Minnesota's Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer put his family front and center in his first television ad, his 20-year-old son Tripp making the pitch that his father is "always talking about cutting taxes and reforming government."
But City Pages has obtained Facebook photos of Tripp drinking at 19, two years away from the legal age to do so. Given Emmer's own controversial past with drinking--he has two DWI's and has championed the rights of DWI offenders in the Statehouse--it's no wonder the photos were scrubbed before dad announced his campaign for governor.
Apparently Tripp didn't learn his lesson: Just last month he pleaded guilty to underage drinking.
In the Emmer ad, the kids talk about their dad's ideas for cutting taxes and boosting job creation. The camera cuts to all three boys doing chores, and Tripp is shown taking out the trash.
Here's Tripp as he appears in the ad:
But there's something about Emmer's past that doesn't make him so family-friendly. He has repeatedly had to publicly address his 1981 and 1991 DWI arrests. And as a state representative, he once authored legislation that would have made drunken driving records private after 10 years and allowed DWI offenders to keep their licenses until they're convicted.
Alliance for a Better Minnesota produced a DWI-themed attack ad that's been in heavy rotation. In it, Margaret Everson talks about the pain of losing her son, John, in a car crash caused by a drunken driver.
"When I heard that Tom Emmer sponsored a law to reduce penalties for drunk drivers, I was outraged," she says. "And then I read that Tom Emmer has been arrested twice himself for drunk driving. And this man wants to be governor?"
(I honestly think that disgusting ad has helped Tom more than hurt. That ad was the low point of this campaign until this fiasco)
This brings us to the photos of young Tripp. The source of the photos says they were obtained more than a year ago, at a time when Tripp's privacy preferences on Facebook made the images available to the public.
That also means he was 19 or younger when he was snapped power drinking with his bros and posing alongside a passed-out girl with a penis drawn on her face and arm in marker.
Given the All-American family image Emmer's trying to sell since the announcement of his gubernatorial run in 2009, it's easy to see why the photos have since disappeared from public view.
We've obscured the identities of the other people in the following images, as well as the identity of our source.
The last two screen shots are taken from Tripp Emmer's Facebook profile page when it was visible to the public. While it doesn't show drinking, it does suggest one very unusual campaign slogan for Tom Emmer's gubernatorial campaign.
A close up:
Favorite quote: "Don't blow your wad in the first period!" -- Thomas Emmer Jr.
In addition to excessive drinking, both father and son also share a passion for ice hockey.
BFD, I literally know dozens of kids that age that have been cited for that.
It appears young Tripp has already run afoul of the law for his underage drinking. Court records show that he was ticketed July 7 and pleaded guilty last month.
UPDATE: The Emmer campaign has issued a statement acknowledging Tripp's underage drinking, according to MPR.
"My son made a serious mistake and has paid the consequences," the statement said. "It was a mistake which many Minnesota families are all too familiar with. Like all the other challenges in life, our family is dealing with our son in this matter with humility, seriousness, and love."
Here is the MPR story, its unbiased, well compared to that piece of "journalism" above. I think my high school newspaper had higher quality stories...
Dogged by his opponents' criticism of his own drunken-driving arrests in 1981 and 1991, Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer on Thursday acknowledged that his 20-year-old son Tripp was cited for underage drinking in July.
The alternative Twin Cities newspaper City Pages today posted photos on its website showing Emmer's 20-year-old son Tripp holding beer bottles at a party.
State court records show that in July Tripp Emmer pleaded guilty to an underage drinking petty misdemeanor citation. He paid a $100 fine and $85 in fees.
City Pages doesn't reveal the source of the Facebook photos it said were taken when Tripp Emmer was 19. The paper said the photos have since been removed from Facebook.
Tom Emmer's opponents have already made an issue of his DWI arrests. Emmer has not addressed the arrests in detail, but in a video on his website last spring, he said he had made mistakes and that God had given him a wakeup call.
Tripp Emmer appears in his father's first TV campaign ad.
One of the photos shows Tripp Emmer giving a thumbs-up sign over an apparently unconscious woman whose arms and face have obscene cartoons drawn on them.
This isn't the first time a candidate's family members have been drawn into a campaign.
In 2008, at the GOP National Convention in St. Paul the pregnancy of vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's then 17-year-old daughter Bristol became national news. In the 2000 campaign former GOP Sen. Rod Grams had to respond to the arrest of his son Morgan on a variety of felony charges.
In a statement released late this morning, Emmer did not address the photos but acknowledged his son's citation for underage drinking.
"My son made a serious mistake and has paid the consequences," the statement said. "It was a mistake which many Minnesota families are all too familiar with. Like all the other challenges in life, our family is dealing with our son in this matter with humility, seriousness, and love."
I wonder who the person was that provided all this disgusting info. Funny that this story is released 2 days after an MPR poll had Emmer and Dayton tied 34-34 with 13% going to Horner. Im sure the release of this poll and the release of this story is purely conincidental and has nothing to do with trying to prop Dayton's sinking poll number and kill Emmer's momentum.
1 comment:
Emmer's momentum???
Correction: Horner's momentum. Both Emmer and Dayton are sinking like rocks.
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