We’ve seen some pretty disgusting stuff from the left over the years. We’ve watched them burn down cities and call it “mostly peaceful.” We’ve watched them doxx teenagers for smiling at Native American activists. We’ve watched them scream about “democracy” while trying to jail their political opponents. But this week, a craft brewery in northern Wisconsin decided to go ahead and say the quiet part out loud — they’re upset the bullets missed.
Minocqua Brewing Company — because of course it’s a craft brewery, it’s always a craft brewery — took to social media after the attack at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner to publicly lament that the assassination attempt against President Trump didn’t succeed. Then they made what they called a “sick promise” to their customers about what they’d do next. Imagine running a business and thinking, “You know what would really move product? Cheering for political murder.” These people aren’t just broken. They’re advertising it.
Now, for those of you who don’t know Minocqua Brewing, congratulations — your life is better for it. This is the same outfit run by a failed Democratic candidate named Kirk Bangstad who turned his entire brewery into a political PAC with tap handles. He’s been doing this schtick for years — selling overpriced IPAs to people who think hating Trump is a personality trait. He ran for state legislature, got smoked, and apparently decided that if he couldn’t legislate his politics, he’d ferment them.
But celebrating a shooting? That’s a new low, even for a guy whose entire brand is built on spite.
Let’s be very clear about what happened. A gunman opened fire at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on April 25th. People were hurt. Lives were in danger. Secret Service agents put their bodies on the line. And within hours — hours — this clown was online turning it into a marketing opportunity. Not a moment of silence. Not a prayer. A promise to his customers that amounted to a fist pump over flying bullets.
This is the “tolerant left” we keep hearing about, folks. The ones who put “COEXIST” bumper stickers on their Subarus while fantasizing about violence against anyone who votes differently. The ones who lecture you about “dangerous rhetoric” while literally toasting attempted murder like it’s happy hour.
And here’s the thing that should make your blood boil — if a conservative brewery had posted something even one-tenth as inflammatory about a Democratic president, the FBI would’ve kicked in the door before the hops settled. CNN would run it for six straight weeks. There’d be congressional hearings. The owner would be deplatformed from every payment processor on earth and his kids would get expelled from school for good measure.
But when it’s aimed at Trump? When it’s aimed at us? Crickets. Maybe a few tut-tuts from the “both sides” crowd before they move on to the next segment about how conservatives are the real threat to democracy.
You want to know why political violence keeps escalating in this country? It’s not because of mean tweets. It’s because people like Kirk Bangstad celebrate it publicly and face zero consequences. It’s because our media establishment has spent a decade telling half the country that the other half are literal Nazis — and then acts shocked when someone takes them seriously enough to pick up a weapon.
Minocqua Brewing didn’t create the shooter. But they’re part of the ecosystem that creates shooters. When you normalize hatred to the point where a business owner feels comfortable cheering for assassination in public, you’ve crossed a line that doesn’t have a return trip.
The good news? We don’t need the government to handle this one. The free market is beautiful that way. Every patriot in Wisconsin and beyond now knows exactly what Minocqua Brewing stands for. And it’s not craft beer. It’s sociopathy with a foam head.
So here’s my suggestion. Next time you’re up in the Northwoods and you’re thirsty, drive right past this clown show. Find a local bar run by someone who doesn’t celebrate bullets aimed at presidents. Buy an American beer brewed by someone who has the basic human decency to be horrified by political violence regardless of who the target is.
Because that’s the difference between us and them, isn’t it? When Steve Scalise got shot on that baseball field, we didn’t see conservative businesses running victory laps. When Gabby Giffords was attacked, the right didn’t turn it into a merch drop. We mourned. Like normal people. Like Americans.
But Kirk Bangstad? He saw an assassination attempt and thought, “This is great for engagement.”
Enjoy your overpriced IPA, Kirk. It comes with a side of sociopathy and a garnish of everything wrong with the modern left. The rest of us will be over here, acting like human beings.
And to the good people of Minocqua — we know this guy doesn’t represent you. Small-town Wisconsin is better than this. Your town deserves better than being famous for the guy who cheers when presidents get shot at.
