Vance, Trump falsely claim left-wing violence outpaces the right as DOJ deletes report stating otherwise [View all]

BY Joseph Konig Nationwide
PUBLISHED 5:48 PM ET Sep. 16, 2025

In the wake of the assassination of Charlie Kirk, President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance — as well as senior administration officials, members of Congress and powerful allies outside of government — have painted left-wing violence as one of the greatest threats to the United States, as they have announced their intentions to intensify the federal government crackdown on their political enemies.

“In a country of 330 million people, you can, of course, find one person of a given political persuasion justifying this or that or almost anything, but the data is clear: People on the left are much likelier to defend and celebrate political violence. This is not a both-sides problem,” Vance said near the conclusion of his time guest-hosting Kirk’s show on Monday. “While our side of the aisle certainly has its crazies, it is a statistical fact that most of the lunatics in American politics today are proud members of the far left.”

But repeated insistences by Trump, Vance and others that left-wing political violence is far more dangerous of a threat than right-wing violence is contradicted by years of data and academic study, including by a report the Justice Department removed from its website in the days following Kirk’s killing.

Vance's office pointed to a single YouGov poll conducted in the immediate aftermath of the shooting last week that found 16% of liberals believe it is "usually or always acceptable" to feel joy after the deaths of political opponents, including "24% of those who say their ideology is very liberal and 10% who say they are liberal but not very liberal. That compares to 4% of conservatives and 7% of moderates."

https://spectrumlocalnews.com/me/maine/politics/2025/09/16/trump-vance-charlie-kirk-left-wing-violence-deleted-doj-report