issues surrounding political violence and instead fuel divisiveness and factitious accusations with inflammatory rhetoric.