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President Donald Trump briefly proposed to Minnesota Sen. Melissa Hortmann that he was “unfamiliar.”
On Monday, September 15, reporters asked Trump if Hortman, a Democratic leader at Minnesota House, was killed with her husband in June in her home, thought it was “fit to lower the flag to half the staff.” Trump did not lower the American flag after Minnesota violence made national news, but recently ordered the flag to be lowered after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Trump, 79, said, “I’m not familiar with you. Who?”
“The Minnesota Senator, the Democrat, who was assassinated this summer,” the reporter replied.
Trump then remembered her and said Minnesota Governor Tim Waltz had “did” after Hortman’s death and he asked him to place the flag on his semi-staff.
Saul Roeb/AFP via Getty; Glenstab/Minnesota Terribune via Getty
“But the Governor of Minnesota didn’t ask me,” the president, 79 insisted. “I wouldn’t have thought about it, but if someone had asked me, I would have.”
“People demand that the flag be lowered, and it often has to say no because there is a lot to lower the flag.
Authorities say her husband, Mark, and their dog were killed in their home on June 14 by a gunman who pretended to be law enforcement. Waltz characterized the attack as a “politically motivated assassination.”
Minnesota Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette were also shot and injured by the same gunman, but later recovered from the injury.
As for Kirk, he was fatally shot at a massive campus event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday, September 10th, with the graphic acts of violence being filmed on video distributing the internet.
A day after his death, President Trump ordered to fly “quickly” half-staff on all federal buildings and grounds until September 14th.
Trent Nelson/Salt Lake Tribune/Getty
Trump’s response to Hortman’s question, which quickly became a word of mouth on social media, came just days after sharing a friend with Fox on September 12, saying he “didn’t really care about repairing political disparities between Republicans and Democrats.
“The radicals on the right are often radical because they don’t want to see crime,” the president said. “They don’t want to see crime. … “We don’t want these people to come in. We don’t want shopping centres to burn. We don’t want people to shoot in the middle of the street.”
Trump went on to argue that “the extremists on the left are the problem,” adding that “they are vicious, scary and politically savvy.”
In recent years, incidents of political violence have become more common, targeting politicians on both sides of the aisle.
On January 6, 2021, a pro-Trump mob searched for lawmakers and violated the U.S. Capitol. In 2022, then-house speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband was attacked with a hammer by a house intruder. On the 2024 campaign trail, Trump survived two obvious assassination attempts. And in early 2025, the home of Democrat Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, was on fire while he and his family slept inside.
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Since Kirk’s public assassination, lawmakers have had an advantage in their safety, and GOP House speaker Mike Johnson admits he has heard many concerns from members regarding Congress’ security protocols.
“If you’re a Republican, Democrats, politicians all over the country, if you’re speaking up, if your life is at risk, I don’t care,” South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace told reporters last week.
