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Colin and Sophie Hortman, the children of slain Minnesota state lawmaker Melissa Hortman, publicly urged President Donald Trump to remove a post shared on his Truth Social account promoting a conspiracy theory accusing Gov. Tim Walz of being involved in their parents' murders.
Trump shared a video, which seems to have been made by another who shared yet another video, on Saturday (January 3) that made unsubstantiated claims linking Walz and alleged fraud in Minnesota's state programs to the June 2025 murders of Hortman, a Democrat, and her husband Mark.
“I am asking President Trump to remove the video that he shared and apologize to me and my family for posting this misinformation and for using my mother’s own words to dishonor her memory,” Colin Hortman wrote in a statement shared on Sunday (January 4).
Sophie Hortman echoed her brother, referring to the video as “a painful, false twisting of my mother’s final vote.”
“We must create a society in which we do not harbor hatred and violence toward our political opponents, and this video promotes a false narrative which fuels the flames of political division,” she wrote.
“The video being shared by the president is another hurdle our family must overcome in grieving the loss of my parents, Mark and Melissa, and their beloved [dog] Gilbert,” Sophie added. “I ask President Trump to please consider the pain and sadness we have faced, and to honor the spirit of the holidays we have just spent without our parents by taking down the post on Truth Social.”
Melissa and Mark Hortman were killed at their home last June on the same day fellow Democrat Minnesota lawmaker John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were also shot and wounded at their home. Vance Boelter was arrested in the largest manhunt in Minnesota history in connection with the shootings, which authorities described as "politically motivated," and indicted on federal murder charges in July, pleading not guilty in August.
The Hoffman family also shared a statement confirming that they stood in support with the Hortmans.
"We ask President Trump to take down the post spreading conspiracy claims about their parents’ deaths," the statement reads via NBC News. "Those claims reflect the same hateful falsehoods that motivated violence and cause more harm."
"This moment calls for responsibility and compassion. Removing the post would be a necessary step toward decency," the family added.
Trump shared the video after his administration announced its decision to freeze child care funds to Minnesota and demand an audit on several day care centers following a series of reported fraud schemes involving government programs alleged to have taken place in recent years last Wednesday (December 31). Walz pushed back on his X account, claiming the state had spent several years cracking down on fraudsters but the decision to freeze child care funds was part of Trump "politicizing the issue."
The administration's announcement came one day after U.S. Homeland Security officials were reported to be conducting a fraud investigation in Minneapolis, which included visiting unidentified businesses and questioning workers. Several fraud investigations have been launched in Minnesota in recent years including a $300 million pandemic food fraud scheme centered around the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, which resulted in 57 people being convicted.