A Burnsville DFLer's campaign for the state House abruptly ended Sunday morning within hours of him posting on social media that ISIS "isn't necessarily evil" and is "made up of people doing what they think is best for their community."
The Twitter posting Saturday by Dan Kimmel, coming as the world's emotions remain raw from Friday's terror attacks in Paris, brought swift rebuke from others on Twitter. House Minority Leader Paul Thissen, DFL-Minneapolis, called for Kimmel to give up his campaign.
"I'm folding up the campaign tent," Kimmel told the Star Tribune. He later issued a written apology and called his tweet "stupid," adding that it's probably best for him to "shut up" for the time being.
Kimmel said in the interview that the posting "was not interpreted as I intended. It was so badly misinterpreted." He added that he was dropping out of the race "to remove the ick" from his party.
On Saturday, Kimmel wrote on Twitter: "ISIS isn't necessarily evil. It is made up of people doing what they think is best for their community. Violence is not the answer, though."
The response on Twitter included rebukes and puzzlement: "What in the world are you talking about??!" and "Kind of like the Nazis, Stalin or Pol Pot," read two replies.
Kimmel, 63, tried to explain himself, posting in a follow-up, "I deplore evil acts of ISIS. I do not defend their acts." Kimmel's tweets also were posted on his campaign's Facebook page.
In further elaboration on Sunday, Kimmel wrote on his campaign's website, "My tweet last evening was in response to a statement made during the candidate debates, not in response to the activities in Paris. It was poorly worded and did not convey my intent.