Leftist pundits, Dem lawmakers blame Trump's 'rhetoric' after Charlie Kirk's killing

Democratic lawmakers and media figures have attributed the shocking assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk to President Donald Trump's "rhetoric," igniting fierce backlash among conservative critics who have said the killing was a result of Democrats inciting political violence against their opponents by labeling Republicans as "Nazis" and other derogatory terms.

MSNBC host Jen Psaki, former Democrat press secretary under the Biden administration, reacted to President Trump's Wednesday night statement, where he attributed Kirk's assassination to years of vile rhetoric from the "radical left." Psaki agreed that there has been "problematic rhetoric," but said it has been coming from Trump and conservatives, instead.

"[President Trump] put out a four-minute video, and I'm not going to play the video, I don't want to play the video," Psaki said on her MSNBC show The Briefing. "But there was a line at the end that I think is, I just wanted to raise and read. At the end of this four-minute video, he says, 'For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world's worst mass murderers and criminals. This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we're seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now.'"

"And obviously, there's a lot of rhetoric that is problematic," Psaki continued. "A lot of it is coming from one particular side [Republicans] and from one particular building [the White House]." She then accused Trump's plea to end left-wing political violence as an "escalation."

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) made similar remarks on Thursday when asked by reporters if Democrats should stop referring to Republicans as "Nazis" in light of the assassination. 

"Oh, please. Why don't you start with the President of the United States? And every ugly meme he has posted, and every ugly word," Warren said.

Additionally, CNN featured a former Obama Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official who rebuked the political violence occurring in America, but claimed it was coming from both parties in light of the assassination. 

"Political violence has been unleashed. And we can talk about this attempt or that attempt or that assassination, whatever. It's happening both on the left and right, and rational people know that," said Juliette Kayyem. "The commonality we need as a nation is to understand that a free society only exists when people feel they can enter the political arena as Charlie Kirk did, say things that people like or dislike, and not be killed for it. This is an attack on the United States, as well as Charlie Kirk...This is a path that is really bad for the United States."

Kirk, a prominent conservative activist described by President Trump as an "American legend," was assassinated in cold blood while debating those who politically disagreed with him during a TPUSA speaking event at Utah Valley University on September 10.