THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES with Kristin Chenowith & F. Murray Abraham to open at St. James in November — Page 15

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.

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

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

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:

• consistently traveled the country and spoke on college campuses
• gave prime time addresses at televised national conservative conventions, and 
• did a podcast typically downloaded 500,000 times/day. 

“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. 

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. 

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.

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 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. 

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

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.

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.