Emmer acknowledges son's "mistake"

Posted at 12:34 PM on September 2, 2010 by Mike Mulcahy (14 Comments)
Filed under: Campaign 2010, Campaign 2010: Minnesota Governor

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."

Comments (14)

Maybe Tom would next like to explain why his Uncle Drew--also his former campaign manager--is delinquent on his property taxes in Delano for the second year in a row.

http://dumpbachmann.blogspot.com/2010/08/which-emmer-is-in-arrears-on-delano.html

I guess if you think your taxes are too high, you just don't pay them.

Posted by Karl | September 2, 2010 12:57 PM

Like father, like son. Just another entitled suburban punk riding his dad's coattails.

Posted by Stan | September 2, 2010 1:52 PM

One out of every 4 people have been isssued a drunk driving ticket, this is a national statistic .Look around you and image ever 4th person you pass on the street has gotten a ticket. Mark Dayton never got any but was treated for alcholism twice. I don't think your family members actions should be used against a candidate.

Posted by Leah Klein | September 2, 2010 2:14 PM

"Look around you and image ever 4th person you pass on the street has gotten a ticket."

That may be, Leah - but not every 4th person you pass has drawn penises on the face of a passed out woman, as Emmer's kid did.

Plus, Emmer's kid is/was a paid staffer on the Emmer campaign - and last cycle, current GOP Chair Michael Brodkorb went after then-candidate Madia's staffers on his blog.

So when you hear GOPers whine about how Tripp is being treated so horribly, remember that it's GOPers that let that genie out of the bottle....

Posted by Tommy Johnson | September 2, 2010 3:04 PM

Maybe family members like uncles and siblings don't matter, but children are a direct reflection on you as a parent and you as a person, and should absolutely be subject to scrutiny.

Posted by Josh | September 2, 2010 4:50 PM

Mr. Leah Klein, I can't imagine where you got your statistics about drunk driving. Did you do a bar-room survey,"How many of you guys ever got a DWI? Must be about twenty five percent of those present raised their hands."
Better Info:
MADD Statistics (Mother's Against Drunk Driving) Over 1.46 million drivers were arrested in 2006 for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics. This is an arrest rate of 1 for every 139 licensed drivers in the United States.
NHTSA: .(National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) Eight percent of Americans admit to driving drunk in past year. Far short of 25% Mr Klein. I heard someone say: DWI...could happen to anyone. No it can't!!! Only if you are thoughtless enough to drink and drive.

Posted by Bob Gaylord | September 2, 2010 5:45 PM

Tripp? What kind of a name is that? I don't think it's in the Bible. I know it's not nice to make fun of odd names--- had painful times myself as a kid--- but this sounds like the peculiar names attached to the benighted Palin brood. Where does it come from? Was there a t.v. soap-opera character by that monicker? Or is it from some more sinister source? I suppose when I should have been learning to drink and drive like all those normal, average, red-blooded midwestern youths, I spent too much time reading trashy science fiction and fantasy. Now I can't help but think that the bizarro world aliens have not only infiltrated our planet but they are poised to take command. And then we'll all have to drive drunk, all the time. But when we get caught, it'll be all right because God cancels our sins in exchange for our promoting His political agenda of No New Taxes. (I'm sure that's got to be in the Bible . . . somewhere. Not in the Synoptic Gospels, though . . .)

Posted by Oliver Steinberg | September 2, 2010 10:09 PM

The comments on this article are fascinatingly snide and nasty. Liberals, progressives and Democrats--they don't completely overlap--tend to pride themselves on their tolerance, but I never see it in action except toward their pet categories and issues. You people who make fun of the names of politicians' kids, enjoy the downfall of a young guy with potential, and talk about the unrelated failings of uncles, turn your hypocrisy radar on yourselves.

There's no excuse for Tripp Emmer enjoying alcohol illegally, or for apparently enjoying the degradation of a female companion. There's also no excuse for enjoying his "come-uppance" out of jealousy, spite, and political hatred.

Posted by Dagny | September 3, 2010 9:46 AM

While City Pages overstates and over-emphasizes some aspects of the situation at hand (as writers sympathetic to any candidate or seeking to fillet any opposition will do), it reinforces the fact that those running for public office need to ensure that not only their own lives are conducted with the highest ethics and standards at all times, but that those of their family and staff members are maintained in like manner. The opposition can't be legitimately denigrated if questionable behavior is taking place in one's own circle. And so we are given the choice of either Tom Emmer, a candidate who once drank and drove and who has a son who drinks and parties as teens and young adults are prone to do, or Mark Dayton, a candidate who is a recovering alcoholic, who is prone to curious behavior, and who looks like he's amped up on mood stabilizing drugs. Do Tom Horner's family and staff behave?

Posted by Greg Boll | September 3, 2010 10:28 AM

At least the crass commentators can spell. Give the signal and I'll dig up dirt on all the candidates, not just those disliked by the media. Remember, Margaret misused money, Horner had to disengage from his business, but there are other items not put in print by the Strib or others that would make everyone embarrassed.

Posted by panktainter | September 3, 2010 11:44 AM

Greg Boll: Just because Mark Dayton's manner is different from that of some other people doesn't mean he's on drugs or that anything else nefarious is going on. We don't all have to move and speak in the same way as everyone else. And I don't know of any "curious" things he's done. I don't know what that means, but I'm guessing it's something you consider to be bad. And you say those things as though they're facts. They're not. They're your mean-spirited speculation.

Posted by Jamie | September 3, 2010 2:19 PM

I saw those pictures and they are not an innocent moment of childhood. They are deeply disturbing. Given that one of Mr Emmer's primary campaign pitches is that he is the father of 7 we should feel free to evaluate the impact of his work as a parent as he applies for a position as our governor ...I am not impressed. As a woman I am deeply offended and concerned. As a voter I am appalled. No thumbs up for the picture, Tripp in the commercial, and Emmer as a candidate for governor.

Posted by BAB | September 3, 2010 3:28 PM

Of course lawyer Tom Emmer doesn't want to address the issue of the photos. That's because many believe one of them to be evidence of an assault on a passed-out girl:

http://thecuckingstool.blogspot.com/2010/09/tripped-up.html#comments

Tripp Emmer isn't just the candidate's son either--he's also his paid campaign employee. A real class act, that Emmer Klan.

Posted by Karl | September 4, 2010 8:51 AM

"Tom Emmer in a video on his website last spring, said he had made mistakes and that God had given him a wakeup call."
------------------------------------------------------------
There is a rehab hospital who puts this type of stuff on their ads to get people convicted of DUI to go to their hospital so they can raise the hospital profits. The guy comes on and says that his driving accident where a girl was killed was "God giving him a wake up call" to get him to rehab.
I called the hospital and asked them to remove that ad; it is not the purpose of that girl's life to wake up anybody on a destructive path and God doesn't work that way.

Posted by jean sanders | September 5, 2010 1:46 AM

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