The News
The Republican Party is splitting in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination — between those who vocally endorse a crackdown on left-wing political activity and those who are wary of the long-term consequences.
More Republicans are publicly joining the first camp, aligning with President Donald Trump’s bid to knock back liberal groups and his administration’s support for firing people who criticize Kirk. The party’s second bloc is currently reluctant to blame Democrats or liberal ideology for leading to violence.
Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said “I can’t tell you” whether ideology is inordinately responsible for the rise in US political violence.
“What I can tell you is, clearly, the individuals who have made attacks have been irritated and agitated by information that they’ve received that in many cases is simply inaccurate,” Rounds said. “Or it’s been pushed up to a level of emotion that has impacted them to make some really bad decisions.”
Rounds didn’t criticize probes into “organized efforts of disruption and violence,” but called on elected officials to “bring down the” temperature. Trump administration members are going in a different direction, pressing for investigations of left-leaning groups that appear designed to intimidate, if not prosecute.
The reaction is personal and political. Vice President JD Vance, a Kirk friend, asked at an RNC fundraiser last week how Republicans can ensure the late activist’s organizing for Trump “shows up in those all important midterm elections.”
But the GOP’s long-standing support for unfettered speech — Kirk himself wrote last year that “hate speech does not exist legally in America” — conflicts with the Trump administration’s efforts to constrain progressives. Attorney General Pam Bondi took heat from Trump supporters for suggesting on Monday she would go after hate speech, clarifying later on Tuesday that it would only include “threats of violence.”
A Justice Department official said later that the companies or individuals would not be prosecuted for refusing services after Bondi indicated she could go after people who declined to print out Kirk posters.
Asked about Bondi’s remarks on hate speech, GOP Sen. John Kennedy said “most of the hate speech is being promoted on social media. Everybody agrees that social media promotes poison. Okay: What’s poison?”
“I don’t want to see us turn into Europe, specifically the UK, where the government starts prosecuting people for things they say on social media,” the Lousianan added. “Am I happy with what’s said on social media? No. I’m sick of all that. But unless they’re fighting words or a direct threat, you have the right to be ugly in America.”
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., aired similar questions.
“I don’t know, what are you going to do? I mean, it is free speech,” he told Semafor. “That’s why we’ve got an attorney general, I guess … I trust them to do the right thing. We’re all about free speech.”
A White House official referred Semafor to Trump’s comments on Tuesday that “Pam Bondi has done an unbelievable job, and everybody agrees with that.”
The View From The Left
The groups that Republicans are calling out in the wake of Kirk’s assassination have already faced outrage and harassment. They’re bracing for more.
Last Thursday, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and 34 colleagues sent a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, asking him to create a select committee that would probe “the money, influence, and power behind the radical left’s assault on America and the rule of law.”
Roy accused The Wren Collective, a Texas criminal justice reform group, of supporting district attorneys and judges who would “coordinate releasing criminals to the streets.”
The Wren Collective’s staff page, with contact information, was taken offline. Jessica Brand, the group’s founder, said she’s open to “serious and good-faith conversations” with critics, but the Republican letter was different.
“We’ve found ourselves ludicrously blamed for horrible tragedies that we have had zero involvement with,” Brand told Semafor. “We have received numerous vile attacks from people who feel comfortable making threats when shrouded by the internet. We’ve had to expend considerable resources on security, when what we’d prefer is to keep working to improve the health and safety of all Americans.”
And after Vance this week criticized The Nation for publishing a critical column about Kirk, which partially misquoted him, its publisher Bhaskar Sunkara underscored that the magazine did not take money from the two foundations that the vice president has accused of funding radicalism.
“The Nation has been around for 160 years, and we’ve often attracted the ire of prominent politicians — Democrat and Republican alike,” Sunkara told Semafor.
“I’m pleased the vice president is reading The Nation, but at this moment I feel like his tone and the ramping up of tensions in the country is the last thing we need.”
The View From Democrats
Democrats see Republicans’ response to Kirk’s killing as a potentially hazardous overreaction.
“I don’t understand how the party of purported free speech is going to start cracking down on free speech,” said Rep. Pramila Japayal, D-Wash. “Apparently, you can’t say anything that is a view from the ‘left’ anymore, because that’s a part of political violence.”
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., told Semafor that Trump’s move to investigate liberal groups is a “terrible idea,” praising Republicans (like Utah Gov. Spencer Cox) who shied away from attributing recent political violence to ideology.
“It does not meet the moment of Charlie Kirk’s assassination,” Coons added, “to have this focus on: ‘We need to investigate or prosecute only one political perspective.’”
Room for Disagreement
The GOP chafed at the treatment of conservative groups by Democratic administrations. So many Republicans agree with the president, Vance, and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, who’ve said that some left-wing organizations are harming the country.
“Yes on freedom of speech, no on political violence,” Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., told Semafor. “But I think we’re at a point where we’ve got to be honest about where the vast majority of this is coming from. And it’s on the left.”
“People have a right to speak, including horrible, atrocious speech. They don’t have a right to incite violence or to fund crimes,” added Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.
David and Burgess’ View
Federal scrutiny of left-wing organizations didn’t start last week.
The Trump administration is probing potential foreign donations through online platforms with a focus on ActBlue, the progressive fundraising juggernaut. The Federal Trade Commission attempted to investigate the left-wing watchdog Media Matters over its campaign against Elon Musk’s management of X, only to get halted by a judge.
Kirk’s assassination, however, has become a rationale to expand those sorts of investigations.
“Employers, you have an obligation to get rid of people,” Bondi said in a Monday interview on Fox News, endorsing efforts to identify and punish government employees — even private citizens — who insulted Kirk after his killing.
Left-wing groups have already described a chilling effect on their work. But the most immediate focus of new Republican probes may be far-left groups that play no real role in Democratic politics, like Code Pink or the Revolutionary Communist Party.