Democrat Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) is pointing fingers at President Donald Trump in the wake of a tragic shooting that left two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses dead or wounded.
Padilla is suggesting that Trump’s rhetoric is to blame for the rising tide of political violence.
Appearing on CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday, Padilla deflected when asked about new security measures being considered for lawmakers following the weekend attack.
“I think it’s more than appropriate to step back and say, why are tensions so high? Not just in Los Angeles but throughout the country,” Padilla told host Margaret Brennan.
“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.”
The remarks come as Monday marks 10 years since Trump announced his first campaign for the presidency in 2015.
Padilla, the ranking member of the Senate Rules Committee, claimed the former president’s rhetoric had created a toxic political climate that continues to manifest in physical violence.
He even cited an incident involving himself last week as further proof.
“For a cabinet secretary during a press conference to not be able or be willing to deescalate a situation when I was trying to ask a question, that’s just indicative of the tone of the administration,” he said, referring to being removed from a press conference with DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in Los Angeles.
The shooting Padilla referenced occurred over the weekend in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, where State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, were fatally shot.
In a separate but related incident, State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette were also shot in nearby Champlin, though both are expected to survive after surgery.
Minnesota’s radical Democrat Governor Tim Walz wasted no time calling the attack politically driven.
“This was an act of targeted political violence,” Walz said at a press conference.
“Peaceful discourse is the foundation of our democracy.
“We don’t settle their differences with violence or at gunpoint in the state of Minnesota.”
The suspect believed to have shot two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses was captured late Sunday after authorities tracked him to a wooded area in a rural part of the state, ending a massive two-day manhunt.
Vance Luther Boelter, 57, was arrested in connection with the shooting.
Boelter’s arrest was confirmed by the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Department in a social media post where he was pictured in handcuffs.
“After relentless and determined police work, the killer is now in custody,” the sheriff’s office wrote on Facebook.
“Thanks to the dedication of multiple agencies working together along with support from the community, justice is one step closer.”
The arrest was made near Green Isle in Sibley County, officials said.
The Hennepin County District Court said it has issued a criminal complaint charging Boelter with two counts of second-degree murder with intent and two counts of attempted murder.
Authorities have said the suspect targeted lawmakers in a planned attack, showing up at their homes wearing a police-like uniform and a mask.
Officials said Boelter had signs in his vehicle that read “No Kings.”
Cities across the United States held George Soros-funded “No Kings” protests, expressing disapproval of the Trump administration’s ICE raids, scheduled for Saturday afternoon.
While details of the shootings are still emerging, Padilla’s comments mark an early attempt by prominent Democrats to frame the violence as part of a broader national trend, one they claim Trump set into motion years ago.
Republicans, meanwhile, have yet to respond to Padilla’s allegations.
But the pattern is familiar: tragedy hits, and the Left’s first move is to assign political blame, often to Trump, regardless of confirmed facts or motives.
As investigations continue, both the causes and the consequences of this weekend’s shootings will likely remain center stage in an already inflamed national debate over political violence, security, and free speech.
