The Only Way to End Political Violence
Political violence surges, rhetoric escalates, and responsible media and action are needed now more than ever.
Today marks the end of another unprecedented and deeply disturbing week in American politics. I was gathering with members of my team in New York on Wednesday when we heard the news that right-wing activist Charlie Kirk had been shot and killed at a college campus event in Utah. I wish I could say that the immediate way my body went into shock at the news was unfamiliar, or uncommon, but unfortunately these events are happening more and more frequently, and I fear it is only going to get far worse before it gets better.
In the past few years, we have seen a deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol, a plot to kidnap the Governor of Michigan, and an attempt to burn down the Pennsylvania Governor’s mansion. There have been multiple assassination attempts on the President of the United States, and members of Congress have been shot. State legislators have been assassinated in cold blood, and politicians’ spouses have been brutally attacked in their homes. These attacks have affected both Democrats and Republicans alike - and the only way that we can collectively put a stop to it is if Democrats and Republicans come together to denounce political violence in all forms, without exception.
Unfortunately, that is not the response we are witnessing to this new tragedy today.
Instead, responses that Charlie Kirk’s murder elicited from several major right-leaning politicians and media personalities has been nothing short of horrifying, beginning with the address made by President Trump just hours after Kirk was murdered in front of hundreds of college students, his wife, and two young children. He said: "For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world's worst mass murderers and criminals…radical left political violence has hurt too many innocent people and taken too many lives.” This morning, he doubled down by going on Fox & Friends to denounce the “vicious, horrible radicals on the Left.”
The political blame game has been even worse elsewhere. Oliver Darcy at Status noted several examples of conservative movement figures calling for a crackdown on Democrats or progressives or making reference to “civil war”:
“The reaction on the right, however, has been markedly different. Fox News host Jesse Watters declared on air, “They are at war with us! Whether we want to accept it or not, they are at war with us! And what are we gonna do about it?” Laura Loomer, who has Trump's ear, posted on X, “It’s time for the Trump administration to shut down, defund, & prosecute every single Leftist organization… We must shut these lunatic leftists down. Once and for all. The Left is a national security threat.” Elon Musk declared, “The Left is the party of murder.” Andrew Tate described the state of affairs as a “civil war.”
Emily Amick also rounded up several of these inflammatory reactions in her newsletter, in which she observed:
“What struck me was how quickly the outrage machine moved on the right, how instantly the violence was repurposed into ammunition. Instead of pausing to reckon with the fact that Charlie Kirk’s death is the very embodiment of the “cost” he once defended, the response from the right has been to double down, to declare war, to pour gasoline on an already raging fire. It reveals the cruelest truth of all: that for some, violence is not a tragedy to mourn but a tool to wield.”
These calls for agitation, violence, and crackdowns are not only dangerous and wrong - they make clear the position the folks who are making these statements have on political violence: that it is not only acceptable, but an encouraged tactic to silence people you disagree with. Violence begets more violence, and it’s a cancer that can spread rapidly if not contained quickly. These escalating calls by right-wing figures for retribution or revenge are also a clear deflection from any discussion about ways to prevent a violent act like this from occurring in future (i.e. gun violence prevention) – a conversation today’s Republican Party clearly has no interest in having.
The media environment in which we live and work has also been reconstructed not to promote calm and civility, but rather to incentivize and reward fringe opinions on both sides of the aisle, through social media algorithms that have been purpose-built to amplify rage-bait content over anything else. As the CEO of a political media company, I recognize the enormous responsibility that we have to turn down the temperature and lift up voices and ideas that promote compassion, unity, and non-volence. Especially in this new authoritarian era, it is on all of us to educate our audiences and mobilize them into meaningful, peaceful and productive opposition, while staying clear-eyed about where and how the narratives promoting violence are taking hold.
Our country and democracy are facing an existential moment right now, and sometimes it's difficult to find any answers to the problems we face, or hope to carry us through these setbacks. Doing this work in community with so many of you who also wake up every day and choose hope over despair is what gets me through days and weeks like these, and it is only going to be through strengthening and growing this community that we are going to find our way through it to a better, brighter chapter.
- Tara
Scenes from REPRESENT
Thank you to all of you who turned out for COURIER’s “REPRESENT” event in New York on Wednesday night. It was an evening of insightful and inspiring conversations, and was great to host so many emerging leaders who are working every day to get our country back on track.
You’re invited: An event with COURIER’s Keystone
On Tuesday, September 16 at 6:00 pm ET, join COURIER for an in-depth virtual conversation with PA Lieutenant Governor Austin Davis, Kadida Kenner, CEO of New Pennsylvania Project, and Sean Kitchen of COURIER’s Pennsylvania Newsroom, The Keystone, as they break down what’s at stake in Pennsylvania’s upcoming three Supreme Court retention races—and why they matter for every American in the broader fight for democracy. Details + RSVP here >>
What I’m reading this week:
Inside the Deal Ending the Murdoch Succession Fight (NYT, 9/8)
“Lachlan Murdoch will take control of a new family trust in a deal worth $3.3 billion, ensuring that his father’s media empire will retain its conservative slant.
Paramount Taps Kenneth Weinstein, Former Trump Adviser, as CBS News Ombudsman (Variety, 9/8)
“Paramount’s move may only add to questions about CBS News’ ability to remain objective. Because Weinstein has ties to government officials and world leaders and has led a policy organization with a defined political agenda, he might be seen as uniquely ill-suited to hold an ombudsman role at a major news organization that strives to cover news events with a down-the-middle perspective.”
Inside the Hidden Conservative Network Bankrolling an “Ecosystem” of Right-Wing News (Mother Jones, 9/8)
“John Solomon’s Informing America set out to create an echo chamber to shape public opinion. It’s working.”