President Donald Trump’s martyrdom of conservative activist Charlie Kirk is a betrayal of his office. Martyrdom often carries implicit or explicit calls for vengeance or retribution.
The assassination of Kirk is a shocking and deplorable act of political violence. His killing is a reminder that no ideology or disagreement can ever justify the taking of a human life. Any leader or citizen who would use this tragedy to justify or excuse violence only further endangers our society.
Social media posts making jokes about Kirk’s death are morally wrong.
We must condemn the murder in the strongest possible terms.
But condemning the murder does not mean whitewashing the victim’s views.
In an evening address from the White House, Trump called Kirk a “martyr for truth and freedom.”
The president’s remarks are factually dishonest.
Kirk built a nationwide organization of young far right extremists that exploited political divisions and targeted marginalized groups. He specifically directed disparaging language toward African Americans, immigrants and the LGBTQ+ community.
Kirk called the country’s passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 “a huge mistake.” The law prohibits discrimination in public places and made employment discrimination illegal.
On a July 2023 episode of his show, Kirk suggested TV personality Joy Reid, former first lady Michelle Obama, the late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson did not have the intelligence to achieve what they did without affirmative action. “You had to go steal a white person’s slot to be taken somewhat seriously,” said Kirk, a college dropout.
Although a strong supporter of Israel, he spewed antisemitic tropes such as the white nationalist conspiracy theory of a “Great Replacement,” an alleged plot to replace whites in America with nonwhite immigrants. The conspiracy theories most racist proponents believe Jewish leaders are behind the replacement plan.
There can be no equivocation on condemning his murder, but there is also a moral imperative to condemn the hateful and divisive ideas Kirk helped to inject into the political mainstream.
In the wake of this killing, America needs to choose a different path. We must reaffirm that violence is never the answer.
But we must also not abandon the truth. Strongly condemning Kirk’s murder does not require validating a far-right ideology that many Americans rightfully oppose.
Trump’s decision to call Kirk a martyr and to frame the event as a battle between “truth” and a threatened “radical left” may play well to his base. But it is precisely this sort of language that deepens divides.
We should use this moment by recommitting ourselves to a better, decent, more honest and respectful political dialogue.
Reprinted from the Philadelphia Tribune
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