Minocqua Brewing Company owner and liberal activist Kirk Bangstad says he's running for governor
The livestreamed announcement came days after Bangstad was interviewed by the U.S. Secret Service and the FBI for comments he made on Facebook following an alleged assassination attempt on President Donald Trump.
Bangstad described that encounter with law enforcement to a group of supporters who gathered at his bar on Saturday, over the course of a nearly hour-long live Facebook video during which he poured a range of his politically inspired and cheekily named beers, and criticized fellow Democrats and the news media.
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“I’ve been called the Trump of the left in every way. Arguably, I am, I’m just a million times smarter, but I have this showmanship aspect,” he said. “What we haven’t heard so far is that five alarm fire from any of the candidates running … on the Democratic side.”
Bangstad has been an outspoken critic of Trump since 2020, when he said Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic harmed his business. Since then, he has bedecked his business in anti-Trump signs, and he filed a lawsuit to kick Trump off the ballot in 2024, citing the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.
He has repeatedly said that he will pour free beer on the day that Trump dies, and sells t-shirts advertising “Free Beer Day.”
https://www.wpr.org/news/bangstad-kirk-minocqua-brewing-liberal-activist-wisconsin-governor