See updates through October 14, 2025, at end of post.
It can’t really be surprising that after Donald Trump declared war on U.S. cities,[1] and that even though Charlie Kirk’s assassin’s political leanings appear ambiguous,[2] Trump has declined to call for unity in the wake of the shooting, choosing instead to threaten retribution against the “radical left,”[3] a category that includes just about everyone who disagrees with him on anything.[4] And Democrats are uniformly condemning the horse that left the barn quite a long time ago, political violence, which, even according to a right-wing (capitalist libertarian) source, is much more of a phenomenon of the right than of the left,[5] which is to say, again unsurprisingly, that Democrats are useless mealy-mouths.
From what I’m seeing, a lot of experts think Kirk’s assassination will lead to yet more political violence. Certainly, a lot of folks on the right are talking about war—as if they were the ones under siege,[6] as if they weren’t the ones with their identities wrapped up in their guns.
We’ve certainly seen the right rise up violently before—the coup attempt on January 6, 2021, and for that matter, the Confederacy of the Civil War, all too obviously come to mind—and I’m fearful we will see it again. These are violent people, whose identities are wrapped up not only in their guns, but in their cruelty, their hatred, and their bigotry. They will be seeking our annihilation and they will enjoy it.
I don’t know how we respond to this. We are, generally speaking, not the ones with the guns. But we’re going to need to come up with something.
Update, September 14, 2025: Utah Governor Spencer Cox, in whose state the shooting occurred, is now saying that while a motive has not been determined, the suspect, Tyler Robinson, had a “leftist ideology” and was living with a partner who “is transitioning from male to female.” Cox has decried political violence[7] and one would accordingly hope that he is not confirming the darkest conspiracy theories I had heard about Robinson to intentionally add fuel to the flames.
Evidence supporting Cox’s not-quite-an-explanation[8] or any other[9] has yet to be made public but the governor’s announcement will surely be taken as confirmation by those on the right who are already inclined toward violence against the left.
Update, September 15, 2025: Nick Fuentes is emphatically denying any association with Tyler Robinson and denying that ‘Groypers’ (apparently his followers), who have reportedly seen Charlie Kirk as “insufficiently radical,” are behind Kirk’s assassination.[10] Meanwhile, Kirk’s vocal opponents are already facing “torrents of online abuse” and abusive phone calls, job suspensions or terminations, and even threats of deportation.[11]
As Amber Phillips puts it, “Since [Kirk’s] death, President Donald Trump and other Republicans have threatened the social standing and even livelihoods of Americans who appear to suggest on social media that Kirk brought on or even deserved what he got. . . .
“In Congress, Rep. Clay Higgins (R-Louisiana) said he is pushing Big Tech companies to ban users for life who ‘belittled the assassination of Charlie Kirk’ and said he wants to find ways to kick people out of school and revoke their driver’s licenses or business permits. ‘There are societal limits to the freedom of speech,’ he posted on social media.”[12]
Needless to say, nothing like this happened when Nancy Pelosi’s elderly husband was bludgeoned or when any of a number of other right-wingers committed various atrocities. So the message is clear: It is just fine when right-wingers spew bigotry, hatred, or other forms of venom. It is just fine when they plant bombs, send white powder in the mail, kill people, or even start a Civil War. But these ‘freedoms’ are exclusively for white Christian nationalists. And everyone else exists at the mere whim of white Christian nationalists.
Update, September 16, 2025: The hits keep on coming as Donald Trump has filed a $15 billion lawsuit against the New York Times in Florida[13] for what he alleges is a “decades long method of lying about your Favorite President (ME!), my family, business, the America First Movement, MAGA, and our Nation as a whole.”[14] As above, free speech is only for white Christian nationalists just like freedom of religion is only for white Christian nationalists.
Attorney General Pam Bondi, however, has had to walk back her comments threatening prosecutions for what she alleges is “hate speech” after a number of white Christian nationalists criticized her for them, with one calling her a “moron” and others calling for her to retract them and/or resign.[15] Plenty of others have been making the threats.[16]
As to the actual violence, Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro might be the first prominent Democrat to point out that “[u]nfortunately, some from the dark corners of the internet all the way to the Oval Office want to cherry-pick which instances of political violence they want to condemn.”[17] The difficulty here is that when, as it has, government fails to respond to people’s needs—even existential needs—or to peaceful protests, political violence becomes inevitable. Some of this is due to irreconcilable differences between white Christian nationalism and their critics and this is why I have long advocated a national divorce: As horrible and ugly as the South was in fighting the Civil War to defend slavery,[18] I think Abraham Lincoln’s determination to preserve the Union[19] failed to ultimately resolve the dispute even with the North’s military victory, and has led to nearly continuous strife ever since.
While some skepticism is due white Christian nationalist threats against everyone else, we need to remember as well that we no longer live in a constitutional oligarchy, but rather an aconstitutional broligarchy.[20] And any perceived lack of efficacy in carrying out these threats may further induce rage and physical violence—it’s an argument I recall when researching paleoconservatism for my dissertation where, if memory serves, a paleoconservative editor or publisher argued that he was providing an outlet for rage that might otherwise be channeled more destructively, and it’s an argument about largely the very same people.
Finally, the charging documents against Tyler Robinson strongly imply that Charlie Kirk’s hatred and suggest that Robinson’s romantic relationship with a transgender woman were factors in the killing.[21] At this point, it is unlikely to matter whether these allegations hold up in court: Violent white Christian nationalists will have all the reason they need to attack the left.
Update, September 23, 2025: So far as I know, Utah Governor Spencer Cox’s implication that Tyler Robinson’s motivation was leftist or pro-transsexual remains uncorroborated, and Jimmy Kimmel criticized white Christian nationalists[22] for what he termed as “desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it,”[23] leading to his suspension—a suspension that has now been reversed following considerable blowback even from some on the right. Two major station operators, Sinclair and Nexstar, have said however that they will continue to preempt Kimmel’s program and Federal Communications Commission chairperson Brendan Carr’s threat to stations that carry the show remains.[24]
Update, September 25, 2025: Please see a new post entitled, “About those shell casings,”[25] at https://www.disunitedstates.org/p/about-those-shell-casings
Update, September 28, 2025: Please see a new post entitled, “Donald Trump’s reign of terror,”[26] at https://www.disunitedstates.org/p/donald-trumps-reign-of-terror
Update, October 14, 2025: Politico reports that in “2,900 pages of chats, shared among a dozen millennial and Gen Z Republicans between early January and mid-August [2025],” “[Young Republican leaders] referred to Black people as monkeys and ‘the watermelon people’ and mused about putting their political opponents in gas chambers. They talked about raping their enemies and driving them to suicide and lauded Republicans who they believed support slavery.”[27]
Unsurprisingly, Republican operatives publicly disavow the chats, which were never intended to be made public. At least two heads have rolled among the participants in those chats—though many more were at least present, some contributing to this dialog and some saying nothing.[28] But there can be no further question about who we are dealing with on that side of the political polarization in the U.S.
I said earlier that “[t]hey will be seeking our annihilation and they will enjoy it.”[29] And, regrettably, I was right.
At the last conference (a “retreat”) of the Human Science Institute, some years ago, I advanced a theory of the morality of polarization in which people are good simply and solely because they are on our side, that what they do is righteous and justified simply and solely because they are on our side; people are evil simply and solely because they are on the other side, that what they do is wrong and inexcusable simply and solely because they are on the other side. I noted that it was hard to see how any reconciliation was possible when each side sees the other as irredeemably evil.
One of my fellow attendees, who was presenting at the time, had amassed all the necessary evidence for this theory. I merely put it all together in a nice neat theoretical package under questioning from the president and chief executive officer of the Institute.
We now have 2,900 pages of chats to add to that evidence. And we must not underestimate what we are up against.
[1] David Benfell, “Donald Trump goes to war with U.S. cities,” Not Housebroken, September 8, 2025, https://www.disunitedstates.org/p/donald-trump-goes-to-war-with-us
[2] Casey Tolan et al., “What we know about Charlie Kirk shooting suspect Tyler Robinson,” Cable News Network, September 13, 2025, https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/12/us/tyler-robinson-charlie-kirk-shooting-suspect-invs
[3] Susan B. Glasser, “Did Trump Just Declare War on the American Left?” New Yorker, September 11, 2025, https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-trumps-washington/did-trump-just-declare-war-on-the-american-left; Ben Johansen, “Trump says ‘we have to beat the hell’ out of ‘radical left lunatics’ after Kirk killing,” Politico, September 11, 2025, https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/11/trump-says-we-have-to-beat-the-hell-out-of-radical-left-lunatics-after-kirk-killing-00559170
[4] David Benfell, “I cannot yet dance on Charlie Kirk’s grave,” Not Housebroken, September 11, 2025, https://www.disunitedstates.org/p/i-cannot-yet-dance-on-charlie-kirks
[5] Alex Nowrasteh, “Politically Motivated Violence is Rare in the United States, Laissez-Faire, Laissez-Passer w/ Alex Nowrasteh & David Bier, September 11, 2025, https://www.alexnowrasteh.com/p/politically-motivated-violence-is
[6] Will Steakin, “After Charlie Kirk’s killing, MAGA world mourns, but some say ‘we’re at war,’” ABC News, September 12, 2025, https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/after-charlie-kirks-killing-maga-world-mourns-war/story?id=125483603
[7] Annabelle Timsit and Jeremy Roebuck, “Kirk shooting suspect had ‘leftist ideology’ but motive unclear, Utah gov. says,” Washington Post, September 14, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/09/14/charlie-kirk-tyler-robinson-motive/
[8] Annabelle Timsit and Jeremy Roebuck, “Kirk shooting suspect had ‘leftist ideology’ but motive unclear, Utah gov. says,” Washington Post, September 14, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/09/14/charlie-kirk-tyler-robinson-motive/
[9] Casey Tolan et al., “What we know about Charlie Kirk shooting suspect Tyler Robinson,” Cable News Network, September 13, 2025, https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/12/us/tyler-robinson-charlie-kirk-shooting-suspect-invs
[10] Brian Linder, “Alt-right white nationalist says he’s ‘being framed’ for Charlie Kirk’s murder: ‘These people are pure evil,’” September 13, 2025, https://www.al.com/politics/2025/09/alt-right-media-star-says-hes-being-framed-for-murder-of-charlie-kirk-in-late-night-x-post.html
[11] Raphael Satter and A. J. Vicens, “Charlie Kirk's allies warn Americans: Mourn him properly or else,” Reuters, September 13, 2025, https://apple.news/AEe8OOKZoR8qAa3cxpru0Ug
[12] Amber Phillips to 5-Minute Fix list, “How Kirk’s death sparked a free-speech debate,” Washington Post, September 15, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/newsletters/the-5-minute-fix/
[13] Jack Blanchard, “Trump sues the NYT,” Politico, September 16, 2025, https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2025/09/16/trump-sues-the-nyt-00565195
[14] Donald Trump, quoted in Jack Blanchard, “Trump sues the NYT,” Politico, September 16, 2025, https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2025/09/16/trump-sues-the-nyt-00565195
[15] Ashleigh Fields, “Bondi clarifies ‘hate speech’ comment after blowback,” Hill, September 16, 2025, https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5505482-hate-speech-first-amendment-debate/
[16] Will Steakin, “After Charlie Kirk’s killing, MAGA world mourns, but some say ‘we’re at war,’” ABC News, September 12, 2025, https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/after-charlie-kirks-killing-maga-world-mourns-war/story?id=125483603
[17] Allan Smith and Julie Tsirkin, “Gov. Josh Shapiro criticizes 'selective condemnation' of political violence,” NBC News, September 16, 2025, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/gov-josh-shapiro-political-violence-rcna231658
[18] Ta-Nehisi Coates, "What This Cruel War Was Over," Atlantic, June 22, 2015, http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/06/what-this-cruel-war-was-over/396482/; Tony Horwitz, "150 Years of Misunderstanding the Civil War," Atlantic, June 19, 2013, http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/06/150-years-of-misunderstanding-the-civil-war/277022/01/05/welcome_to_the_new_civil_war/; Tracy Thompson, "The South still lies about the Civil War," Salon, March 16, 2013, http://www.salon.com/2013/03/16/the_south_still_lies_about_the_civil_war/
[19] Abraham Lincoln, "A Letter From President Lincoln.; Reply to Horace Greeley. Slavery and the Union The Restoration of the Union the Paramount Object," New York Times, August 24, 1862, http://www.nytimes.com/1862/08/24/news/letter-president-lincoln-reply-horace-greeley-slavery-union-restoration-union.html
[20] Gil Duran, “How the 'Broligarchs' plan to use Trump,” Nerd Reich, November 25, 2024, https://www.thenerdreich.com/how-thebroligarchs-plan-to-use-trump/; Brooke Harrington, “What the Broligarchs Want From Trump,” Atlantic, November 24, 2024, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/11/broligarchy-elon-musk-trump/680788/; Lynn Parramore, “How to Disguise Racism and Oligarchy: Use Economics,” Evonomics, n.d., https://evonomics.com/how-to-disguise-racism-and-oligarchy-use-the-language-of-economics/
[21] Mark Berman, Angie Orellana Hernandez, and María Luisa Paúl, “Prosecutors say alleged Charlie Kirk gunman wrote: ‘I had enough of his hatred,’” Washington Post, September 16, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/09/16/kirk-shooting-suspect-tyler-robinson/
[22] Annabelle Timsit, Scott Nover, and Shannon Najmabadi, “ABC bringing Kimmel back to air, but some station owners are boycotting him,” Washington Post, September 23, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/09/23/jimmy-kimmel-disney-reinstated-reactions/
[23] Jimmy Kimmel, quoted in Annabelle Timsit, Scott Nover, and Shannon Najmabadi, “ABC bringing Kimmel back to air, but some station owners are boycotting him,” Washington Post, September 23, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/09/23/jimmy-kimmel-disney-reinstated-reactions/
[24] Annabelle Timsit, Scott Nover, and Shannon Najmabadi, “ABC bringing Kimmel back to air, but some station owners are boycotting him,” Washington Post, September 23, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/09/23/jimmy-kimmel-disney-reinstated-reactions/
[25] David Benfell, “About those shell casings,” Not Housebroken, September 25, 2025, https://www.disunitedstates.org/p/about-those-shell-casings
[26] David Benfell, “Donald Trump’s reign of terror,” Not Housebroken, September 28, 2025, https://www.disunitedstates.org/p/donald-trumps-reign-of-terror
[27] Jason Beeferman and Emily Ngo, “‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat,” Politico, October 14, 2025, https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/14/private-chat-among-young-gop-club-members-00592146
[28] Jason Beeferman and Emily Ngo, “‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat,” Politico, October 14, 2025, https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/14/private-chat-among-young-gop-club-members-00592146
[29] David Benfell, “White Christian nationalism on the march,” Not Housebroken, September 28, 2025, https://nothousebroken.substack.com/p/white-christian-nationalism-on-the