The chair of the Republican Party of Minnesota is criticizing Minnesota DFL Chair Richard Carlbom’s “dishonest” and “desperate” comments on Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Minneapolis.
“Minnesotans know the truth: the DFL has had total control of state government and failed to act on the issues that truly matter. They did nothing on school safety. They ignored repeated calls for expanded mental health support. They even denied Catholic bishops’ requests for more security funding when credible threats were raised,” Minnesota GOP Chair Alex Plechash said in a statement.
“JD Vance’s visit shows that Republicans are serious about standing with Minnesotans in a moment of grief and demanding real solutions,” he added.
Vance and his wife Usha flew to Minnesota on Wednesday to visit Annunciation Catholic Church and School in Minneapolis, where two children were killed and 21 other people were injured in an Aug. 27 mass shooting.
The couple spent time with victims and their families in a handful of private meetings at the Annunciation campus and a downtown Minneapolis hospital.
Vance, a Catholic, described his visit with the families and Annunciation’s principal and pastor as “very heartbreaking, but also very gratifying.”
“It was obviously a very sad moment, but also in a lot of ways a very rewarding moment that these parents opened up their lives, opened up their hearts, they told me about their kids, they told me about their families,” the vice president added. “They told me about the community supporting them. That was just an amazing thing to see, an amazing thing to witness, and an amazing thing to get to be a part of.”
Carlbom calls Vance’s visit ‘political theater’
Just hours later, Carlbom took to social media to describe Vance’s visit and his comments as “taking something of value from these families while offering no solutions in return.”
“We are past the point of showing up with hollow words and empty hands,” Carlbom said in a statement. “This appearance is a waste of taxpayer dollars, nothing more than political theater from an administration desperate to hide from its own failures.”
Carlbom was elected DFL chair earlier this spring after the party’s longtime leader, Ken Martin, was elected chair of the Democratic National Committee. Carlbom previously served as Gov. Tim Walz’s deputy chief of staff.
Carlbom has also offered several expletive-laden comments over the last week mocking Minnesota-based Republicans.
“No shit Sherlock,” he wrote in a post on X responding to Republican Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth’s statement on a potential special session. In another post, he described Congressman Tom Emmer as “a weak ass and dumb ass politician.”
Plechash criticized Carlbom’s statement on Vance’s visit as “projection at its worst.”
“The real ‘hollow words’ come from the DFL. They had the power and chose to do nothing,” said Plechash. “If Democrats want to talk about ‘political theater,’ they should look in the mirror. Turning vigils into rallies, mocking prayer, and proposing laws modeled on countries that strip away freedom—that is the real theater, and Minnesotans are tired of it.”
Hank Long
Hank Long is a journalism and communications professional whose writing career includes coverage of the Minnesota legislature, city and county governments and the commercial real estate industry. Hank received his undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota, where he studied journalism, and his law degree at the University of St. Thomas. The Minnesota native lives in the Twin Cities with his wife and four children. His dream is to be around when the Vikings win the Super Bowl.
