In a June 16 interview on NewsNation, Donald Trump Jr. told interviewer Connell McShane that the man arrested for shooting two Minnesota state lawmakers and their spouses, killing one of the couples, was a “leftist” and a “Democrat.”
On June 14, a man posing as a police officer shot and wounded Democratic state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, before moving on to the home of Minnesota Democratic state Rep. Melissa Hortman. He killed Hortman and her husband, Mark, then fled the scene. Late the next day, police arrested 57-year-old Vance Boelter after a manhunt.
“Everyone talks about Minnesota, but they don’t talk about the guy who seems to be a leftist,” said Trump Jr., the eldest son of President Donald Trump. “It’s a Minnesota politician, a guy who was appointed by the Democratic governor, vice presidential candidate for the Democratic Party, Tim Walz. The guy that committed those atrocities this weekend is a Democrat.”
He attributed this action to a broader theme of leftist political violence. “They talk a lot about the rhetoric and the violence yet it seems to be mostly caused by them,” he said.
Boelter is not a politician, and nothing reported publicly since the shooting indicates he’s a Democrat. Two Democratic governors, Mark Dayton in 2016 and Tim Walz in 2018, did appoint Boelter to the Minnesota Governor’s Workforce Development Board, which works with local business owners and employers to improve workforce participation in Minnesota’s communities.
Walz’s office issued a statement to Minneapolis CBS affiliate WCCO saying the governor does not interview people he appoints to the board and that he did not know Boelter:
“There are thousands of volunteers of all political persuasions who serve on hundreds of these boards. That particular board has over 60 people on it. The Governor does not interview applicants for these roles and he does not know Boelter. They are not appointments to a position in the Governor’s cabinet. These boards and commissions have no authority to make decisions, change laws, or implement policies.”
Independent news outlet Minnesota Reformer reported that Boelter voted in the 2024 GOP primary. One of Boelter’s roommates told CBS News, “He’s not a Democrat. He’d be offended if people called him a Democrat.” The same roommate told a different interviewer that Boelter was a Trump voter.
The Dispatch Fact Check reached out to Walz’s office for comment about appointing Boelter to the Minnesota Governor’s Workforce Development Board.
