In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s killing on Wednesday, right-wing commentators and activists pledged to avenge the act of violence and called for payback in explicit statements baselessly blaming “the left.”
“Whether we want to accept it or not, they are at war with us. And what are we going to do about it?” Fox News host Jesse Watters said in a Wednesday segment. “How much political violence are we going to tolerate? And that’s the question we’re just going to have to ask ourselves.”
Trump ally and right-wing conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer chimed in as well via a post on X, writing: “The best way President Trump can reinforce Charlie’s legacy is by cracking down on the Left with the full force of the government.”
Others, including conservative activist Christopher Rufo, Christian nationalist William Wolfe and Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, expressed similar sentiments.
These comments frequently laid the responsibility for Kirk’s killing at the feet of Democrats and “the left,” despite limited information about the unidentified shooter and their motive.
Utah authorities announced Wednesday that they believed the shooting was a targeted attack, adding a manhunt remained underway for a suspect. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) also described the killing as a “political assassination” and noted that state and federal agents would be working together to track down the perpetrator.
“[Liberals] have blood on your hands,” wrote conservative podcast host Katie Miller, a former Department of Government Efficiency staffer and wife of President Donald Trump’s adviser Stephen Miller, in a post on X.
Trump himself blamed the “radical left” for the shooting, arguing that liberals’ “rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today.”
Right-wing figures also urged “vengeance” and described different forms it could take, with Loomer pressing Trump to use his power to “shut down, defund, & prosecute every single Leftist organization.” Rhodes of the Oath Keepers, while speaking on Infowars, pushed Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act and “declare the left in this country is in obvious open rebellion against the law of the United States.”
Democrats, meanwhile, have widely condemned the shooting and expressed their support for Kirk’s family, while denouncing political violence — which has affected people in both parties.
Earlier this year, Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman, a Democrat, was killed in her home, and in 2022, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband was attacked with a hammer.
Some lawmakers on Wednesday also called on conservatives to reflect on the rhetoric they’ve employed, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) noting that Republicans should “start with [Trump]” when it comes to toning down the incendiary language.
Previously, Trump was widely accused of stoking violence ahead of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol by calling for his supporters to “fight like hell” prior to the 2020 election certification.
Progressive streamer Hasan Piker, who was scheduled to debate Kirk later this month, raised concerns on Wednesday about the focus on retribution after the shooting.
“The reverberation of people seeking out vengeance in the aftermath of this violent, abhorrent incident is going to be genuinely worrisome,” he said.