Mark and Melissa Hortman and Vance Luther Boelter,

Partisan Politics and the Horrific, Ongoing Scrouge of White Nationalist Violence!

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The fact is that it took little time for Republican pundits, politicians, influencers and other right-wing sycophants to blame Democratic politicians and liberals for the assassinations Minnesota-lawmakers-shot-d7983e1e4f1a7573a487cab1a98cd172 of Minnesota politicians and couple, Mark and Melissa Hortman. Indeed, partisan politics emerged as several Republican politicians, among them J. D. Vance, Tim Scott, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Steve Scalise, (whose life a Black, liberal, lesbian police officer saved), blamed the shootings on the “far left” and liberals’ continual demonization of President Trump.

Others on the right avidly jumped into the political fray. Right-wing social media personality Mike Cernovich, with 1.5 million followers, amplified the falsehood that Governor Tim Walz demanded the assassination. Cernovich has yet to remove the post and has continued to promote bogus claims, posting that “Democrats know they are now seen as the party of political violence, so their propaganda agents are trying to shift the blame. It won’t work.” Laura “loony” Loomer, far-right conspiracy theorist and Trump whisperer, posted that “Walz’s goons are now assassinating lawmakers who support legislation Walz opposes” and denounced the Democratic Party as “a terrorist organization.” Moreover, Loomer and others on the right also tried to link the suspected assassin Vance Luther Boelter to the “No Kings” protests against the Trump administration.

Elon Musk, a Trump “frenemy” and frequent poster of unproven right-wing claims, enhanced the narrative to his 200 million followers, quote-tweeting claims that “the left” killed Hortman and saying, “the far left is murderously violent.” Viva Frei, a far-right Twitter user with more than 700,000 followers, posted a thread casting doubt on Boelter being a Trump supporter. Her account initially continued to post about the shootings, attempting to link Tim Walz to Boelter and his wife, Jennifer.

Such nonsensical and despicable lies overlook indisputable evidence of Boelter’s authentic political leanings: his roommate David Carlson told reporters that Boelter voted for Trump and “was a strong supporter” of the president. Other longtime friends told local media Boelter was right leaning. His recorded sermons expose his extremist views. In a sermon he delivered in Congo a few years ago, he is documented as stating “The churches are so messed up, they don’t know abortion is wrong.” He ranted against LGBTQ+ people as “confused,” claiming “the enemy has gotten so far into their mind and their soul.” His alleged hit list included abortion providers, pro-choice advocates and other Democratic politicians. His most recent voter registration indicated that he was a registered Republican in Oklahoma in 2004.

Police captured Boelter, 57, on June 15 (Father’s Day) after allegedly murdering Hortman, a Democratic house speaker, and her husband. He also wounded John Hoffman, Minnesota-assassination-democrats a state senator, and his wife. Wearing a mask, the suspect reportedly went to the homes of the state lawmakers in the early hours of Saturday morning disguised as a police officer. According to the DOJ, he allegedly first drove to the Hoffmans’ home and repeatedly shot them after they tried to close the door on him. The gunman later went to the Hortmans’ home and killed them. His actions were devious, disturbing, alarming, and sinister, to put it mildly.

Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office/AP

The truth is that the Republican Party of 2025 is alarmingly and tragically duplicative of the Democratic Party of the 1850s: callous, arrogant, confrontational, violent, and prone to dishonest messaging and propaganda. The primary issue of that era was slavery. Today, the dissension is stratified across several issues, including immigration, race, states’ rights, abortion, sexuality, free speech, and religious freedom.

The current Republican Party has become so rapacious, barbarous, and amoral in its blind thirst for power that it seems determined to attack and, if possible, overturn any social movements and political norms established in our constitution’s fabric. The party is willing, even eager, to disregard if not outright replace or dismiss any organization, laws, or movements not conducive to its agenda. We have already seen the GOP engage in this sort of undemocratic activity with the voter registratio0n and education laws they have enacted in various state legislatures. The far right’s acrimonious rhetoric betrays an undeniable truth: they are terrified and aware their current political stronghold will erode if they are unable to manipulate the laws and future elections. Thus, they are attempting to establish a form of minority rule. As many left-wing activists have observed, such retrograde antics are a form of “Jim Crow 2.” In fact, some scholars have argued that November 5, 2024 was the end of America’s second reconstruction (1964–2024). I hope they are wrong.

Fear, resistance, and anxiety permeate the current political climate. Things certainly are tense and depressingly adversarial but, in my opinion, redeemable. Those of us committed to maintaining equality and equal rights for all citizens as opposed to a select few are facing an uphill battle, but we must continue to fight and fiercely agitate against such repressive forces. We can and must do it.

Elwood Watson Ph.D. is a professor of history, Black Studies, and Gender and Sexuality Studies at East Tennessee State University. He is a cultural critic, syndicated columnist, and author of the books,: Talkin’ To You, Bro!: Liberate Yourself from the Confusing, Ambiguous Messages of Contemporary Masculinity (Lasting Impact Press, 2021) and Keepin’ It Real: Essays on Race in Contemporary America. https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/K/bo40060337.html (University of Chicago Press 2019)