Contact: WisDems Press (press@wisdems.org)
MADISON, Wis. — WisDems Chair Devin Remiker released the following statement in response to Wisconsin Young Republican leader Brady Penfield spreading a repulsive conspiracy theory about the assassination of Minnesota Rep. Melissa Hortman:
“A Minnesota public servant and her husband were assassinated by a right-wing extremist, and for a leader of young Republicans in Wisconsin to even suggest a sitting Democratic governor ordered the ‘hit’ is beyond sickening. Tom Tiffany, Derrick Van Orden, and the College Republicans of Wisconsin, who have hugged Brady Penfield tight, need to make clear whether they embrace this sort of dangerous and disgusting behavior that has fueled political violence.”
Penfield has been intimately involved with the Tiffany and Van Orden campaigns, and the College Republicans of Wisconsin, who recently came under scrutiny for their fawning over a neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes fanboy. Van Orden also pushed similar conspiracies to Penfield following the assassinations.
The assassination of Melissa Hortman and her husband took place at the same time as the WisDems 2025 convention, forcing numerous elected officials who were on a hit list to go into hiding. The assassin recently pled guilty and is a well documented Trump supporter.
