In the days since Vance Luther Boelter carried out his shooting rampage — killing Democratic state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband and critically injuring state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife — Democrats in Washington and across social media have been quick to exploit the tragedy for political gain. Rather than focusing on facts, many are rushing to frame the incident as part of a supposed epidemic of right-wing violence, using it as a pretext to demand a nationwide crackdown on so-called “dangerous rhetoric.”
I’ve already called out the left’s hypocrisy when it comes to political rhetoric; they’re often the loudest voices warning about “dangerous speech” while pushing some of the most incendiary narratives themselves. But there’s something deeper, more infuriating about this latest story. Because this time, we have a man, Vance Luther Boelter, who targeted Democrats in a brutal and premeditated attack — and yet, not a single person on the right is praising him. There’s no effort to turn Boelter into a folk hero. No memes. No “Boelter Was Right” t-shirts. No, “Free Boelter” signs anywhere. No fawning social media posts about “justified rage” or “systemic oppression.”
Just silence — and disgust. That’s how decent people respond to political violence. Two people are dead, two more critically wounded, and Boelter had a hit list with 45 more names. The details are chilling, and conservatives have rightly denounced him without hesitation.
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Now compare that to how the left responded to Luigi Mangione, the man who assassinated UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last December. Within days of that killing, Mangione was glorified across BlueSky, the left’s new social media haven. He wasn’t treated like a murderer — he was treated like a hero. The Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) documented a flood of memes turning Mangione into a modern-day vigilante. And this wasn’t just some fringe corner of the internet — it was mainstream. Mangione’s name trended, his face was plastered across tribute posts, and some even proposed policies named after him.
That’s the difference: The right condemns monsters; the left turns them into idols.
Saturday Night Live’s audience literally cheered at the mere mention of Mangione’s name during a Weekend Update segment. That applause wasn’t for “justice.” It was applause for bloodshed. For murder.
And the media? Rather than treating Mangione as the terrorist he is, figures like CNN’s Kaitlan Collins casually promoted his legal defense website. No disclaimers, no warnings, just a cheerful link from a verified White House correspondent. Imagine the outrage if a Fox News anchor had done the same for Boelter.
While the right condemned Boelter’s spree without hesitation, the left not only glorified Mangione but also doubled down. California leftists are pushing a ballot measure named after him. In other words, California Democrats didn’t recoil in horror at Mangione’s actions—they took inspiration from his agenda.
Oh, and in San Francisco, a musical based on Mangione just opened.
It gets worse. According to the NCRI, this “assassination culture” on the left is growing rapidly. A nationally representative survey found that over half of left-leaning respondents thought it was at least “somewhat justified” to murder Donald Trump. Nearly half said the same about Elon Musk. And nearly 40% even said destroying a Tesla dealership was morally acceptable. These are not isolated opinions; they’re part of a cohesive, radical worldview.
Boelter’s acts were monstrous, and conservatives are treating them as such. The left, meanwhile, continues to excuse, glorify, and even market Mangione’s assassination of a political target. The contrast is sickening, and it says everything about who believes in law and order and who believes violence is just fine, so long as it targets the right people.
