(LifeSiteNews) – A Wisconsin brewery with a history of far-left activism expressed disappointment that President Donald Trump was not murdered in the weekend’s White House Correspondent’s Dinner assassination attempt and offered free beer “the day it happens.”
The president’s remarks at the annual press event were preempted on Saturday evening when gunfire rang out outside the ballroom, prompting an evacuation. It was soon revealed that California teacher Cole Allen had attempted to rush the security checkpoint with a gun before being taken down by U.S. Secret Service. Nobody was killed, but one agent was injured; Allen was apprehended alive. In a manifesto attributed to him, Allen allegedly declared he was “no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes,” referencing long-running left-wing narratives that have never been substantiated.
Within hours of the news breaking, Minocqua Brewing Company, which is owned by Democrat activist and former Assembly candidate Kirk Bangstad, posted on Facebook, “Well, we almost got #freebeerday. Either a brother or sister in the Resistance needs to work on their marksmanship or he faked another assassination to get a positive news cycle. We’ll never know. Regardless, we stand at the ready to pour free beer the day it happens.”
After promoting its “Free Beer Day” t-shirts, the company concluded with, “Our celebration of life is going to be legendary!” The company first offered free beer for Trump’s eventual death in January.
The post was met with bipartisan condemnation, including Republican National Committee spokeswoman Delanie Bomar declared, “Wisconsin Democrats are so sick in the head that an attempted murder is funny to them,” and shamed state Democrat candidate Rebecca Cooke (who previously worked for Bangstad) for refusing to name him and the company in her disavowal of the “dangerous and unacceptable” rhetoric.
The Democrat Party of Wisconsin said Bangstad’s “rhetoric is completely unacceptable and should be retracted immediately […] We’re not afraid to call out this sort of inappropriate behavior no matter where it comes from — our GOP colleagues should learn to do the same.”
Yet Minocqua Brewing has responded to all its critics with defiance, sharing its abrasive replies to multiple media outlets, and in particular complaining about “Corporate Dems and politically naive Democratic gubernatorial candidates” for “tak[ing] the bait” by condemning violent rhetoric, insinuating without evidence the assassination attempt was “arguably fake.”
Minocqua Brewing Company is a self-proclaimed proprietor of “progressive beer,” with a history of left-wing partisanship. It operates a Super PAC dedicated to ousting Republicans it says “perpetuated the election lies that caused the Insurrection of January 6, 2021” and who “downplay[ed] of the seriousness of Covid 19,” and donates a portion of its profits to “progressive causes and [so-called] reproductive rights groups.”
In 2021, Minocqua Brewing declared intentions to sue every school board in the state without a mask mandate, and, in 2023, said it wanted to file a lawsuit to end Wisconsin’s school choice program. Bangstad also has a history of defamation, harassment, and disorderly conduct complaints stemming from his hostility to Lakeland Times editor Heather Holmes and publisher Gregg Walker.
