My day has been spent largely on radio and television, talking about Charlie Kirk’s murder. Most of the hosts whose shows I have been on have suggested that both sides are equally violent. They don’t seem to like it when I push back on that idea.
The reality is that over the past year or two we have seen a succession of violent political acts, nearly all of which have come from the left. And there is reason to think that the segment of the left that is tolerant of violence is not just a fringe group. Thus, for example, we see: “Bluesky warns users not to celebrate Charlie Kirk assassination after dozens of horrific messages posted.”
And the Rutgers University survey from April that I wrote about here should give us all pause.
Rutgers found that only 45% of those who described themselves as liberal (including those who said they were “slightly liberal”) think that assassinating President Trump would be “not at all justified.” A majority saw some justification, and an appalling 13% said that killing Trump would be “completely justified.” No wonder that two people, so far, have tried to do it.
Democratic Party leaders have, of course, condemned Charlie’s murder. But have any of them acknowledged any responsibility for firing up their partisans to the point where we have seen a series of violent attacks? No. Remember Barack Obama saying, “If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun?” Does Obama understand that too many Democrats have been doing exactly that?
Then we have Gavin Newsom:
Newsom called for political violence against Republicans LAST MONTH. “We’re fighting fire with fire. I’m going to punch these sons of bitches in the mouth.” https://t.co/59Jd2h40vB https://t.co/eUoWl55Yur
— Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) September 10, 2025
That last comment reminds us of when Joe Biden said he wanted to take Donald Trump behind a barn and beat him up. Idiotic, of course, but what are loyal Democrats supposed to make of it?
On a couple of the shows I have done, the host has asked what political leaders can do to promote peace. I said that one obvious thing is to stop calling everyone they disagree with Adolf Hitler. After all, the Germans who tried to assassinate Hitler are revered as heroes. What message are Democratic Party faithful supposed to take away from this kind of talk?
Those suggestions got a stony reception.
I have nothing more to add, except that, if acceptance of political violence is as widespread on the left as the Rutgers poll (and other data points) suggest, then the violent attacks we have witnessed in recent months should not be unexpected. On the contrary, it seems likely that things will get worse before they get better.
