This is incredible. We just witnessed an alarming (and successful) attempt at stunting freedom of expression when Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was shot in the throat and killed by a leftist assassin at the start of a college speaking tour. Kirk was murdered because some people didn't agree with what he had to say and found it necessary to kill him. On Monday night, late-night "comedian" Jimmy Kimmel claimed that MAGA conservatives had spent the weekend pretending that the shooter wasn't one of them.
Was Tyler Robinson a lone wolf? A lot of people on social media seemed to have foreknowledge of "something big" happening on September 10. The FBI said it was expanding its investigation into leftist groups in Utah, like the Armed Queers of Salt Lake City, which scrubbed its Instagram account after Kirk's killing.
The Washington Post is now reporting that President Donald Trump and his allies have launched an "alarming attempt to stunt freedom of expression" because Kimmel was pulled off the air. No, Trump didn't make a call to ABC and demand that Kimmel be canceled. Trump didn't call school districts and demand that teachers who celebrated Kirk's assassination on social media be fired.
A week after the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, President Trump and his allies are attacking critics of the right-wing activist, a campaign detractors described as an alarming attempt to stunt freedom of expression. https://t.co/wUASn6rQoi
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) September 18, 2025
Michael Birnbaum, Sarah Ellison, and Perry Stein report:
Trump is “very much wanting to use the tools of the government to try to silence the speech that he doesn’t like,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California at Berkeley School of Law and a leading First Amendment scholar. “It’s not a new playbook for people to use power in that way, but we’ve never seen a president do anything like this before.”
…
Supporters of the White House campaign denied that it represents a threat to First Amendment rights and described it as a needed corrective to years in which they say they were targeted by the left for their political views.
Oh, No! So we'll just sit back and shut up while you k!ll us for speaking, shall we? I mean, k!lling someone seems like a much more drastic way to "stunt freedom of expression" than getting morons fired, but I may be exaggerating since I'm a right wing extremist.
— AllHatNoCattle (@expattexan) September 18, 2025
You really gonna go there?
— California Patriot (@ashesdephoenix) September 18, 2025
The Left frickin’ shot and killed the guy for speaking. Condemning those celebrating or excusing it is how society makes clear that won’t be tolerated. https://t.co/4XSALTphMm
— Margot Cleveland (@ProfMJCleveland) September 18, 2025
We’re coming after the ghouls that celebrated it.
— Juan d’Arc - l’inferno sta arrivando 🇺🇸 (@juan0farc) September 18, 2025
If you just had an opinion, no big deal, but if you danced on his grave then there’s no place for you in polite society.
And we’ll make sure of it.
Hey WaPo! Just put the shovel down. The hole you’re in is already deep enough.
— Marc Balay (@MarcAlanBalay) September 18, 2025
More alarming than assassinating a man for his expression?
— Guy Amoresano (@gvincentamore) September 18, 2025
Oh, they were critics, were they? That's all they were doing was criticizing?
— fearthestingerTJ (@TJtheSting) September 18, 2025
You're next, WaPo.
NBC News has already reported that teachers are being fired for "sharing opinions" about Kirk's murder.
Hey, you know what else was an alarming attempt to stunt freedom of expression?
— 42 cannons (@Royal_Fortune_1) September 18, 2025
Does the Washington Post mean there might be consequences for shooting and killing Trump's friend for the crime of speaking on a college campus?
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