Respectful Memorial Service for MN House Speaker Hortman, Husband Marred by Divisive Political Rhetoric – RedState
The memorial service for Minnesota House Speaker Emerita, Melissa Hortman, and her husband Mark was held on Saturday morning at Minneapolis’ Basilica of St. Mary.
On Friday, Speaker Hortman and Mark, along with their pet dog, Gilbert, lay in state at Saint Paul’s Capitol building:
Minnesota Rep. Melissa Hortman, her husband Mark and their dog, Gilbert, are lying in state at the Capitol on Friday ahead of their Saturday funeral service.
Rep. Hortman is the first woman, and one of fewer than 20 Minnesotans, to lie in state at the Minnesota State Capitol in… pic.twitter.com/RPSXSfZmV6
— FOX 9 (@FOX9) June 27, 2025
Rep. Hortman is the first woman, and one of fewer than 20 Minnesotans, to lie in state at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul, according to the governor’s office.
There is also a Dog Honor guard on hand, with 12 golden retriever service dogs rotating to make sure Gilbert has two dogs standing guard throughout the day.
The state representative was well known as an animal lover, who dedicated hours of volunteer time to helping train dogs to become assistance dogs. Gilbert was one of those dogs who, let’s just say, didn’t take a liking to staying trained:
But Gilbert, a 4-year-old golden retriever who belonged to the family of State Representative Melissa Hortman of Minnesota, was no ordinary dog.
…
…[A]s the training period came to an end, the staff at Helping Paws determined that Gilbert was not suited to be an assistance animal. About 30 percent of dogs in the program fail the training, for a variety of reasons. In Gilbert’s case, to put it bluntly, his work ethic was lacking.
“He had all the skills,” Ms. Golob said. “He just didn’t want to do it and felt like the Hortmans’ couch is where he needed to be.”
As RedState wrote on June 14, Hortman and her spouse, along with state Sen. John Hoffman (D) and his wife, were allegedly attacked in their homes the same morning, with the gunman slaying the Hortmans. Hoffman and his spouse continue to recover – his wife now back at home.
The evening of the following day, Vance Boelter, the man suspected of shooting the state lawmakers and their spouses, was captured by authorities in rural Sibley County, Minnesota, and charged with murder.
READ MORE: Two Minnesota Lawmakers Shot in Their Homes, One Dead, Attacker Still At Large – Updated
MANHUNT OVER: Suspect in Minnesota Lawmaker Shooting Apprehended, Charged With 2nd Degree Murder
One of those who paid his respect at the MN Capitol on Friday was former President Joe Biden, who also checked in on Sen. Hoffman:
Hoffman is still recovering from his injuries, and Biden visited the state lawmaker at the hospital for about 40 minutes on Friday, a spokesperson told NewsNation.
Throughout the day on Saturday, video and images from the Hortman funeral have filtered out on social media, including a touching moment showing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris holding hands at one point:
President Biden attended the funeral of Melissa Hortman and her husband at a church in Minneapolis today. He sat next to Kamala Harris, his vice president, and at one point they held hands, then embraced. pic.twitter.com/W3omrfSoVG
— Biden Activities Tracker (@BidenActivities) June 28, 2025
Even Gov. Walz’s eulogy for the couple was personal and light on politics.
“Melissa Hortman will be remembered as the most consequential speaker in Minnesota history,” he said. “I know that millions of Minnesotans will get to live better lives because she and Mark chose public service.”
“More kids in pre-K, fewer in poverty. More schools with the tools and teachers they need, fewer with hungry students,” he continued. “More trees in the ground and clean energy coursing through the grid, fewer roads and bridges at risk of failure. More people in safe and secure housing, fewer worrying about how to manage caring for their loved ones. That’s the legacy Mark and Melissa will leave behind for all Minnesotans.”
Walz described politicians as “just a bunch of human beings trying to do the best they can. Melissa understood that better than anybody I knew. She saw the humanity in every single person she worked with, and she kept things focused on the people she served.”
As an icebreaker of sorts for his remarks, the governor even told a sweet, humorous anecdote, while remembering the times the late speaker invited him to give the State of the State address at the speaker’s rostrum, and she would chide him gently. He said, “Melissa would have been quick to remind [him]” that he could only speak in that place, “one day out of the year.”
Watch some brief clips of the funeral and Gov. Walz’s eulogy:
Former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark were laid to rest at a private funeral in Minneapolis. In his eulogy, Gov. Tim Walz said Melissa will be “remembered as the most consequential Speaker in Minnesota history.” https://t.co/CvQYgLcbRs pic.twitter.com/3UOKYt9yZX
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) June 28, 2025
Not everything was so respectful of the solemn service and its purpose: to honor Hortman and her life of service.
Father Daniel Griffith, the pastor who conducted the service and shepherds the Basilica of St. Mary, decided to let in some politics, reading aloud an email written by another pastor, using sometimes hate-filled rhetoric and bringing up “Ground Zero’ in Minneapolis, the epicenter of the 2020 riots during the so-called Summer of Love, and George Floyd’s death, and calling for the “nation” to seek “deep healing”:
“Here in Minnesota, we have been the Ground Zero place, sadly, for racial injustice, the killing of George Floyd just miles from our church today. And now, we are the Ground Zero place for political violence and extremism,” Griffith said. “Both of these must be decried in the strongest possible terms, as they are respectively, of a threat to human dignity and indeed, our democracy.”
As you saw, most of what happened leading up to this part of the funeral was appropriate and beautiful. What we learn again and again, though, is that liberals can’t help themselves. The divisiveness they carry into almost every part of life rears its ugly head when it never should.
This is worth a short detour, before we close up. For those of a certain age, while it wasn’t a politician in Minneapolis on Saturday who made the remarks, it brings a negative memory to mind of another Minnesota funeral – that of the late Senator Paul Wellstone, who died in a plane crash in 2002, less than two weeks before the general election in Wellstone’s reelection bid:
Four days after the crash, a memorial service for the victims was held at Williams Arena in Minneapolis. During the service, which was carried live on Minnesota Public Radio, campaign treasurer Rick Kahn spoke on behalf of his close friend.
“I’m sure that more than anything else he would want me to talk about the future, about where he would want us to go from here,” Kahn said. “And I can still hear that strong, clear voice calling to me that it is now our time to stand up for the people he fought for.”
…
“He needs you now, I am begging you please, let the people of this state hear your voice on his behalf to keep his legacy alive and help us win this election for Paul Wellstone,” he said.
At this point, Kahn said, “win this election for Paul Wellstone,” reportedly a dozen times, leading then-Gov. Jesse Ventura to walk out in disgust “that the memorial was being used as a political rally.” The Wellstone campaign manager later apologized for Kahn’s words.
What we are left here is the sense that once again, some on the Left decided to make it about themselves and their political positions, which is so arrogant, when the memorial should be about the two people lost and their loved ones (which Tim Walz did stick to in his remarks).
You can watch Walz’s full eulogy below:
Every single day, here at RedState, we will stand up and FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT against the radical left and deliver the conservative reporting our readers deserve.
Help us continue to tell the truth about the Trump administration and its major wins. Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.
