MADISON – The state Democratic Party is denouncing a financial backer of liberal causes for a post he made promoting the idea of assassinating President Donald Trump in the wake of a shooting at a Washington D.C., event Trump attended.
Kirk Bangstad, owner of the Minocqua Brewing Company and founder of a political action committee supporting progressive politics, said Saturday in a post from his brewing company’s Facebook account, “Well, we almost got #freebeerday. Either a brother or sister in the Resistance needs to work on their marksmanship or he faked another assassination to get a positive news cycle.”
The post was made after a gunman opened fire at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington D.C, the evening of April 25. U.S. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the gunman appeared to have targeted Trump and officials in his administration who were attending the event.
“We’ll never know. Regardless, we stand at the ready to pour free beer the day it happens,” the post read, referring to a promotional campaign Bangstad created to hand out free beer when Trump dies. Trump has been the target of previous assassination attempts.
In January, the brewery posted on Facebook that it would sell free beer “all day long, the day he dies,” appearing to refer to Trump but not by name. “Show us this post when it happens in a few months and we’ll make good on that promise.”
Bangstad also is selling shirts that read, “I Wish It Was Free Beer Day At Minocqua Brewing Company” and voodoo dolls featuring Trump’s face.
At the time, Bangstad told Fox News that he would welcome anyone to celebrate the “impending death of a twice-impeached convicted felon covering up for the largest child sex ring in the history of the United States — someone who has enabled his contemporary American Gestapo to brutally murder two American protesters in a matter of week.”
A Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesman said Bangstad’s “rhetoric is completely unacceptable and should be retracted immediately.”
“We’re not afraid to call out this sort of inappropriate behavior no matter where it comes from — our GOP colleagues should learn to do the same,” state Democratic Party spokesman Phil Shulman said in a statement.
Bangstad did not respond to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel but in a separate post on Facebook he hit back at the Democrats who criticized his post and stood by his previous comments by linking to merchandise for sale that promotes Trump’s death.
“Our celebration of life is going to be legendary!” he wrote in the post
“Leave it to the Corporate Dems and politically naive Democratic gubernatorial candidates to take the bate (sic) and condemn ‘political violence’ or ‘politically violent rhetoric’ after the 3rd questionably/arguable fake assassination attempt against Trump,” Bangstad wrote in the post sharing the Journal Sentinel story.
Bangstad also provided tips to Democrats if the Journal Sentinel “backs you into a corner and makes you ‘agree’ with Republican rhetoric that ‘libs are violent’ given this arguably fake assassination attempt?”
Bangstad’s Minocqua Brewing Company opened about a decade ago and is known for selling politics-themed beers. The releases include Tammy Shandy, Evers Ale and Mandela Mash, referring to Democrats U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Gov. Tony Evers and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, who is running for governor in 2026.
“I denounce those who had any reaction to last night’s shooting other than outrage at the state of political violence in our country,” Barnes said in a statement. “It’s completely unacceptable, and I am thankful for the actions of law enforcement who acted swiftly and bravely to keep everyone safe.”
State Rep. Francesca Hong, who is leading the Democratic primary in recent statewide polling, said in a post on X she denounces political violence. She said, “Too many people in politics — across the spectrum — have started treating it as background noise or an unavoidable cost of the job. We cannot let ourselves become numb to it.”
A campaign spokeswoman said Bangstad’s post “is intentionally inflammatory and a symptom of the normalization of political violence.”
Rebecca Cooke, a Democratic candidate running in the 3rd Congressional District who worked for Bangstad during his 2016 congressional campaign, said in a statement, “This rhetoric is dangerous and unacceptable – showcasing just how broken our political system is.”
“I denounce all forms of political violence. We need to bring the temperature down, stop pitting working folks against each other, and come together to solve the very serious problems facing our communities,” Cooke said.
Bangstad has also used his super PAC to fund lawsuits that would disband the state’s private school voucher system and against Republican members of Congress, accusing them of aiding the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. He is also involved in legal battles with the conservative newspaper Lakeland Times.
Molly Beck can be reached at molly.beck@jrn.com.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin Democrats condemn liberal backer’s Trump assassination post
Reporting by Molly Beck, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
