Republican strategist Scott Jennings said that Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was a “mainstream conservative” and suggested that those who celebrated his assassination would be okay with anyone who voted for President Donald Trump being murdered, during a Monday appearance on CNN.
Numerous people, including MSNBC political analyst Matthew Dowd and Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah, have been fired over their reactions to the Wednesday assassination of Kirk, 31, in Utah. Jennings said critics of conservatives demanding the firings of those celebrating the killing of the TPUSA founder were “tiptoeing” around the content of the posts in question.
“In the case of these people who are being fired from their jobs, I mean, you know, we’re kind of — we’re kind of tiptoeing around it here,” Jennings told CNN host Kaitlan Collins. “These people were not online saying, ‘Well, I disagree with Charlie Kirk.’ They were online saying the world is better off without him. They were online saying, you know, his wife, in this case, ‘She’s a sick f-word for marrying him. I don’t care about her feelings. We’re better off living in a world without a disgusting psychopath.’ That’s who we’re talking about here.”
WATCH:
Jennings added that the online celebrations of the assassination raised concerns about safety in the minds of many conservatives.
“I’ll tell you one more thing that’s on my mind tonight and of conservatives everywhere. The idea that people are saying, well, he was an extremist or he was a racist or he was a Nazi or a misogynist, whatever, therefore we could get around to rationalizing it. Charlie Kirk was a mainstream conservative Republican,” Jennings said. “He [Kirk] had views that are held by tens of millions of people, including more than half the country in the last election.”
“So if you’re online saying this is justified, what you’re actually saying is, ‘Half the country I live in, there’s some justification to commit violence or murder against them,’” Jennings continued. “And that’s what is concerning about the people who are doing this, and that’s why I don’t think anybody is losing any sleep about these folks not being able to teach our children.”
Earlier on CNN, David Urban, a former campaign to President Donald Trump, told “Anderson Cooper 360” host Anderson Cooper about a Rutgers survey showing “55% of self-described leftists” said they would support assassinating the president.
Trump survived two attempts on his life during the 2024 presidential campaign, one during a July 13, 2024, rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, the other on September 15, 2024, while he was golfing in Florida.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].
