The president and his Maga allies have used the rightwing influencer’s killing to justify attacks on critics, experts say
Donald Trump and Maga allies have capitalized on the killing of rightwing influencer Charlie Kirk to expand attacks on liberal groups, donors, Democrats, and others by tarring many critics as the “enemy within” and “radical left” in a move that legal scholars and historians call authoritarian and anti-democratic.
Kirk’s killing by a lone gunman spurred Trump and top allies to quickly launch conspiratorial charges against a bevy of political foes and an investigation of billionaire liberal donor George Soros. They also threatened legal action against TV network ABC after their late-night star Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension over clumsy comments about Kirk ended.
While Kirk’s murder was a big personal blow to Trump and allies, a month on from the shocking event it seems to have provided cover for a sprawling retribution drive by the president and Maga world that endangers civil liberties against an array of critics in the media, universities, non-profits and other parts of American civil society, say scholars.
At the memorial for the slain conservative leader right after Kirk’s widow movingly said she would “forgive” his killer, Trump angrily declared: “I hate my opponents and I don’t wish the best for them,” words that scholars viewed as unpresidential with the potential to fuel more violence.
