A TWEET ABOUT ISIS ENDED A POLITICIAN CAMPAIGN IN USA

Burnsville DFLer abruptly quits state House race after tweeting 'ISIS isn't necessarily evil'

Burnsville’s Dan Kimmel abruptly ends state House run, says that his post was “badly misinterpreted.”

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 added that he wants to “apologize to the volunteers and contributors who have put so much time, effort and money into my campaign. … I will do everything I can to help resolve the issue: most likely the best thing for me to do is shut up. The tweet was stupid. I’m sorry.”