Trump and allies blame ‘radical left’ for political violence

Donald Trump and his allies wasted no time after Charlie Kirk’s murder Sept. 10 blaming the “radical left” as the source of political violence in America.

In an address from the Oval Office, Trump said liberals’ criticism of conservatives is “directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now.”

He added: “My administration will find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity and to other political violence, including the organizations that fund it and support it, as well as those who go after our judges, law enforcement officials and everyone else who brings order to our country.”

Trump made no reference to those on the political right — including himself — who have incited political violence such as the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol.

A November 2024 article in Mother Jones noted law enforcement officials had “warned about a growing danger of far-right political violence inspired by Trump’s messaging. This is not theoretical. It’s based on a lengthy history of violence associated with Trump’s rhetoric, which by 2021 led a bipartisan group of top national security experts to take the extraordinary step of labeling Trump, effectively, a terrorist leader — the de facto head of a violent extremist movement within the United States.”

Laura Loomer

But to Trump and his allies, Democrats and “the left” are solely responsible for violence in America today.

Trump influencer Laura Loomer tweeted Wednesday afternoon: “It’s time for the Trump administration to shut down, defund and prosecute every single Leftist organization. If Charlie Kirk dies from his injuries, his life cannot be in vain. We must shut these lunatic leftists down. Once and for all. The Left is a national security threat.”

“We must shut these lunatic leftists down. Once and for all. The Left is a national security threat.”

For his part, Trump linked Kirk’s murder to other recent attacks on political figures, speaking only of Republicans. He made no mention of attacks on Democrats, including Melissa Hortman, former Democratic speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives, who was killed in June.

Trump declared: “Radical-left political violence has hurt too many innocent people and taken too many lives.” He called Kirk a “martyr” and a “patriot.”

Across social media Wednesday afternoon and evening, partisanship flared in angry exchanges as Trump supporters echoed the president’s talking points and Trump’s opponents complained conservatives have ignored other instances of violence such as school shootings.

Chris Murphy

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, posted a long string of comments on X about Kirk’s murder and political violence.

“The beating heart of a free society is the ability for citizens to engage in political life with no fear of violence,” he wrote. “Once we lose this freedom, few will step forward, and our entire democratic experiment unwinds into chaos and recrimination.

“Political violence in America is spiraling — January 6th, the attempting assassination of President Trump, the beating of Paul Pelosi, the murder of the Minnesota legislators, the shooting of Brian Thompson, and now the assassination of Charlie Kirk. We can spend today arguing who is at risk more — the right or the left. Or we can decide that our entire democratic enterprise is at risk if we don’t draw a line in the sand today.”

Megan Basham

To which Megan Basham, the flame-throwing far-right commentator, shot back: “Do NOT compare January 6 to the cold blooded political assassination of a peaceful young father and husband. Do not dare.”

From the left, social media flared with outrage that Republicans upset about Kirk’s death ignored the fact there was another school shooting that happened the same day at Evergreen High School in Colorado.

Ironically, when Kirk was shot, he was answering questions about mass shootings. A questioner asked him how many mass shootings had been committed by transgender people, and Kirk quipped, “Too many.” The actual answer, the questioner responded, is five out of hundreds.

“Do you how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years,” the questioner asked next. As Kirk began to answer that question, a single shot rang out and struck him in the neck.

In 2023, Kirk said enduring school shootings may be the cost of having the Second Amendment.

“You will never live in a society when you have an armed citizenry and you won’t have a single gun death,” Kirk said at a Turning Point USA Faith event in April 2023. “That is nonsense. It’s drivel. But I am—I think it’s worth it. I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights. That is a prudent deal. It is rational. Nobody talks like this. They live in a complete alternate universe.”