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Following Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk’s assassination, Donald Trump Jr. warned that political violence in America is coming exclusively from the far-left.
“When you look at the vilification of Charlie that I’m seeing every day since then, the celebration of his assassination in cold blood in front of his wife and young children. It’s truly disgusting,” he told anchor Martha MacCallum Friday on “The Story.” “What was Charlie’s real crime? He spoke truth. Every day, Martha, he platformed his biggest detractors. He gave the people who hated him the most an opportunity to argue their standpoint.”
Kirk’s killing at a campus event Wednesday in Orem, Utah, has sparked a nationwide conversation about political rhetoric, particularly whether referring to foes as “fascist” or “Hitler” can inspire far-left attacks. Investigators say bullet casings recovered near where Kirk was killed were engraved with anti-fascist phrases, including a reference to “Bella Ciao.”
I’M A DEMOCRAT, AND CHARLIE KIRK’S MURDER MUST UNITE ALL AMERICANS AGAINST VIOLENCE
Donald Trump Jr., who counted Kirk as a close friend, appeared visibly shaken on “The Story” as he reflected on Kirk’s legacy of activism and the aftermath of his killing.
Donald Trump Jr. counted the slain Charlie Kirk as a close friend and was visibly shaken by his loss as the nation reels from the assassination. ((Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images))
“He was a threat [to the left] because he was incredibly effective in taking their narrative and destroying it,” he said, noting Kirk’s proficiency at speaking to advocate for God, family, country, the Constitution and keeping men out of women’s sports.
“These are not exactly radical concepts, although when the left realizes that they are losing arguments, they resort to this violence,” he said. “I see the constant ‘violence goes both ways,’ and it does not Martha — the violence is going one way — I have had to deal with, you know, three shootings like this to people who are really near and dear to me in the last 14 months and I’m getting sick of it.”
Trump addressed reports about engravings on cartridges believed to belong to the suspect, including a reference to the WWII-era anti-fascist song “Bella Ciao” and the taunt “Hey fascist! Catch!” He argued that when the far-left can’t win debates on ideas, it resorts to violence.
Charlie Kirk (R) speaks on stage with President Donald Trump at America Fest 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona, on December 22, 2024. (Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images)
“Contrary to what we’re seeing elsewhere and online, it’s not going both ways,” he argued.
“It’s coming from the media, you know, some of them are doing a quick course correction and probably scrubbed their social media feeds for all the things they have said about Charlie, myself, my father over the last few years,” Trump added. “But you can’t call someone who you disagree with or simply can’t win an argument with, a ‘Nazi,’ a ‘fascist,’ a ‘dictator,’ a ‘greatest threat to democracy in the history of civilization,’ and then pretend you had nothing to do with it when the more radical wing – and there does not seem to be all that much difference to me these days – takes up arms and tries to kill those they disagree with.”
He concluded, “It’s not one way. It’s not both ways. It’s simply one way. And anyone who is saying otherwise, you know, should be thrown off the air.”
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Then-presidential candidate Donald Trump raises his arm in defiance after an assassination attempt on his life in Butler, Pa. in July 2024 (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images) (Getty)
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