In the aftermath of the targeted shootings by a fascist Trump supporter of Democratic state lawmakers in Minnesota, Donald Trump and a number of MAGA Republicans have made statements calculated to stoke more fascist violence against members of the nominal opposition party and political opponents of the Trump regime.

Vance Luther Boelter, 57, a Christian nationalist and anti-abortion fanatic, shot and killed Melissa Hortman, the top Democrat in the state House, and her husband Mark in their home, and shot and severely wounded state senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette in their home in the early morning hours of Saturday, June 14. Disguised as a cop, Boelter went to the homes of two other Democratic state lawmakers intending to assassinate them as well.

In his vehicle police found a list of some 70 Democratic officials, abortion rights advocates and abortion providers and a stack of “No Kings” leaflets promoting the mass anti-Trump rallies that were held later that day, suggesting that Boelter may have planned to attack the protesters.

The list of targets included Governor Tim Walz, Representative Ilhan Omar and senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, all Democrats, along with their addresses.

Boelter was captured Sunday night following a 43-hour manhunt. He is being held in a federal prison and faces state and federal murder charges.

The response of the Democrats was to plead with the Republicans for unity and a bipartisan condemnation of political violence. Governor Walz, the Democrats’ vice presidential candidate in 2024, thanked Vice President JD Vance for federal support to local and state police.

On Sunday night, following the multi-million-strong “No Kings” rallies across the country, Trump, who called the Democrats the “enemy within” in his 2024 election campaign, posted a tweet on Truth Social in which he demanded a further escalation of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids on immigrants, explicitly targeting large cities run by Democrats such as Los Angeles, Chicago and New York. Trump called them “the core of the Democrat power center.”

The World Socialist Web Site wrote on Monday:

After the failure of his military parade to either rally public support or intimidate the popular opposition, Trump is turning to the building of an extraconstitutional, extralegal force. He is telling his fascist followers, more and more overtly, go ahead and do what you need to do, I have your back. Trump has already pardoned and freed the thugs who attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Those who follow his directives now expect similar support.

This is underscored by Trump’s response to the Minnesota shootings. Asked whether he planned to call Governor Walz, Trump told a reporter, “Why should I call him?” and went on to call Walz “whacked out” and “messed up.” Asked again on Tuesday if he had called Walz, Trump said he would not and added that Walz had “appointed this guy to a position.”

This was a reference to the fact that Walz reappointed Boelter in 2020 to the Minnesota Governor’s Workforce Development Board, which has some 60 members and reportedly meets online. There are more than 130 such boards, advisory councils, task forces and commissions. The appointment has been picked up by far-right bloggers to claim that Boelter is a left-wing Democrat.

A chorus of MAGA Republicans have made similar statements. Donald Trump, Jr. told NewsNation that Boelter “seems to be a leftist” and is “a Democrat.”

Elon Musk wrote on X on June 14, “The far left is murderously violent.”

Laura Loomer claimed that Walz was “friends” with Boelter and called for the governor to be “detained by the FBI and interrogated.”

A number of Republican law-makers joined in with the fascistic agitation. Utah Senator Mike Lee on Sunday posted an FBI image of Boelter wearing a face mask and posing as a police officer with the caption: “This is what happens when Marxists don’t get their way.” Other posts referred to “Nightmare on Waltz (sic) Street” and declared, “Marxism is a deadly intellectual illness.”

On Saturday, Ohio Senator Bernie Moreno posted: “The degree to which the extreme left has become radical, violent and intolerant is both stunning and terrifying.”

On Sunday, Wisconsin Representative Derrick Van Orden, referring to the massive “No Kings” protests, wrote on X: “Yesterday, a whole pack of election deniers got together and spewed hate. One of them decided to murder and attempt to murder some politicians that were not far Left enough for them.” In subsequent posts Van Orden called Walz “stupid” and a “clown.” At least 11 Wisconsin lawmakers were named in a manifesto reportedly written by Boelter.

On Tuesday, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier in an X post called for Representative Ilhan Omar, one of those listed for assassination by Boelter, to be deported, under the heading, “Denaturalize and Deport.” Omar, a naturalized citizen from Somalia, had given an interview denouncing Trump’s deployment of the military in Los Angeles and his military parade in Washington D.C. and calling for people join the June 14 protests against Trump’s dictatorship.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called for Omar’s deportation when he ran for president in 2024, with Uthmeier as his campaign manager.

Trump and the Republican Party are appealing to their fascist base not out of strength, but weakness. They live in fear, not of the Democrats, who do nothing, but of the American working class. They lash out at the Democrats following the biggest protest in US history, involving as many as 11 million people, and the failure of Trump’s military parade to arouse any significant popular support. Their isolation from broad masses of the population will only intensify as Trump plunges the US deeper into war in the Middle East, the economic and debt crisis of US capitalism escalates, and Trump seeks to impose the cost of war and massive tax breaks for the rich on the working class in his “Big Beautiful Budget.”

To halt Trump’s unfolding coup and the danger of fascism, the emerging eruption of class struggle must be based on a conscious fight against capitalism and an independent political struggle of the working class for socialism.