Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) blamed President Donald Trump for the shootings that took place in Minnesota, apparently targeting Democratic lawmakers in politically motivated attacks — and CNN anchor John Berman gave him no pushback.
Merkley joined Berman on Monday morning, just hours after it was announced that the suspect in the case had been apprehended, and he immediately pivoted to attack Trump when asked about the political climate in the country.
WATCH:
In an unbelievable moment just now on CNN, Democrat Senator Jeff Merkley just blamed President Trump for the weekend shootings of Minnesota lawmakers.
“I feel like Trump has really popped the lid off of the rhetoric and the the sense of hate and violence, and promoted this type… pic.twitter.com/v58LSfTyZ5
— DeVory Darkins (@devorydarkins) June 16, 2025
Berman set Merkley up for the attack, framing his question about the Minnesota shootings in such a way as to suggest that the political climate was responsible for driving the shooter to act.
“There was a state representative, Democratic leader, of the state legislature in Minnesota killed over the weekend, a state senator shot,” Berman began. “How would you describe the political atmosphere in this country this morning?”
“I feel like Trump has really popped the lid off of the rhetoric and the sense of hate and violence, and promoted this type of environment,” Merkley said, suggesting several times that the threats were only coming from the right. “It’s profoundly disturbing for all of us. We have seen increased threats across the country, you’re probably familiar with the pizza threats, we’ve seen more of that where pizzas or other food is delivered to people’s families that they haven’t ordered just to say from the right-wing, we know who you are, we know where you live.”
“I can tell you all of our families feel a greatly heightened sense — let me just say my heart goes out to the families in Minnesota. How horrific — horrific for the whole country, but particularly we’re holding the folks in Minnesota in our hearts,” he added.