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The House of Representatives this week moved to honor Charlie Kirk after the shocking assassination that took place at a college event in Utah, an act of political violence that should have united every decent American in condemnation. Instead of unanimous grief and restraint, we watched Congress fracture along predictable partisan lines as members traded eulogies for score-settling.
The resolution passed 310-58, a clear majority that sought to condemn violence and recognize a conservative voice who energized a generation of young Americans. Yet nearly 60 Democrats voted against it, exposing a grotesque willingness to politicize a murder rather than allow the country a moment to mourn and reflect.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez used her House floor time not to call for unity against political violence but to skewer Kirk’s record, labeling his rhetoric “ignorant” and “uneducated” and making clear she would oppose honoring him. That public rebuke on the House floor, coming immediately after an assassination, was tone-deaf at best and callous at worst, and it signals a left that has lost the instinct for common decency.
Conservative lawmakers and grassroots Americans reacted with righteous fury to AOC’s speech, and they were right to call out the hypocrisy of mourning a life while simultaneously denouncing the man whose death is being mourned. Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republicans correctly noted that this was supposed to be about rejecting violence, not sanitizing partisan disagreements for the convenience of those who profit politically from division.
What we are witnessing is more than a disagreement about ideology; it is a cultural rot where some on the left appear eager to erase a man’s life’s work the moment his life is taken, because they cannot tolerate his ideas. When members of Congress choose posthumous character assassination over sober repudiation of violence, they betray every citizen who believes in the rule of law and the marketplace of ideas.
This is not about sanctifying every word Kirk ever spoke or pretending conservatives are beyond reproach — it is about applying a basic standard of human decency and refusing to let political hostility normalize the spectacle of dismembering a person’s legacy while their family watches. Conservatives should lead on this principle: condemn the violence unequivocally, defend robust debate, and hold accountable anyone whose rhetoric moves from passionate to dangerous without ever endorsing lawlessness.
If Democrats truly cared about stemming the violence they claim to oppose, they would stop weaponizing tragedy for political gain and instead work with colleagues to strengthen security, protect free speech, and cool the overheated rhetoric on both sides. The American people are tired of elites who play moral grandstanding games while the country fractures; they want leaders who will unify rather than inflame.
We must honor Charlie Kirk’s memory by defending the freedoms he fought for and by standing firm against the moral bankruptcy of those who would use death as a cudgel. Hardworking Americans deserve better than a political class that exploits grief; they deserve leaders who put country above ideology and courage above cowardice.
