Rep. Melissa Hortman's children ask Pres. Trump to take down conspiracy video

(FOX 9) - The children of Rep. Melissa Hortman are asking President Trump to remove a conspiracy video suggesting Gov. Walz was involved in the assassination of Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband last summer.

Hortman conspiracy video

What we know:

Saturday afternoon, President Trump shared a video suggesting Gov. Walz was responsible for Rep. Melissa Hortman's assassination. The video itself pulls from a conspiracy theory that has festered for months following Hortman's killing that mostly leans on the fact that the accused gunman, Vance Boelter, was appointed by Governor Walz to serve on a state board and Hortman was the sole Democrat that voted to strip healthcare benefits from undocumented immigrants.

Conspiracy theorists suggest Walz knew Boelter because of that appointment. But Boelter was one of hundreds of people the governor appoints to boards each year. And Boelter was originally appointed to his seat by former governor Mark Dayton in 2016. The video also suggests Rep. Hortman was killed because she broke rank with her DFL colleagues to take a stance against benefits for immigrants. In reality, Rep. Hortman reluctantly voted to end the benefits for undocumented immigrants to get the budget deal done. In fact, Gov. Walz also reluctantly supported the healthcare compromise and signed the bill after it was approved.

The video shared by the president includes a new angle to the conspiracy, suggesting that the MNsure coverage cut for undocumented immigrants was somehow connected to the Minnesota fraud scandal.

In a letter to the FBI, Boelter said he was directed by Walz to kill Senators Klobuchar and Smith. However, federal prosecutors have dismissed the letter, calling it a work of fantasy and delusion. Prosecutors say Boelter worked alone in the shooting.

Hortman's children respond

What they're saying:

In statements released through a Minnesota House spokesperson, the children of Melissa Hortman begged President Trump to remove the video.

Colin Hortman statement

"My father and mother, Mark and Melissa Hortman, and their dog Gilbert, were killed by a man who believed conspiracy theories and fake news. Words matter. Sharing fake news is dangerous.

"One part of my grief journey has been understanding the last conversation with my mother. She loved her job. People respected her job and what she did at her job.

"When I called her after the legislative session ended, I asked why she voted for the bill mentioned in the video shared by President Trump, and she wept. That bill and her vote had nothing to do with fraud. She voted for that bill because it was the only way to avoid a government shutdown. She had seen the impact of shutdowns: people lose their health care, their jobs, and in some cases, from a story she told me, have taken their own lives.

"She was in a very tough position on that vote. She had never really voted against her conscience like that. It was emotional and extremely difficult. Her struggle with that vote makes this conspiracy all the more painful for me.

"I am asking President Trump to remove the video that he shared and apologize to me and my family for posting this misinformation and for using my mother's own words to dishonor her memory."

Sophie Hortman statement

"The video shared by President Donald Trump on Truth Social is a painful, false twisting of my mother’s final vote.

"The vote she made was incredibly difficult for my mother; it was not a vote made lightly or with malice in her heart. She made the decision to prevent a government shutdown because she believed our great state protects and helps Minnesotans.

"We must create a society in which we do not harbor hatred and violence toward our political opponents, and this video promotes a false narrative which fuels the flames of political division.

"The video being shared by the president is another hurdle our family must overcome in grieving the loss of my parents, Mark and Melissa, and their beloved Gilbert. I ask President Trump to please consider the pain and sadness we have faced, and to honor the spirit of the holidays we have just spent without our parents by taking down the post on Truth Social."

Hoffmans reaction

Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette were also hurt in the same shooting rampage that killed the Hortmans in June. In a statement, the Hoffmans joined the Hortman children in calling for the video to be removed.

"We ask President Trump to take down the post spreading conspiracy claims about their parents’ deaths. Those claims reflect the same hateful falsehoods that motivated violence and cause more harm.

"This moment calls for responsibility and compassion. Removing the post would be a necessary step toward decency."

Minnesota lawmakers react

Big picture view:

Both Democrats and Republicans in Minnesota have denounced the conspiracy theories surrounding Rep. Hortman's killing.

In December, Rep. Kristin Robbins (R-Maple Grove), who is running against Gov. Walz in November, spoke out about the conspiracy theories, saying:

"Melissa was a good leader. I disagreed with her politically. I don’t think we ever voted the same. She had a strong love for Minnesota. She had a strong love for the institution of the Legislature. I just think it’s a very harmful narrative. And we all have a responsibility to say it’s not true." 

Gov. Walz also called the president's sharing of the video "dangerous."

"Dangerous, depraved behavior from the sitting president of the United States," Walz wrote. "In covering for an actual serial killer, he is going to get more innocent people killed. America is better than this."

"This president has a real penchant and takes a lot of glee in hurting people and that post last night inflicted a lot of pain on people including, I'm sure though I haven't spoken with him, on Governor Walz and his family," said Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy (DFL-St. Paul). "He and Melissa Hortman were close. Melissa Hortman was a dear friend of mine, John Hoffman is my colleague, and I don't understand why he would decide to do that, but it is another example from my perspective of the continuation of the Republicans' effort to drive division. And sow seeds for violence. What we experienced in June was political violence. What Nick Shirley is doing in causing copycats to go to childcare centers to say, I want to see the kids, is sowing political violence, and I think the Republicans should not only condemn what the president said last night, but they should take a good look in the mirror at what they're doing as well."