Tragedy struck Minnesota at the end of last week when a gunman, apparently
disguised as a police officer, opened fire on two different state lawmakers
and their spouses. Two of the four were killed, and the other two were
hospitalized with multiple gunshot wounds.
As the horrific news broke, however, Democrats and media talking heads were
quick to point the finger at increasingly �heated rhetoric� � almost always
using President Donald Trump as the prime example of that � and the
availability and accessibility of firearms.
For those who don�t spend their Sunday mornings glued to the television � and
their Sunday afternoons attempting to dig through a week�s worth of network
and cable news media spin � The Daily Wire has compiled a short summary of
what you may have missed.
On CBS News� �Face the Nation,� Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) � fresh off his
dramatic ouster from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem�s press
conference � immediately blamed President Donald Trump for ratcheting up the
temperature in political discourse.
Padilla praised the Senate Sergeant at Arms and the Capitol Police for their
attention to the increased threats against lawmakers and for how hard they
were working to keep everyone safe.
�I think it�s more than appropriate to step back and say, why are tensions so
high?� and I can�t help but point to the beginning of not just the first
Trump term, but the beginning of the campaign, the tone with which the
president had launched his first campaign for president, served throughout
his first term, and continues in this term,� Padilla said.
The U.S. Capitol Police and the Senate Sergeant at Arms are �doing
what they need to do to ensure the safety of members of Congress,�
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) says in the wake of Saturday�s attack on
two Minnesota state lawmakers.
He adds, �I think it�s more than appropriate to�
pic.twitter.com/mm9w8RxBa3
� Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) June 15, 2025
Senator Adam Schiff took a similar tone on NBC News� �Meet the Press,�
telling anchor Kristen Welker that Trump�s rhetoric was an �encouragement� to
use violence. Schiff conceded that there was an increase in violent rhetoric
on both sides of the political aisle, but only mentioned Trump by name.
In an exclusive interview with Meet the Press, Sen. Adam Schiff
(D-Calif.) says that increasingly violent rhetoric from politicians,
including President Trump, are an �encouragement� of political
violence after the shooting of two Minnesota lawmakers.
https://t.co/ZmKU2W0k8m pic.twitter.com/99zh7Oaeoy
� Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) June 15, 2025
Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) also called for politicians and pundits alike to
tone down the political rhetoric, as she joined CNN�s �State of the Union� to
discuss the tragic shooting.
�This has gotten totally out of hand� We actually put out a joint statement
that said we speak with one voice in condemning political violence. I think
we need to see more of this across our country. People need to call people
out. Some people need to look in the mirror and say, hey, I have got to stop
this or stop my colleagues from doing this, because it makes it much worse.
We need to bring the tone down, and we also need to stand up when people do
bad things,� she said.
.@SenAmyKlobuchar on rising political violence in the US:
�This has gotten totally out of hand� We actually put out a joint
statement that said we speak with one voice in condemning political
violence. I think we need to see more of this across our country.
People need to call� pic.twitter.com/KM1pBb6dZx
� State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) June 15, 2025
During a panel discussion later on in the broadcast, former Rep. Andy Levin
(D-MI) and Democratic strategist Karen Finney attempted to blame the
situation on the fact that firearms were easily accessible in the United
States.
�My God, we�ve got to stop thinking we can solve our problems or we can get
attention for ourselves or our point of view or whatever that person thought
they were doing with firearms,� Levin said. �It�s an epidemic in this
country. We used to worry so much about school shootings, all the time, all
the time, now people � the president himself was, you know, the target of two
assassination attempts. This is something we�ve got to take on as a policy
matter in this country.�
�Look, I�m a gun guy. I wouldn�t necessarily place the blame on guns,�
Shermichael Singleton added, saying that he did agree that too many people
believed violence was the best way to get a point across. Singleton noted
that far too many people were �unstable� and apparently unwilling to engage
in debate or simply vote out the people with whom they disagreed.
Levin pushed back then, claiming that mental health in the United States was
not dramatically worse than in other nations, once again arguing that access
to firearms was the problem. �We have a problem of firearms being accessible
� sub-machine guns, all kinds of guns, and it�s � we�re not going to solve
the problem until we step up to the plate and take on this epidemic ��
Singleton interrupted, saying, �By the way, you can�t buy a sub-machine gun
anymore, Congressman, that was outlawed decades ago.�
�In the 30s,� another person on the panel chimed in from off camera.
TODD: �We have a �No Kings Day� every year. It�s July the 4th.
We celebrate our independence from the king of Great Britain.�
LEVIN: �Well, you know what? In America, you can come out on any
dang day of the year and express your opinion. And that�s the most
American thing of� pic.twitter.com/Dmofsa5RU1
� State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) June 15, 2025
Spin Cycle: Tragedy Strikes In Minnesota, Dems Blame ... Trump And The Guns