Charlie Kirk’s death is a tragedy and the latest example of violence creeping into our politics. What we’re seeing has been a long time coming, driven by decades of careless chatter and selfish rhetoric. Americans have made a habit of demonizing their political opponents. Many MAGA supporters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, believed they were saving the nation because leaders had dishonestly told them that an election had been stolen by the Democrats. At least one of the men who planned to assassinate President Donald Trump during last year’s campaign believed he was saving America from a despot in waiting. That belief didn’t come from nowhere, and the political left habitually accuses Trump of orchestrating an authoritarian takeover.
It shouldn’t be surprising that Americans who are led to believe their country’s deepest values are under attack from internal enemies would eventually embrace violence. In the fundraising text messages that flood our phones, the social media posts that pollute our discourse, and in countless speeches and cable news interviews, that’s exactly how the left and right portray their opponents. Both parties regularly suggest that the other side is somehow less than fully American.
Sometimes this accusation is made blatantly, like when President Trump describes Democrats as people who hate America. Sometimes it’s more subtle, like when President Joe Biden called Trump supporters garbage or when Hillary Clinton called them deplorables. This type of talk may not call for violence, but it paves the way for the violence we’ve too often seen in our politics.
The first thing all of us must do is decisively condemn Charlie Kirk’s killing. We can’t repeat the equivocation we saw when UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was murdered in New York. And we can’t excuse one act of political violence by pointing to the violent acts of others. Too many Americans, even the ones who initially admit the tragedy of Kirk’s loss, will quickly shift to cataloging the bad and violent actions of the other side. Even if the list they produce is accurate and the facts are true, compiling it won’t help us move forward. We need to start from the fundamental truth that killing is wrong and then acknowledge that killing for political reasons in a nation that stands as the world’s oldest democracy is particularly heartbreaking.
Charlie Kirk was controversial. He was described by detractors as intolerant and divisive, but he didn’t shy away from debates with people who disagreed with his positions. Before he died, more than a thousand students signed a petition asking the administration of the university where he was eventually killed to bar him from speaking on campus, preferring to silence his speech rather than offering a different opinion through speech of their own. The petition to ban Kirk from campus was an unfortunate echo of other efforts we’ve seen to silence speech that one side or the other finds offensive. Part of Charlie Kirk’s legacy is his willingness to go places where people didn’t want him and say things they didn’t want to hear. The ability to do these things is an essential part of being American, and if we don’t use this moment to recommit to the type of free speech Kirk championed, we’ll miss an opportunity to create something good from this tragedy.
In the days ahead, politicians of both parties will condemn Mr. Kirk’s killing. In the weeks ahead, these same politicians will return to the type of charged language that likely contributed to his death. Americans should notice if any of their political leaders make a different choice and celebrate those who refrain from using inflammatory language and silly name-calling. Few of us want to live in a country defined by discord and disquiet, so each of us should be offended when politicians use their platforms to lead us down that destructive road.
To change America’s political culture, all of us must realize that nothing in politics is small. Every single mean-spirited remark, every untrue accusation, every demeaning nickname, and every sweeping generalization about political opponents leads us down the road that killed Charlie Kirk. Extreme actions become easier once the targets of aggression have been dehumanized, described as a threat, and labeled as being fundamentally un-American.
As we watch our politicians condemn the violence in Utah, let’s remember that shifting between lofty rhetoric and schoolyard taunts never works. We won’t begin to bridge our divides if we express sorrow on one day and then launch hyperbolic attacks on the next. That shift has become the norm in our politics. Regrettably, it’s what history says we should expect from our leaders in the weeks ahead.
As we mourn the loss of Charlie Kirk, we should also remember the police officers who came under attack on Jan. 6, the hammer that was wielded against Paul Pelosi, the lawmakers who were killed or wounded in Minnesota, and the shot that almost took our president’s life. We should remember all the other senseless acts of political violence that stain our history and make our country worse. Silencing speech isn’t the answer, and we should expect better speech from our leaders. More than just expect, we should reward leaders who engage in civil discourse, respect their opponents and consistently refrain from the political antics that begin small but eventually become deadly.
In the aftermath of this tragedy, we should encourage our leaders to be their best, not just in the days ahead but through changed actions from this moment forward. What we need is consistency from people who believe in virtuous leadership and know it isn’t possible to casually switch between charged partisan speech and high ideals. The president can’t bring us together unless he stops calling Democrats derogatory names and suggesting they hate America. Our governor can’t bring us together unless he stops calling the president a “chicken hawk” and “President Bone Spurs”. That language is the gateway that inevitably leads somewhere worse. In this case, it led to the death of a husband and father of two young children. Pray for his family, then do everything you can to forge a kinder and more respectful politics.
Colin Pascal (colinjpascal@outlook.com) is a retired army lieutenant colonel and a graduate student at the School of Public Affairs at American University in Washington, D.C. He lives in Annapolis.
