President Trump's amplification of a fringe claim about a murdered Minnesota lawmaker has triggered a backlash from the victim's family and politicians in both parties, CBS News reports. Over the weekend, Trump reshared a video on Truth Social that asserts, without evidence, that Minnesota's Democratic Gov. Tim Walz ordered the June 2025 killing of former House Speaker Melissa Hortman. The video leans on a letter authorities say they found in the vehicle of accused gunman Vance Boelter, in which he allegedly claimed Walz directed the attack. Then-acting US attorney Joe Thompson previously dismissed that letter as a "delusion" meant to hide Boelter's own crimes. Boelter, 58, has pleaded not guilty to federal charges, including two counts of murder, in the shootings that killed Hortman, her husband Mark, and their dog, and wounded state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife.
Walz condemned Trump's post as "dangerous, depraved behavior from the sitting president of the United States" and said the rumor-mongering risks further violence. The Hortmans' adult children, Sophie and Colin, publicly urged Trump to take the video down, calling it a "false narrative" that deepens their grief. Sophie said the post is "another hurdle our family must overcome" as they navigate their first holidays without their parents, while Colin challenged a separate claim in the video about one of his mother's final votes, explaining she backed a controversial bill only to prevent a government shutdown; the video Trump shared made the unfounded allegation that there was a link between the murders and alleged fraud in state programs, NBC News reports. "That bill and her vote had nothing to do with fraud," Colin Hortman said in his statement.
Prominent Minnesota Democrats, including House DFL Leader Zack Stephenson, blasted Trump's repost as "untruthful" and "outrageous," stressing that Hortman was killed by what he described as a right-wing extremist who embraced conspiracy theories, and that she and Walz were longtime allies. Rep. Betty McCollum demanded an apology from Trump to the Hortman family, Walz, and Minnesotans, and several Democrats pressed Republicans to publicly repudiate the post.
Some Republicans did. State Sen. Julia Coleman urged colleagues to "call for an end to baseless conspiracy theories," saying Americans and grieving families "deserve far better" and calling for "dignity" in political debate. But others refused to criticize Trump.
Fox 9 reports the assassination conspiracy theory shared by Trump has been debunked multiple times in the past, and notes that other Minnesota Republicans have spoken out against the misinformation previously.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
