"They" killed Charlie: The right's rush to assign blame for Kirk's killing [View all]

“They” killed Charlie: The right’s rush to assign blame for Kirk’s killing
Even before his death was confirmed, MAGA influencers were pointing fingers — and planning reprisals

By Sophia Tesfaye
Senior Writer
Published September 14, 2025 6:30AM (EDT)


(Salon) On Friday, Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old man from Utah, was arrested and accused of fatally shooting Charlie Kirk. Even before the alleged assassin’s apprehension was announced Friday morning by President Donald Trump on “Fox & Friends,” Republican politicians and right-wing media influencers rushed to use Kirk’s murder as a permission structure to move American politics even more to the right.

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As rapidly as the grisly video of his killing circulated online, many across the political landscape worked to sanitize his legacy of inflammatory rhetoric without interrogating his actual arguments.

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Eric Trump called for “accountability from MSNBC and NBC.” On Fox News, Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu suggested Muslims were somehow to blame. “If you have a different opinion from the left, they want to kill you. That is a fact, and that’s the way you all should report it,” Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., told reporters. Rep. Mike Collins, a Georgia Republican, called for a House select committee on left-wing violence. On Thursday, the State Department announced it would review the legal status of immigrants who praised, rationalized or made light of Kirk’s death. Hegseth announced that the Defense Department is policing the speech of service members. On Fox News, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said, “The last message that Charlie Kirk gave to me before he joined his creator in heaven was that we have to dismantle and take on the radical left organizations in this country that are fomenting violence, and we are going to do that.”

The Democratic National Committee, several historically Black colleges and the homes of the Maryland House speaker and Senate president, on the other hand, received bomb threats the day after Kirk’s killing.

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Later that evening, after reports emerged from Fox News and the New York Post that Robinson’s roommate was reportedly transgender, Loomer continued to goad Trump and Miller on X, tagging them in a post to “rid America of the trans movement.” She wrote, “He can shut these people down and take away their funding and make sure none of these freaks are able to benefit from a 501c3 status…If not now, when?” In another, Loomer said she was “confident [Miller] could lead the charge.” Hours earlier, she had specified one group in particular: The Human Rights Campaign, which advocates for LGBTQ equality. ................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2025/09/14/they-killed-charlie-the-rights-rush-to-assign-blame-for-kirks-killing/