“CNN NewsNight” host Abby Phillip attempted to deflect on Tuesday when Republican strategist Scott Jennings and Federalist reporter Brianna Lyman brought up the online celebrations of the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.
Since the assassination of Kirk on Sept. 10, numerous people, including MSNBC political analyst Matthew Dowd and Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah, have been fired over their reactions to the killing. Lyman noted the celebrations of the assassination online, especially on platforms like BlueSky, prompting Phillip to try moving the goalposts by questioning whether “prominent” liberals or Democrats were celebrating the murder.
“Look at the reaction we have seen from the left. They are cheering, they are celebrating his death. You have outlets saying, Charlie Kirk shouldn’t have died but he said some pretty hateful things as if they’re on some moral high ground to say that,” Lyman said, with Phillip responding, “But I wonder, have you seen any evidence of any prominent mainstream Democrats doing what you just described, celebrating Charlie Kirk’s death? Did anybody actually celebrating –”
“I probably can’t think of the name. I saw it on Twitter yesterday,” Lyman said, with Phillip responding, “Okay. I know what you’re talking, hold on. I know what you’re talking about because I’ve seen it too. He did not. In fact, he started that tweet saying that Charlie Kirk should not have been killed.”
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After some back and forth between Lyman and Phillip, Jennings cut in.
“Can I ask though? Everybody here acknowledges that there have been thousands upon thousands of people, ordinary people who have taken to social media to celebrate this, yes or no?” Jennings asked Phillip, who responded, “I don’t know about that. Hold on a second. Hold on. I just think we should just — there’s — we got to be factual about this, right?”
“I don’t think you know the scope. I don’t know the scope. But I do think that we have to distinguish between random people in the world and something that is a dominant issue,” Phillip added, with Jennings responding, “Why? Because the person who shot Charlie Kirk was a random person in the world, was he not?”
A Rutgers survey showing 56% of “left-of-center” respondents saying that assassinating President Donald Trump, who survived two attempts on his life during the 2024 presidential campaign, would be at least partially justifiable, was released in April. A YouGov poll released Friday showed 25% of very liberal respondents said that it was acceptable to be happy about public figures’ deaths.
Jennings pointed out that Phillip was ignoring the dangers by dismissing “the random people of the world.” After some back and forth, Lyman explained the effect Kirk’s assassination had on many conservatives.
“I think it’s easy for people who are not a conservative, and I know not everybody at this table is a conservative, but Charlie Kirk was murdered because he talked about God, family, country. Those are views that people like Scott and I hold dearly,” Lyman said. “If Charlie Kirk, a private citizen, can be targeted for those views, it makes us all feel like we have a target on our back. So, it’s easy for people who have constant security who are in high places and don’t think they’re ever going to be targeted to speak like this, but to the average conservative like myself, this is a scary time because one of our own was taken out.”
“And I think what people have to realize about left-wing violence is it’s not some made up fantasy. There are three court cases going on today for assassinations, Luigi Mangione, Ryan Routh, and Tyler Robinson. What do all three have in common?” Lyman asked before adding, “They’re all left wing.”
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