Vice President JD Vance on Monday jumped onto the conservative movement demanding consequences for those who have cheered Charlie Kirk’s killing, calling on the public to turn in anyone who says distasteful things about the assassination of his friend and political ally.
鈥淲hen you see someone celebrating Charlie鈥檚 murder, call them out,鈥 Vance urged listeners on the slain activist鈥檚 podcast Monday. 鈥淎nd hell, call their employer.鈥
Vance’s call also included a vow to target some of the biggest funders of liberal causes as conservatives stepped up their for their . It marked an that some warned invoked some of the darkest chapters of American history.
鈥淭he government involvement in this does inch this closer to looking like McCarthyism,鈥 said Adam Goldstein of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, referring to the 1950s campaign to root out communists that led to false allegations and ruined careers. 鈥淚t was not a shining moment for free expression.鈥
Campaign broadens to those who quote Kirk critically
Republican-controlled states such as Florida, Oklahoma and Texas have launched investigations of teachers accused of inappropriate statements after last week鈥檚 assassination. The U.S. military has invited members of the public to report those who 鈥渃elebrate or mock鈥 the killing and said some troops have already been removed for their comments.
At the same time, the Trump administration has vowed to target what it contends is a 鈥渧ast鈥 liberal network that inspired the shooter, even as authorities maintain it appears he acted alone and the investigation is ongoing.
The campaign has broadened to include even those whose statements were critical of Kirk without celebrating his assassination.
The Washington Post fired Karen Attiah, an opinion columnist, for posts on the day of the shooting that lamented how 鈥渨hite America鈥 was not ready to solve gun violence and that quoted Kirk denigrating the intelligence of prominent Black women such as Michelle Obama.
PEN America, a press freedom group, warned in a statement that firings like Attiah’s 鈥渞isk creating a chilling effect.鈥
Goldstein worried there were many cases of people targeted for simply quoting Kirk or failing to mourn his passing adequately. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 one of the key symptoms of cancel culture,鈥 he said. 鈥淭rying to paint everyone with the same brush.鈥
Conservatives coined the term cancel culture for what they claimed was persecution of those on the right for their views, especially related to the COVID-19 pandemic and Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, leading to campaigns to get regular people fired.
It was a p, who pledged to end it during his campaign last year. But after the Kirk killing, he and his administration have instead .
A hero to conservatives, a provocateur to many Democrats
A father of two and a Christian conservative, Kirk was a hero to many Trump Republicans for his fiery warnings about the dangers of Democrats and ability to organize young voters. But Kirk also was a provocateur and supporter of Trump鈥檚 attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss who left a long record of partisan quips that enraged many on the left.
鈥淎ccording to Kirk, empathy is a made-up new-age term, so keep the jokes coming. It鈥檚 what he would have wanted,鈥 read one post on X that Melvin Villaver Jr., a Clemson University music professor, re-posted the day of the killing, according to a screenshot circulated by college Republicans demanding his firing. Clemson eventually fired one staffer and suspended Villaver and another professor after intense pressure from elected South Carolina Republican officials.
Other targeted posters, such as Army Lt. Col. Christopher Ladnier, simply quoted Kirk on the day of his assassination. This included Kirk calling the Civil Rights Act a 鈥渂east鈥 that 鈥渉as now turned into an anti-white weapon,” his criticism of Martin Luther King Jr. and his statement that some gun deaths are the cost of a robust Second Amendment.
Ladnier, who has been targeted by conservative activists online, said in a Facebook message to The Associated Press that he would respond 鈥渨hen/if鈥 his chain of command takes action.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott approvingly posted a video of a Texas Tech University student who was arrested Friday after a confrontation at a campus vigil for Kirk, writing: 鈥淭his is what happened to the person who was mocking Charlie Kirk鈥檚 assassination at Texas Tech.”
Some people targeted have been victims of mistaken identity.
A school district in rural Elkhorn, Wisconsin, reported receiving more than 800 messages after one conservative influencer mistakenly identified an associate principal at an elementary school as celebrating Kirk’s death.
Top Republicans vow to go after 鈥榙omestic terrorist network鈥
Authorities say Kirk was shot by 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, who grew up in a conservative household in southern Utah but was enmeshed in 鈥渓eftist ideology,鈥 according to the state’s Republican governor, Spencer Cox.
Cox said investigators may reveal more about what motivated the attack after Robinson’s initial court appearance, scheduled for Tuesday. The governor said the suspect, who allegedly carved memes onto his bullet casings, appeared radicalized by the 鈥渄ark corners of the internet.鈥
On Monday, Vance was joined on Kirk鈥檚 podcast by Stephen Miller, Trump鈥檚 deputy chief of staff, who vowed to crack down on what he called the 鈥渧ast domestic terrorist network鈥 he blamed for Kirk鈥檚 death.
Alluding to free speech concerns, Vance said: 鈥淵ou have the crazies on the far left that say, 鈥橭h, Stephen Miller and JD Vance, they鈥檙e going to go after constitutionally protected speech.’鈥
But he added: 鈥淣o no no! We鈥檙e going to go after the NGO network that foments, facilitates and engages in violence,鈥 鈥 a reference to non-governmental organizations.
The White House did not immediately return a request seeking clarity on the remarks, including which groups might be targeted.
The idea of a retribution campaign against individuals or groups for expressing a particular viewpoint has alarmed many.
鈥淛ust having that ideology, just believing differently than some other American is not illegal,鈥 Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma said on CNN on Sunday.
Instead, he said any groups that have been involved in illegal or violent acts should be targeted.
Killing as a pretext to go after political rivals
On Kirk鈥檚 show, Vance talked about the need for unity after the assassination, but then dismissed it as impossible given what he described as the left鈥檚 embrace of political violence. Naming two foundations that fund a wide range of liberal causes, Vance said: “There is no unity with the people who fund these articles, who pay the salaries of these terrorist sympathizers.鈥
Democratic officials have roundly condemned Kirk鈥檚 murder. Democrats also have been victims of political violence recently, including the June assassination of a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband, and the 2022 beating of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi鈥檚 husband in their San Francisco home.
Caitlin Legacki of Stop Government Censorship, formed to fight the Trump administration鈥檚 use of government against its political rivals, said it was one thing for people making abhorrent statements to face consequences.
鈥淲hen we get concerned is when there appears to be a concerted effort in the government to use this tragedy to punish political opponents,鈥 she said.
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Associated Press writers Collin Binkley and Chris Megerian in Washington; Meg Kinnard in Chapin, South Carolina; Juan Lozano in Houston, and Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.
