Republican Leaders Aren’t Grieving Charlie Kirk. They’re Weaponizing Him.

JD Vance hosted Charlie Kirk’s former show yesterday and went on an absolutely unhinged rant blaming Democrats for his murder. He straight-up blamed all the political violence in this country on the left.

I quote: “People on the left are much likelier to defend and celebrate political violence. This is not a both-sides problem. If both sides have a problem, then one side has a much bigger and malignant problem, and that is the truth.”

That is not the truth. And we’re gonna talk about why.

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Vance said there’s “no unity” with people who celebrated Charlie Kirk’s murder. No unity with the Democratic Party. No unity with the left. And honestly? I’m just done with this game.

Because here’s the truth: Republican leaders are not grieving. They are weaponizing this. They are taking the rage, fear, and grief that every American feels when political violence happens—and turning it into a partisan cudgel.

I’ve said that Charlie Kirk’s murder—no matter how you felt about the guy—was an attack on all of us. I have the same right to be angry. The same right to be scared about what this means for the country. The same right to mourn. Because when something like that happens, it shakes people’s faith in democracy, in the system, in this country.

But what I’ve come to realize is that the way our leaders—and the right-wing media—have responded is an even deeper wound to this country. It’s not just grief they’re channeling; it’s division and vengeance. And that is an attack on all of us, too.

If we had actual adults in the room—if the people in power gave half a damn about their fellow Americans—this could’ve been a moment of unity. Trump and Vance could’ve stood up and said, “You know what? I’m gonna invite Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries to the White House. I’m gonna call every former president to the Oval Office.”

But they are pathologically incapable of doing that.

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Instead, Trump skipped Kirk’s memorial service to go golfing, then called Democrats “scum.” JD Vance took Kirk’s show and turned it into a purity test for “unity.” Conservative influencers are out there saying wild shit. Stephen Miller and Steve Bannon are openly calling for war on the left and for the complete dismantling of the Democratic Party’s infrastructure.

This has been their contribution in the face of political violence. And somehow, we’re the ones told to “tone it down”?

No. I’m done with that. I’m done being lectured by the same people who laughed when Melissa Hortman was murdered, shrugged when Gretchen Whitmer was almost kidnapped, said nothing when Governor Shapiro’s house nearly burned down—and who have nothing to say about the death threats their own movement sends to people like me every single week.

Who say nothing when I’m getting violent threats that mention my son from the president’s closest adviser.

Yes, of course we should all be better about the way we talk. Yes, we need to be careful with our language. Yes, we should go have uncomfortable conversations with people who disagree with us. Charlie Kirk’s “legacy”—according to the people around him—was about creating space for those conversations, about valuing free speech.

Let’s assume that’s true for the sake of argument. Let’s give him that for now.

How in the hell does this—JD Vance and the rest of the conservative movement getting on air to frame the left as evil, dangerous, violent—honor Charlie Kirk’s so-called legacy that they claim to revere so much?

It doesn’t.

And we still don’t know the motive of the shooter. We don’t. We know a few drips and drabs, but nothing solid. And even if this guy was a leftist—if he read a HuffPost article and snapped—I’ll own that. I’ll take responsibility. I’ll have that conversation.

But where is the right’s accountability for the violence they foment?

Because what I’ve seen since Kirk’s death is not grief. It’s a coordinated campaign to stoke more anger, more division, and yes—more violence.

And that’s the real danger here: a movement that cannot imagine responding to tragedy with anything other than vengeance.

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