The assassination of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University today represents a devastating culmination of years of increasingly violent rhetoric from the left, and I frankly don't have much patience for the parade of Democratic politicians now rushing to condemn what their own inflammatory language helped create.
Kirk, the 31-year-old conservative activist and Turning Point USA co-founder, was gunned down Wednesday while speaking on campus during what was supposed to be the opening event of his "American Comeback Tour." Shot in the neck while discussing transgender mass shooters, Kirk died at a local hospital despite medical efforts to save him.
The shooter remains at large.
President Trump, who ordered flags lowered to half-staff through Sunday, captured Kirk's impact perfectly on Truth Social: "No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie."
Vice President Vance praised Kirk's willingness to engage critics and allies alike, while Donald Trump Jr. called Kirk "like a little brother to me."
Lots of conservatives have released statements, and so have some liberals.
California Governor Gavin Newsom called the shooting "disgusting, vile, and reprehensible." Kamala Harris declared: "Political violence has no place." House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries called the murder "unacceptable and completely incompatible with American values." Even Nancy Pelosi condemned the attack.
As much as I want to feel comforted by Democrats rushing to condemn Charlie Kirk’s murder, I know better. We’ve seen this show before—when Trump narrowly survived an assassination attempt last July, the same voices rushed out with boilerplate statements denouncing political violence. Did they mean any of it? Of course not. The bipartisan outrage was performative, a public-relations exercise designed to appear responsible. Within hours, Democrats were back to their usual incendiary rhetoric about Trump, the same attacks that helped create the climate for violence in the first place. So forgive me if I’m unmoved by the same predictable parade of Democrats saying what they have to say just to appear like decent human beings.
For years, Democrats and their media allies have painted conservatives like Kirk as existential threats to democracy. They've branded anyone questioning transgender ideology as genocidal bigots. They've characterized border security advocates as fascists. When you spend years telling your supporters that conservatives represent an imminent danger to marginalized communities, don't act surprised when some unhinged individual decides to take matters into their own hands.
The pattern has become unmistakable. We witnessed two assassination attempts against Trump during his campaign. Republican members of Congress were shot at before the congressional baseball game in 2017. Trans mass shooters are becoming increasing common. Political violence surges whenever Democratic rhetoric reaches fever pitch, yet party leaders never connect their inflammatory language to these predictable outcomes.
Earlier this year, a national survey exposed just how far the left has gone: over half of left-leaning respondents said it was at least “somewhat justified” to murder Donald Trump. Nearly half said the same about Elon Musk. These aren’t random outbursts—they reflect a radical worldview that the Democratic Party has nurtured for years.
By normalizing rage, demonizing conservatives, and celebrating attacks on their perceived enemies, Democrats have created the conditions for real-world violence. That’s why so many on the left excused, even glorified, Luigi Mangione after he assassinated Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare. This is what today’s Democratic Party really is.
So, yeah… Democrats can tweet condemnations all they want, but the truth is undeniable: they own the climate that made these violent acts thinkable in the first place.
