Representative Brad Finstad is gaining national notoriety for following someone else’s marching orders about ICE operations in his home state. Posts about his embarrassing slip-up have amassed over 2 million views across social media platforms, garnering attention from members of Congress, national press outlets, and voters in southern Minnesota.

Comments have poured in to highlight his failures, both in this statement and across his tenure as a congressman. Selected news clips and comments include:

• Newsweek: “Republican ridiculed for copy-paste post thanking Donald Trump. […] Some critics said the congressman’s post was especially inappropriate given the recent fatal incident in his home state.”

• Star Tribune: “A post by a Minnesota congressman involving a possible copy-paste faux pas is causing a commotion online. [...] The lines were quickly edited out but are still visible in the post's version history.”

• International Business Times: “Minnesota congressman faces backlash after social media post appears to be copy-pasted […] the original post, which can still be seen through Facebook's feature that allows users to see a post's edit history, includes an instructional paragraph”

• Raw Story: “A Minnesota Republican lawmaker faced mockery and humiliation on Monday after he completely screwed up his social media statement on talks between Gov. Tim Walz and President Donald Trump to de-escalate the federal crackdown in Minneapolis.”

• Rep. Sean Casten: “Sending thoughts and prayers to everyone employed or represented or by Brad Finstad this morning.”

• MN-01 Voter Todd Consbruck: “Thanks for sharing Jake. Confirmed what I was guessing was occurring. [...] I’m a Republican that will be supporting the non MAGA candidate. To my knowledge there isn’t a moderate Republican to support in this race.”

This slip-up is part of a broader pattern of being unable to do the job of a congressman. For years, Finstad has failed to host in-person town hall meetings, to pass a farm bill, or to deliver year-round E15. Meanwhile, Jake Johnson is running for Congress to actually solve problems for southern Minnesota, such as the high cost of living, the endless corruption in Washington, and the failure to invest in small towns and rural communities across the district.

“Finstad has repeatedly shown that he is either unwilling or unable to do his job,” said Jake Johnson in his own words. “The people of southern Minnesota deserve better.”

You can view the original statement by viewing this post from Representative Finstad, clicking the three buttons on the top right of the screen, and clicking the “view edit history” button.

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