WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader John Thune told Breitbart News exclusively that unfortunately Democrats on the radical left have allowed the normalization of “violent behavior” in furtherance of their agenda as evidenced by the many Democrats celebrating the tragic assassination of conservative leader Charlie Kirk.
“I think that it’s really unfortunate that this is what the political left in this country has become, where inciting violence and violent behavior has been normalized,” Thune said in a phone interview on Wednesday. “It’s unfortunate, because you’re right. There’s so much traffic online right now that is really disgusting, and I think it speaks to the position they’re in. I think they are desperate, and I think Charlie Kirk was a reminder to them of the failure of their ideas. I think you’re seeing the evidence of that in a lot of the online spewing on the left. I think it’s a reminder to those of us who care deeply about this country that we have to be fully engaged in this public debate and continue to win that argument in the way that Charlie showed us how to do.”
Hundreds of Democrat activists have celebrated the assassination and attacked Kirk in the wake of the shooting last week, including elements of the radical left funded by left-wing billionaires like the Nation magazine and even Democrat members and staffers in Congress as well as a U.S. Secret Service agent, doctors, teachers, and many other Democrats. But while the left has gone way off the deep end in favor of political violence, many on the American right and throughout the mainstream of American society have celebrated Kirk’s life and legacy in the aftermath of the tragedy.
Several professional sports team like the Green Bay Packers, Miami Dolphins, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, and more have held moments of silence while tens of thousands of Americans have gathered at vigils in communities nationwide including perhaps most significantly at the Kennedy Center in the nation’s capital this weekend. Thune praised Kirk for inspiring so many Americans and argued his assassination is a true loss for the American identity at the core of which is the support of the freedom of speech and open debate.
“It certainly speaks to the power that one individual with strong convictions and a passion to win other people over to his positions on the important issues of the day, the incredible powerful impact that can have,” Thune told Breitbart News. “I mean, I said this before, but I think that Charlie Kirk was somebody who inspired a generation of Americans to certain causes greater than themselves, and what a horrible, tragic loss to the cause of democracy and free and open debate, and again, that just the power of somebody’s willingness to put themselves out there and to take the slings and arrows of the left in a way that just was inspiring to many, many Americans, particularly younger people. So, as we mourn his loss this week, we, I think, celebrate the impact that he had, and obviously continue to pray for his family.”
More from Thune’s latest interview with Breitbart News is forthcoming soon.
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