Posted: 9/23/25 at 5:57pm
Honestly, I didn’t even know about Hortman until the killing of Kirk. I think it’s false equivalency to compare the two since one got so much more media attention than the other, sadly.
Posted: 9/23/25 at 5:58pm
pagereynolds said: "She didn't publicly speak out at all. She left a message on Mr. Kirk's Instagram for his family."
So, her public account commenting on another public account on a public platform where anyone can see said comment isn't her giving her opinion publicly, even though everyone in the world can see it?
K.
Posted: 9/23/25 at 6:19pm
The Bandstand said: "Honestly, I didn’t even know about Hortmanuntil the killing of Kirk. I think it’s false equivalency to compare the two since one got so much more media attention thanthe other, sadly."
Tell us you are ignorant without actually saying you are ignorant?
Posted: 9/23/25 at 6:23pm
I stopped watching cable news a long time ago. Hortman’s death never came up on my socials or even on the political podcasters i listen to. As soon as Kirk got shot, I got a notification on my phone from Apple News, it was everywhere
Posted: 9/23/25 at 6:35pm
Indeed, the coverage of Kirk has been dramatically different from Hortman. In the media I consume, mention of Hortman came and went within 24-48 hours. Kirk's mentions are still omnipresent.
Here's what ChatGPT says about it:
Hortman (first few days volume & speed of coverage)
More local/regional/state coverage, with national news outlets covering but less saturation initially. Given her role as a state legislator, there was considerable interest in Minnesota, among political circles. But digital/social media virality was more modest.
Kirk (first few days volume & speed of coverage)
Volume & Speed of Coverage
Very rapid, widespread national coverage. Videos and graphic content spread almost instantly. Many outlets, national and international, weighed in quickly. High search volume, many breaking-news alerts, on both mainstream and social platforms.
Posted: 9/23/25 at 6:37pm
I take none of this as any kind of an excuse for anyone. Hortman's assassination was a major story when it happened. I actually mostly avoid the news, basically only perusing headlines from the NYT and WP and relying on environmental osmosis, so I know this to be a fact.
Updated On: 9/23/25 at 06:37 PM
Posted: 9/23/25 at 7:09pm
Anybody who is honestly coming in with the "I didn't even know!" About the other shooting a few months ago shows that you're more interested in virality and not political violence. Because she was the literal Speaker of the Minnesota House. Kirk trolled around college campuses to dunk on 19 year olds, but you wouldn't know it from the deification of him in the last two weeks.
It's not about the coverage, it's about you living your head in the sand. I literally haven't watched cable news in like 5 years and yet...
Posted: 9/23/25 at 7:29pm
I personally don't find it helpful to judge other people's awareness of events—especially if I hope to have any dialogue with them or even persuade them—given the very different realities of how we each live and the media we consume.
I consume a lot of news for my job, and while I've remained aware of what happened in Minnesota, it did take me a short bit to recall Hortman's name because I had no knowledge of her prior to her assassination. Kirk, in contrast, has been across my feeds and media sources for years even though I am a progressive.
It should not be controversial to accurately note that media coverage, and to some degree public attention, has been quite different for Hortman and Kirk ... as one might expect for a Midwestern state legislator compared to someone known somewhat on a national level for years and who:
Posted: 9/23/25 at 7:32pm
Citing the Tammy show’s DNA problem, Kad nailed the issue with this show’s subject: irrelevance in the uneasy climate of 2025. In an era of political turmoil from white grievance, a paean to this marginal red state figure from the bygones days feels oddly tone deaf. Maybe it’ll offer a clear eyed prism that’s fair and critical. But is explicating “Caviar Dreams” a teachable moment in MAGA America? Open question.
Posted: 9/23/25 at 7:49pm
“Hartman’s death never came up on my socials or even on the political podcasters i listen to.”
Sorry, not the comment on the tragic front page murder story you think it is.
Posted: 9/23/25 at 7:57pm
SteveSanders said: "It should not be controversial to accurately note that media coverage, and to some degree public attention, has been quite different for Hortman and Kirk ... as one might expect for a Midwestern state legislator compared to someone known somewhat on a national level for years and who:
I'm not going say that Kirk's hasn't been wall to wall coverage, but it's not as though Hortman's didn't receive substantial coverage of its own. Again, to act like you're aware of the world around you but not know about a violent murder of the two State Congresspeople and their Spouses just two short months because you didn't hear nothing but that when you turn on the TV or social media for 2 weeks like you did Kirk, I'm sorry, is on you. At some point you have to take ownership of your blind spots and not expect to be treated like a child.
Updated On: 9/23/25 at 07:57 PM
Posted: 9/23/25 at 8:10pm
TheatreFan4 said: "SteveSanders said: "It should not be controversial to accurately note that media coverage, and to some degree public attention, has been quite different for Hortman and Kirk ... as one might expect for a Midwestern state legislator compared to someone known somewhat on a national level for years and who:
I'm not going say that Kirk's hasn't been wall to wall coverage, but it's not as though Hortman's didn't receive substantial coverage of its own. Again, to act like you're aware of the world around you but not know about a violent murder of the two State Congresspeople and their Spouses just two short months because you didn't hear nothing but that when you turn on the TV or social media for 2 weeks like you did Kirk, I'm sorry, is on you. At some point you have to take ownership of your blind spots and not expect to be treated like a child."
But most people aren't aware of the world around them and yes that's on them, but it doesn't change the fact people only respond to things they are aware of, and there is much higher awareness of Kirk than Hortman. Why is that the case? Because Conservatives dominate the information war zone.
Posted: 9/23/25 at 8:10pm
SteveSanders said: "Kirk, in contrast, has been across my feeds and media sources for years even though I am a progressive."
Funny enough, I had never heard of Kirk until his ugly comments about Taylor Swift a few weeks before he was killed.
"It should not be controversial to accurately note that media coverage, and to some degree public attention, has been quite different for Hortman and Kirk"
It's not controversial to note that, of course. I don't accept it as any kind of excuse for differential treatment of the two cases, though. Any individual would have to be stupidly uninformed not to have heard about Hortman's death as well as Kirk's, and that level of willful stupidity would be on them, too.
Updated On: 9/23/25 at 08:10 PM
Posted: 9/23/25 at 8:12pm
Bwaygurl2 said: "TheatreFan4 said: "SteveSanders said: "It should not be controversial to accurately note that media coverage, and to some degree public attention, has been quite different for Hortman and Kirk ... as one might expect for a Midwestern state legislator compared to someone known somewhat on a national level for years and who:
I'm not going say that Kirk's hasn't been wall to wall coverage, but it's not as though Hortman's didn't receive substantial coverage of its own. Again, to act like you're aware of the world around you but not know about a violent murder of the two State Congresspeople and their Spouses just two short months because you didn't hear nothing but that when you turn on the TV or social media for 2 weeks like you did Kirk, I'm sorry, is on you. At some point you have to take ownership of your blind spots and not expect to be treated like a child."
But most people aren't aware of the world around them and yes that's on them, but it doesn't change the fact people only respond to things they are aware of, and there is much higher awareness of Kirk than Hortman. Why is that the case? Because Conservatives dominate the information war zone."
I mean this is provably untrue. A local politician is different than even an influencer. And Charlie Kirk was much more well known than an influencer.
Posted: 9/23/25 at 8:17pm
Kad said: "I think the issue with Tammy Faye wasn’t that it was about a scummy person- it was about an irrelevant person. And I think that is also the case here, to a much larger degree."
Eva Peron was arguably a scummy person, and arguably irrelevant in 1978. Quality can transcend everything!
Posted: 9/23/25 at 8:25pm
I don't really judge people for ignorance of news events. I once did, but today I think it's a valid mental health precaution to keep our heads in the sand.
Posted: 9/23/25 at 8:28pm
Jay Lerner-Z said: "I don't really judge people for ignorance of news events. I once did, but today I think it's a valid mental health precaution to keep our heads in the sand."
I don't, either. As I said above, I do much the same myself. But that would only excuse an individual not publicly responding to any news events, not selectively responding to some but not others.
Posted: 9/23/25 at 8:40pm
I listen to a wide array of news on youtube mostly but also Apple News and the New York Times app. I did not see anything on Hortman, blame the press for not making it a bigger deal than it was.
Posted: 9/23/25 at 8:41pm
The Bandstand said: "I listen to a wide array of news on youtube mostly but also Apple News and the New York Times app. I did not see anything on Hortman,blame the press for not making it a bigger deal than it was."
It was definitely on the Times front page and on the front page of the app.
Posted: 9/23/25 at 8:47pm
Well maybe I didn’t go on there that day. Like it said, it must have been very brief coverage because I didn’t see it. I got alerts on my phone about jimmy kimmel but not of Hortman. That’s just the world we live in
Posted: 9/23/25 at 8:53pm
Gun violence is so common we have become numb. Sometimes it's just a headline we skim and move on. Not every gun victim gets arenas full of 90 thousand mourners. The world is very broken.
Posted: 9/23/25 at 9:00pm
I think the main reason that people are reacting more to Charlie Kirk's death than Melissa Hortman's, even if you disagree with his politics, is the manner in which he was killed. We're all used to hearing about gun deaths, and I'm sure Hortman's was equally violent, but to see it is a different matter. It maybe shouldn't be, but it is. Certainly the shock of Kirk's death is not enough to warrant the kind of emotional outpouring and damn-near beatification that we've been seeing, but I think it made people who aren't normally engaged (like the Kristin Chenowith's of the world) enter the fray.
Posted: 9/23/25 at 9:06pm
PaigeTurner2 said: "I think the main reason that people are reacting more to Charlie Kirk's death than Melissa Hortman's,even if you disagree with his politics, is the manner in which he was killed."
I imagine you can only mean that Kirk's killing was captured on film. Hortman's death was in no conceivable way less violent, and her murderer also killed her husband and pet.
Posted: 9/23/25 at 9:10pm
kdogg36 said: "PaigeTurner2 said: "I think the main reason that people are reacting more to Charlie Kirk's death than Melissa Hortman's,even if you disagree with his politics, is the manner in which he was killed."
I imagine you can only mean that Kirk's killing was captured on film. Hortman's death was in no conceivable way less violent, and her murderer also killed her husband and pet."
Yes, that's obviously what they meant.
Posted: 9/23/25 at 9:11pm
It’s exactly this. It’s a video easily found. I can understand how you can have empathy. Especially after seeing it. But I cannot understand how you could have sympathy.
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