Conservative social media influencer and political organizer Charlie Kirk held firm political, social, and moral positions. He traveled the USA holding events in which he participated in what used to be known as the process of argumentation (which, by the way, had nothing to do with “arguing” in the colloquial sense of that word).
It is (or was until a few years ago) a point-counterpoint process of reasoning systematically in support of one’s ideas, beliefs, or theories. For centuries, this was the foundation of civilized social and political discourse. That seems to be a quaint memory of bygone days since now, if one takes a stance in support of certain (“unpopular”) views or beliefs, a segment of American culture deems it necessary to shut down one’s speech. Ideas are now often met with violence.
A particular portion of the political landscape of contemporary America has apparently decided to employ heavy-handed, cruel, vicious, and even violent suppression of people who deign to disagree with their sacred cows.
Within an hour of the shooing in Utah on September 10th, several leftwing media outlets began their hackneyed process of projecting onto their political adversaries (enemies, in their view) the same or similar pernicious motives which they and their advocates themselves exhibit.
Mr. Kirk was labeled a “right wing provocateur,” a “divisive political agitator”, and even a “purveyor of hate speech.” One commentator even implied that hate speech begets hate which begets violence. Anyone who listened to or watched Charlie Kirk for more than three seconds knows that there wasn’t a hateful bone in this young man’s body.
At the head of the chorus was Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker (D) who said about this incident:
"Political violence, unfortunately, has ramped up in this country ... I think there are people who are fomenting it in this country. I think the president's rhetoric often foments it."
Pure projection! Add to that several outlandish statements such as an X post by a Palmetto, Florida City Council Member which read: “Charlie Kirk is a fitting sacrifice to our Lords: Smith and Wesson. Hallowed be their names.” This is what real, hateful, obnoxious arrogance looks like!
See how this works? First you and your supporters call your chief adversary a Nazi and equate him with Adolf Hitler. Then, before you know it, Mr. Trump is drug into court on specious charges (civil and criminal), and state officials are attempting extra-constitutional measures such as keeping him off the presidential election ballot.
This hatred culminated in the events of Butler, Pennsylvania.
It would be one thing if this were a new phenomenon. However, as an old guy who's seen more than his share of such things over several decades I can state without reservation that this is the predictable outcome of allowing violent attacks on those with whom one disagrees. First it’s verbal, ad hominem attacks. Then it is ratcheted up to more intense levels just as it was in the turbulent 1960s.
The demonization of one’s political opponents has reached horrendous, ludicrous levels. Even peaceful, conservative Wyoming has experienced this phenomenon. At one of this summer’s “protest demonstrations” among many other outlandish signs with infantile, irresponsible slogans, was one which read: “No to Dictator Trump” with a Nazi swastika prominently displayed on the sign!
This is far from the first 21st Century instance of violence against conservatives.
In 2012, a shooter who had fired shots at the headquarters of the Family Research Council admitted to the FBI that he carried out this attack based on a “hate map” created by the leftwing Southern Poverty Law Center. Earlier this year, that same organization had added Charlie Kirk’s organization (Turning Point USA) to their “hate map.”
In June of 2017 Republican congressional leader Steve Scalise and four others were shot by a crazed leftwing lunatic.
That same year, Republican Senator Rand Paul was physically attacked in his own yard at home, suffering several broken ribs as he was mowing his lawn.
The conservative site The Daily Signal has documented 96 attacks on pro-life pregnancy centers and over 350 attacks on Catholic churches following the leak of the Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022.
That same year another lunatic allegedly targeted the residence of Trump-appointed Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. He was armed with several weapons in what has been described as an assassination attempt. The suspect later told police that his decision had been prompted by that same Supreme Court leak over Roe v. Wade.
Then, of course, there was the attempted murder of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania last year which took the life of one event attendee and wounded several others. This was followed several weeks later by what appears to be another assassination attempt on Mr. Trump at his personal golf course in Florida.
The last few years have been marred by several mass shootings, including the one at a Minnesota church and others in Nashville, Colorado Springs, Aberdeen, Maryland, Perry, Iowa, and several more in Colorado. Many of these murderers identified as either “trans” or “gender fluid.” Interestingly, although the Democrat Party has been promoting the “gender dysphoria” hysteria for quite some time, no one seems to acknowledge the results of their policies in the aforementioned violent crimes.
Time to connect the dots, folks.
And these events are all linked to ideology, just as was the treatment of Elon Musk. When he was focused exclusively on electric cars, he was a hero to the left. But after he supported Donald Trump in the 2024 election, he became a pariah – an “enemy of the people.” His dealerships were set ablaze as were many people’s Tesla cars across the country. Musk began to receive multiple death threats!
After Charlie Kirk’s murder, the Governor of Utah called it a political assassination. I would argue that it was actually an ideological assassination since Mr. Kirk wasn’t a politician, but a robust debater – one whose ideas the left couldn’t compete with and so he had to be eliminated. Unsurprisingly, the leftwing media immediately swung into attack mode with statements such as "well, when you say hateful things, this is often the result." What?
Charlie Kirk hated no one.
I would predict that, given what we know about the left, there will be a few statements denouncing this incident. But then, after a short time, they’ll be back to calling President Trump a “threat to democracy,” a “fascist,” and other ludicrous epithets. This is being done because the left continues to promulgate ideas and policies which are indefensibly idiotic. Their rhetoric will probably continue to be spiteful, divisive, likely resulting in still more violence.
It is very interesting to note one piece of evidence the authorities found together with the rifle the assassin of Charlie Kirk used to kill him. Some of the ammunition the killer had loaded into his weapon has inscriptions on the cartridges. One read: “Hey, fascist! Catch!” This is a modern day Antifa usage of a slogan used by German communists in the early 1930s which they applied to those whom they attacked, most notably Hitler’s storm troopers. Charlie Kirk was deemed to be a “fascist.”
The question needs to be asked, “So, where did this young man get the warped idea that Charlie Kirk was a fascist?” One credible source of information relevant to that question would be the dozens (if not hundreds, by now) instances of high-ranking Democrat politicians who have called Donald Trump (and, by extension, his MAGA supporters) “fascists,” “authoritarians,” and even “existential threats” to our nation. Those include Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Tim Waltz along with a veritable chorus of media types all echoing these sentiments.
The dots really aren’t that difficult to connect!
In conclusion, I would respectfully suggest that those wanting to identify the source for all this hateful violence examine the left’s rhetoric concerning conservatives. If the left continues its promulgation of the notion that Trump is a modern day Hitler, why would anyone be surprised at efforts to take him out (Butler, PA) as well as eliminating any effective voices from his movement (such as happened in Utah)?
There is indeed far too much hate being spewed in this country today, but if the left honestly wants to identify its source, they should look in the mirror.