Sen. John Hoffman says Angie Craig sought his endorsement for U.S. Senate while he was in ICU after shooting

Minnesota Sen. John Hoffman says Rep. Angie Craig approached him for an endorsement for the U.S. Senate while he was in the ICU after a political assassin shot him and his wife. 

“It’s different than from her opponent,” Sen. Hoffman said at a rally Friday night for Craig’s DFL rival Peggy Flanagan. “When her opponent would check on our family, she asked for my — she asked that I endorse her campaign. She sent a dear friend out twice. Once when I was in the ICU and once at our home.”

Craig disputed Hoffman’s claim as her campaign released a screenshot of a text conversation between her and Hoffman from June, saying she and her wife were praying for the Hoffman family.

“We cannot imagine the pain and trauma that the entire Hoffman family has and continue to experience. But the claim is categorically false,” a spokesperson for Craig’s campaign said in a statement. “The Congresswoman reached out to Senator Hoffman only expressing deep sympathy from her and her wife, Cheryl, after their horrific shooting while he was in the ICU and did not reach out again until August 5 after he began making political endorsements in other races again.”

A spokesperson for Flanagan’s campaign said: “That’s a matter between Congresswoman Craig and the Hoffmans.” 

In a later statement, Hoffman said he “told the truth about what Yvette and I experienced.” Read the rest of the statement below:

“The screenshots released by her campaign show direct text messages from Congresswoman Craig. They do not address the substance of what I said: that a dear and trusted friend approached us twice on her behalf regarding an endorsement, once while I was in the ICU and again while I was recovering at home.

“That friend confirmed that the endorsement requests came from Congresswoman Craig. Yvette was also present for these conversations. I did not invent them, and I will not allow our family’s experience to be dismissed simply because it is politically uncomfortable.

“I acknowledge that Congresswoman Craig sent a message expressing sympathy after the shooting. My remarks addressed the endorsement requests that followed and the painful impression those requests left on our family while we were trying to survive and recover. It is dishonest to give condolences and then immediately ask for endorsement like her text showed.

“Peggy Flanagan’s repeated contacts with our family were different. Peggy reached out simply to ask whether Yvette, Hope, and I were okay. She sought nothing in return.

“My remarks were about that contrast, and I remain accountable for every word I said.

“Congresswoman Craig may disagree with my endorsement. She may defend her campaign’s conduct. But she does not get to rewrite what my family experienced or publicly attack my honesty.

“After everything Yvette, Hope, and I have endured, we deserve better than having our trauma turned against us for political damage control.”

Late last week, Vance Boelter was sentenced to two life terms in prison followed by 40 years for killing former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark and wounding Sen. Hoffman and his wife Yvette in a shooting that also targeted their daughter Hope on June 14, 2025.