The murder of prominent right-wing activist Charlie Kirk is just the excuse Trump needs to squash all dissent and put the final nail in the coffin of our free speech and constitutional democracy.
It’s certainly no surprise that Trump would use Kirk’s death to divide Americans further and demonize what he calls “the radical left,” which for him includes anyone who opposes him, including news media that doesn’t genuflect in his presence.
In his brief statement to the nation, Trump said in part:
For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals. This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now…
It’s long past time for all Americans and the media to confront the fact that violence and murder are the tragic consequence of demonizing those with whom you disagree…
Of course, for Trump, his preferred “media,” i.e., any outlet or podcaster that lavishes him with praise and promotes fealty to Dear Leader, bears no responsibility for America’s escalating political violence.
There was also no mention of the fact that the man who shot at Trump was a registered Republican and that the two lawmakers recently shot in Minnesota, one of whom died, were Democrats.
Instead, Trump used the moment to exacerbate the division among Americans and vilify his opponents while only mentioning those acts of violence carried out against Republicans.
[Note: We still don’t know who killed Kirk or why.]
Kirk was a prominent media personality whose podcast, political events attended by MAGA enthusiasts and the lawmakers they elected, as well as college engagements where he whipped up support for Trump among America’s youth, were all megaphones for hateful, extremist rhetoric.
At them, Kirk regularly defamed people of color, the trans community, immigrants, and anyone who wasn’t white, straight, and Christian.
He was also adamantly opposed to gun control and even said a certain number of “gun deaths every single year” was worth the cost of protecting the Second Amendment.
In fact, at the very moment he was shot, Kirk was debating the gun issue in front of a crowd of thousands.
Now, his death will serve as a rallying cry amplified by Trump in his Oval Office address to honor carry on the Kirk message in ways that will include more violence and federal government crackdowns that infringe on our rights.
Rest assured that Trump will try to silence some prominent legacy media, whether by more crippling lawsuits or by using the FCC to pull their broadcast licenses, which he already threatened to do to NBC and ABC.
And Kirk’s death is just the excuse he needs, as flimsy as it seems to rational minds, for him to accelerate his timetable for using the military to quash any dissenters in the streets of Chicago, New York, Baltimore, and any other Democrat-run city he deems a “hellhole.”
The only thing that could save us from such a terrible fate is Trump’s laziness and the ease with which he becomes distracted and bored.
But I don’t think so – not this time.
Trump has spent the time since Kirk’s death digesting the uproar among his supporters, prompting him to wield his presidential powers with extreme prejudice against his “enemies” (half of America) in ways that we’ve never seen any American leader even consider.
As a result of the Kirk killing, there will be crackdowns in cities, legions of his supporters will join the ranks of ICE, other law enforcement agencies, and the military, effectively turning them into Trump’s personal guard.
Militias like the Oathkeepers will receive Trump’s blessing and immunity to carry out heinous acts in his name.
You may think I’m being hyperbolic and prognosticating doom for dramatic effect.
However, I assure you I’m not.
I’m warning you of what’s to come so you can prepare for when those rights we’ve taken for granted for so long are stripped from us, and the darkest time in America since the Civil War begins.
Because in reality, it already has.
