Remember Kirk Bangstad? The owner of the Minocqua Brewing Company in Wisconsin who turned his entire brewery into a shrine to hating Donald Trump? The guy who celebrated the assassination attempt on a sitting president like it was Oktoberfest? Well, he’s back — and he’s somehow managed to top himself in the “unhinged lunatic” category by publicly fantasizing about Trump’s death. Again.
Congratulations, Kirk. You’ve officially become so repulsive that even Wisconsin Democrats are backing away from you like you just sneezed on the cheese curds.
Let that sink in for a moment. Wisconsin Democrats — the people who voted for Tammy Baldwin, who think Tony Evers is doing a bang-up job, who would elect a literal block of cheddar if it had a (D) next to its name — even THEY think this guy has gone too far. When your own political team is publicly distancing themselves from your rhetoric about a president’s death, you haven’t made a bold statement. You’ve made yourself radioactive.
And look, we’ve covered this clown before. This isn’t a one-time slip of the tongue after too many IPAs at the tasting room. This is a pattern. Bangstad has built his entire brand around violent fantasy rhetoric aimed at the President of the United States, and he apparently thinks this is a viable business model. “Come for the craft beer, stay for the assassination fan fiction!” What a marketing strategy.
Here’s what’s beautiful about this story, though — the self-destruction is entirely self-inflicted. Nobody forced Kirk Bangstad to log onto the internet and broadcast his deranged fantasies to the world. Nobody held a gun to his head and said, “You must publicly wish death upon the president or we’ll take away your brewing license.” He did this all by himself. Repeatedly. Like a dog that keeps eating the spicy peppers off the counter and then looks shocked when his mouth is on fire.
The Democrats distancing themselves from him is the real tell here. These are the same people who spent four years calling Trump “literally Hitler” and comparing ICE agents to Nazi stormtroopers. They’ve spent the better part of a decade pushing rhetoric that dehumanizes anyone to the right of Bernie Sanders. And NOW they’ve found a line? NOW there’s a bridge too far?
Well, better late than never, we suppose.
But let’s be honest about what’s actually happening here. Wisconsin Democrats aren’t horrified by what Bangstad said because they disagree with the sentiment. They’re horrified because he said it out loud — on the record, in public, where swing voters can see it. This is a branding problem for them, not a moral one. He’s saying the quiet part loud, and in a purple state like Wisconsin, that’s electoral poison.
Remember, this is the state that went for Trump in 2024. These Democratic operatives are doing math, not soul-searching. Every time this lunatic opens his mouth, another suburban mom in Waukesha County decides she’s had enough of the Democratic Party. Kirk Bangstad is basically a Republican recruitment tool at this point.
And what about the brewery itself? Minocqua Brewing Company sits in the Northwoods of Wisconsin — beautiful country, full of hunters, fishermen, small-town families, and people who actually like America. You’d think a business owner in that part of the state would have the basic survival instinct not to publicly fantasize about political violence. But no. Kirk decided his IPA was so good it could survive him being the most hated man in the county.
(Spoiler alert: it’s not that good.)
Here’s our advice for Kirk Bangstad, free of charge: stick to brewing beer. Stop posting. Delete your social media accounts. Maybe take a long vacation somewhere without Wi-Fi. Because every single time you open your mouth, you accomplish the exact opposite of what you think you’re accomplishing. You’re not “the resistance.” You’re not brave. You’re a guy who makes beer in Wisconsin and fantasizes about violence against a president — and now even your own team thinks you’re a liability.
That’s what we call playing yourself. And brother, you played yourself hard.
