by Oui
Fri Sep 12th, 2025 at 06:19:38 AM EST
Trump: Vengeance Is Mine ... Threatens Liberals
Seizing on Kirk Killing, Trump and Allies Pledge a Crackdown on Political Opponents
Trump blames 'radical left' rhetoric for Charlie Kirk's assassination | AP News |
In a lengthy video statement released on social media late Thursday by the White House, U.S. President Donald Trump blamed rhetoric from the "radical left" for political commentator Charlie Kirk's assassination and said "demonizing" opponents "must stop now."
Did Trump Just Declare War on the American Left?
After Charlie Kirk's tragic killing, the President speaks not of ending political violence but of seeking political vengeance.
A follow-up of January 6th Attack on America
The American Dream Shattered
The very rich in a turf war with the foot folk in the bottom half of ... a dark development.
Trump says Charlie Kirk's wife is 'absolutely devastated'
I Went to Greenland and Learned Why We Need to Make It State 51
Geez .... what about Canada Don Jr.?
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Sen. Mike Lee deletes social media post on Minnesota shootings following backlash | Fox News Utah |
Mike Lee outrages Minnesota politicians with social media jabs about lawmaker's murder | Utah News Dispatch |
Trump and other Republicans mock Democrats after Minnesota lawmaker killings | The Guardian - 16 June 2025 |
While many in GOP condemn attacks, president calls Tim Walz `terrible governor' and Musk pushes misinformation
Democrats have been unequivocal in condemning the shootings, as have Congress's top Republicans. "Such horrific political violence has no place in our society, and every leader must unequivocally condemn it," said House speaker, Mike Johnson. Senate majority leader, John Thune, said he was "horrified at the events unfolding in Minnesota" and that "political violence has no place in our nation".
Minnesota's Republican party condemned the shooting, as did the state's entire congressional delegation.
But when it comes to Trump and his most vociferous allies on social media, the message is more mixed. Trump initially condemned the attacks, saying on Saturday: "Such horrific violence will not be tolerated in the United States of America. God Bless the great people of Minnesota, a truly great place!"
But the following day, he struck a different tone, telling ABC News that the shooting was "a terrible thing" but calling Walz "a terrible governor" and "a grossly incompetent person". "I may call him, I may call other people too," he added. On Monday afternoon, Walz's office said Trump had not called.
Meanwhile, on X, prominent rightwing figures were quick to promote conspiracy theories about what happened. Elon Musk, the erstwhile Trump sidekick who runs Tesla, shared a tweet from a pro-Trump account that read, in part: "The left has become a full blown domestic terrorist organization."
"The far left is murderously violent" Musk wrote in his reply, which Lee shared, adding: "Fact check: TRUE".
Laura Loomer, the rightwing extremist who is said to have played a role in encouraging Trump to fire national security officials, alleged the suspect had ties to the "No Kings" protests that took place nationwide on Saturday, and that Walz knew him.
The spread of outlandish falsehoods and conspiracy theories on social media has been a hallmark of the atmosphere Trump has brought to US politics over the past decade, and Lewis believes the country is now at a point where such fabrications have more prominence than politicians' carefully written statements.
"The real problem now is that nothing matters, and I think that has been realized by the mainstream right in this country. There are no consequences for peddling disinformation or conspiracies," he said.
Robert Pape, director of the University of Chicago Project on Security and Threats, said that the United States had entered an era of "violent populism", and if Democrats and Republicans want to stop it, they need to issue joint statements speaking out against atrocities like what happened in Minnesota.
"You've got to start having some agreement here on negotiating these rules of the road, so to speak, because if each side continues to simply only accept unconditional surrender by the other, well, then just like in Ukraine, you're not going to end this thing very, very soon, and things will just escalate," Pape said.
Musk: Grok Telling Truth About Right-Wing Terrorism | RollingStone |
