In a moment that would be comedic if it weren’t so revealing, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) stood on national television and declared that “nobody even knows what [Antifa] is.” According to Ellison, “there really is no Antifa as an institutional organization,” and the first time he ever heard the term was from Donald Trump during the Charlottesville riots.
That might play well on MSNBC, but the receipts tell another story.
Keith Ellison, Today: Nobody even knows what Antifa is.
Keith Ellison, 2018: Tweets photo of himself holding Antifa handbook. pic.twitter.com/LJfZgsSNiz
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) October 11, 2025
Back in 2018—long before Trump’s presidency had even hit midterm stride—Ellison posed proudly with a copy of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, a radical manifesto written by Rutgers lecturer and self-identified “antifascist historian” Mark Bray. The photo, which he posted to his X (formerly Twitter) account, was captioned with this gem: “At @MoonPalaceBooks and I just found the book that strike fear in the heart of @realDonaldTrump.”
So which is it, Mr. Ellison? An organization you knew well enough to promote with a smile and a photo op—back when it suited your political aesthetic—or some amorphous concept nobody can define now that it’s become synonymous with destruction, violence, and lawless street chaos?
Minnesota AG Keith Ellison says Antifa doesn’t exist.
Also @keithellison pic.twitter.com/5QrE9z2GeO
— Sara Rose 🇺🇸🌹 (@saras76) October 11, 2025
But the contradiction doesn’t end there.
Fast forward to 2020, during the Black Lives Matter riots in Minneapolis—the same riots that razed precincts, torched small businesses, and paralyzed neighborhoods for weeks. Ellison’s own son, Minneapolis City Councilman Jeremiah Ellison, proudly tweeted: “I hereby declare, officially, my support for ANTIFA.” He added that unless someone could prove Antifa was behind the destruction in his ward, his attention would remain fixed on “white power terrorists.”
I hereby declare, officially, my support for ANTIFA
Unless someone can prove to me ANTIFA is behind the burning of black and immigrant owned businesses in my ward, I’ll keep focusing on stopping the white power terrorist THE ARE ACTUALLY ATTACKING US! https://t.co/m6jxtDYmTi
— Jeremiah Ellison (@jeremiah4north) May 31, 2020
Apparently, there’s no shortage of Ellisons defending or promoting the group that now, according to Keith Ellison, “doesn’t exist.”
This isn’t just hypocrisy—it’s gaslighting.
I wonder why Keith’s Ellison’s son declared support for an organization that his father says doesn’t exist. 🤔 pic.twitter.com/k4OlpeeC6q
— Walter Hudson (@WalterHudson) October 11, 2025
Antifa may not have a corporate office or a board of directors, but it is unquestionably a network. It has literature, symbols, tactics, field operatives, fundraising channels, encrypted communications, and a proven record of organized action. Anyone who lived through the summer of 2020 watched the coordinated attacks play out in real time, from Portland to Minneapolis to D.C. They weren’t accidents—they were orchestrated. To pretend otherwise is to insult the intelligence of every American who watched their cities burned, their businesses looted, and their police officers attacked under the Antifa banner.
