On Monday, Minnesota State Senator John Hoffman spoke out against political violence at the Democratic National Committee's summer meeting in Minneapolis.
00:41Last night I debated with my wife and daughter about how I would talk about Melissa Hortman.
00:50And she used the Effenheimer word many times.
00:54And so there was this debate in our house about I should just say LFG, LFG.
01:00Um, dude, you just gave me permission to say that.
01:04So good morning.
01:05It's an honor to be here with all of you today in Minneapolis.
01:09I am Minnesota State Senator John Hoffman.
01:12And you know what?
01:13Welcome to the North Star State, folks.
01:17You know, I'd like to say a few words about where we find ourselves not only here in Minnesota,
01:23but across the country as we work to reclaim what it means to be not only Democrats,
01:29but public officials who engage in public life at this critical juncture in America.
01:35I want to start off by thanking DNC Chair Ken Martin.
01:40You know, Ken, you've been instrumental in the successes we've had in Minnesota for two decades.
01:45Two decades.
01:46And thank you for all that and for bringing this meeting back to your home state of Minneapolis, home state of Minnesota.
01:54There also, we want to thank Governor Walz.
01:57Unbelievable.
01:58When he gets up here and he does his thing, I'd love that.
02:01Right?
02:02And Senator Klobuchar, I'll still go down to Iowa for you anytime you want.
02:08Keith, you know what?
02:09Having our Attorney General that cares about human rights and civil rights is an amazing thing to have.
02:16And that gets to this.
02:18The challenge we do face, I want to speak about something that we all feel.
02:24Is that creeping erosion of the public trust.
02:28That's not just in institutions, but that's in each other.
02:32And in this climate, we must recommit ourselves to governance over grievance, to service over self, and to action over anger.
02:41Terror in the night is not legislative reform.
02:45It's heinous.
02:47It's absolutely heinous.
02:49And so as we keep going through that piece of it, this is about courage.
02:55And this courage is to meet the fear with clarity.
02:58And the courage to put aside performance, politics, and focus on real solutions.
03:05It's about truth, not spin, not grievance.
03:10Not the easy applause lines, but the honest work of governing.
03:14And it's about solidarity.
03:17Recognizing that our work is bigger than any of us.
03:20When we govern with humility and humanity, we restore trust.
03:24In our institutions and in each other.
03:28There's a personal story and a wake-up call.
03:32But what I just said is really how we preserve democracy.
03:35And this is how we lead.
03:37So what happened here in Minnesota in the early morning darkness of June 14th,
03:43with the political assassinations of Melissa and Mark,
03:45and what happened to myself, my wife Yvette, and my daughter, Hope, was pure evil.
03:51It was a political attack on public servants and public service.
03:58And it was aimed squarely and slowly at our party.
04:03And it was a wake-up call.
04:06What is happening at a national level,
04:08the persistent dehumanizing narratives and conspiracy theories and public discourse
04:13are fueling the radicalization of individuals willing to engage in political violence against perceived opponents.
04:19Not okay.
04:21I'm still slowly recovering from my gunshot wounds.
04:26Nine of them.
04:27If you want to see the pattern on my body,
04:29it's the same pattern that's in my red door that I no longer have.
04:33Although I do still have a long way to go.
04:36And what my daughter has endured on top of all this trauma,
04:40with publications international objectifying her based on disability,
04:45with narratives of the night that aren't even true.
04:49That's ableist and that's shameful.
04:51And I wish the media would stop leading the headlines with that.
05:09But the last two painful months have given me perspective
05:13and the determination that the evil and violence on June 14th cannot and will not win.
05:19Our nation did cross a threshold on that night.
05:22And this horrific experience, what I've heard in a resounding voice
05:25from people all across our country and across the political spectrum is this.
05:29It isn't about politics anymore.
05:32It must be about right and wrong.
05:35Right?
05:36We've all witnessed when leaders use the immense power entrusted to them,
05:39not for the common good, but to settle personal scores,
05:42to protect themselves and push selfish policies,
05:45and pit neighbor against neighbor.
05:48That's wrong.
05:48And we must call it out.
05:51Returning to the core values.
05:53I want to talk about three core values.
05:55I was going to try to hold this hand up,
05:56but it's hard to do when I got a rod in my finger.
05:58Three core values, right?
06:00I'm not a political strategist, and neither do I have any of the answers.
06:03But there are some democratic values that we need to return to,
06:07to reclaim, as a party, to get our country back on course.
06:12And it won't happen overnight, but we must start and continue on that journey today.
06:17That's why meetings like this are so important.
06:20First, we need courage.
06:23Right?
06:23Amen.
06:24Second, we need truth.
06:26Right?
06:26Third, we need to engage with Americans.
06:28What I'm saying about that is we really need to listen to them.
06:31And then we need to act on their behalf.
06:34I heard from many people across this country since June 14th.
06:39And Americans across the political spectrum are thirsting for those things once again.
06:44I want to give you some examples of that leadership.
06:47First, courage.
06:48In 1948, a courageous young Minneapolis mayor named Hubert H. Humphrey
06:52stirred the Democratic National Convention in the nation when he challenged our own party
06:58to step away from states' rights.
07:00Remember that was being used for?
07:02Segregation of the South.
07:04Humphrey said the time has arrived in America for the Democratic Party to get out of the shadow
07:09of states' rights and to walk forth rightly into the bright sunshine of human rights.
07:15How about that?
07:16Let's reclaim that courage.
07:18Let's continue to emphatically point out that when today's politics are warped into selfish agendas
07:23that harm families, strip communities of opportunity, and ignore the Constitution
07:28that it's meant to protect us.
07:30The second one is truth.
07:32Another Minnesotan, Walter Mondale, went from the U.S. Senate to become Vice President
07:36of the United States.
07:37When he left that role, he reflected on his service.
07:40And he said, we told the truth, we obeyed the law, and we kept the peace.
07:44Imagine that.
07:45That's the kind of leadership Americans are hungry for again.
07:51And instead, we too often see leaders bending the truth for personal gain
07:56and inviting crisis or spreading falsehoods that divide.
08:01That path only leads to mistrust and instability.
08:04We've got to continue to tell the truth to the American people about those selfish policies,
08:10policies written to benefit the powerful few.
08:12And in this country, right, and in Minnesota and every state, we feel the weight of those choices
08:17that enrich the wealthiest by hollowing out our health care, our education, and our future of working families.
08:22Not okay.
08:23So here's what we need to do.
08:25The third thing is solidarity.
08:27Paul Wellstone, my friend, his son, and I have still to this day, we're the same age.
08:32Go figure that one.
08:33He used every waking breath he had to energetically fight for all people.
08:39And he used to challenge the unchecked power wielding by the wealthy and large corporations.
08:43He galvanized Minnesotans with the motto, Ken, we all do better when we all do better.
08:48We use that all the time.
08:49People believed him, right?
08:52More importantly, they believed he was on their side.
08:56That's huge, right?
08:57I continue to hear that from Americans that they don't believe we're on their side anymore.
09:03And we need to be, right?
09:05We need to organize as Wellstone did and keep fighting so that we all do better.
09:09And we need to make sure people know we're with them.
09:12Not with the selfish interests that hoard resources, not with politicians who weaponize power, but with the people who keep this country moving forward every single day.
09:23All right?
09:24I want to close by saying this.
09:27What happened in the dark of night on June 14th to the Hortmans and to me and my family is that wake-up call to Democrats all over.
09:35We must call Americans to action in ways that don't incite intimidation and political violence, right?
09:41Having our own homes violated by pure evil cannot be the new normal, right?
09:46Amen?
09:46I believe all Americans and Minnesotans want to talk to each other again without being demeaned and without the threat of violence.
09:54And here's how simple it is.
09:56Recently, a garage door repairman came to fix our door.
10:01And he realized who my wife is and what she's been through.
10:04He burst into tears and he asked Yvette, can I give you a hug?
10:09And she said yes.
10:10That guy is somebody from all paths of life and all political beliefs that paused to rethink what we have become.
10:18They're telling us enough is enough.
10:20This doesn't mean we're always going to agree, but it does mean we will have to begin to see the humanity in each other.
10:26As Humphrey, Mondale, and Wellstone, and every person in this room does, right?
10:30We as Democrats, as Americans, as people with humanity have to reclaim that.
10:35Will you help us reclaim that, people?
10:37The tragic loss.
10:44The tragic loss of my colleague, my friend, and my political kid's sister.
10:49Melissa Hortman has left an empty space in all of us.
10:54She was the most consequential speaker in Minnesota history.
10:58She's gone.
10:59It's our job to fill that space by upholding her legacy and the values she and her husband, Mark, held dear.
11:05Values we hold dear.
11:07So thank you.
11:09Thank you for being here today and for allowing me to speak to you today.
11:13I hope that the decisions that we all make will help move our party and our country forward and into a better future for everyone.
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