Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri condemned the left during a Tuesday hearing for having a constituency that backs political violence following the Wednesday assassination of Turning Point USA (TPUSA) founder Charlie Kirk.
YouGov published a Friday poll finding 25% of those who are very liberal believe political violence can be warranted occasionally. Schmitt cited the poll during a Senate Judiciary Committee to argue against the notion that the left does not have a worse political violence issue than the right.
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“Political violence is always wrong. Period, full stop. It doesn’t matter which side, in the name of any ideology or cause, it’s wrong. But in America today, political violence is not a problem that falls equally upon both sides,” Schmitt said. “We have to be honest about this. We must reject an attempt to paint it as some kind of random phenomenon with no particular creed or ideology, a kind of spontaneous insanity, which takes place outside of any broader social context and has no pattern at all. That’s wrong.”
“Already, we’re hearing people talk about Charlie’s assassination in those terms. We’re told that we can’t possibly know what drove a killer to plan and carry out a murder of the most prominent conservative activist in America,” he added. “But that’s a lie. We do know. The facts are plain and clear, and we have to speak truth in this moment or there’s no other side of the mountain.”
Republican Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said on Friday that Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old suspect in the assassination, had become increasingly political and viewed Kirk as someone “full of hate and spreading hate,” according to family members who spoke with investigators, The Wall Street Journal reported. Cox told the WSJ that it was apparent that Robinson “was deeply indoctrinated with leftist ideology.”
Police also recovered ammunition etched with phrases like “Hey, fascist! Catch!” and unfired casings inscribed with lyrics from “Bella Ciao,” an Italian anti-fascist anthem that has amassed popularity on TikTok.
“The vast majority of Americans are against political violence, but there is a vocal, active minority that encourages and celebrates it, and that minority is overwhelmingly on the left,” Schmitt said. “Just last week, a YouGov poll found that a quarter, a full 25% of those people who describe themselves as very liberal say it can be justified for citizens to use violence to achieve political goals. Less than 3% of very conservative Americans say the same. That’s too many. That is 3% too many. But we are lying if we think that this is a both sides thing. It’s not.”
“This is an ideology that runs very deep. The numbers are virtually identical to the ones I just noted when it comes to whether or not it’s okay to celebrate the deaths of people whom we disagree with,” he said “And while large majorities in both parties were opposed to celebrating political violence, Democrats overall were nearly twice as likely as Republicans to believe that it is usually or always acceptable to celebrate the death of a public figure they oppose. What in the hell is going on?”
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