FLASH
Shkruar nga Jonathan Freedland
The murder of Charlie Kirk reveals a dangerous climate of polarization, where the violent rhetoric of Donald Trump and his allies is pushing the country toward an inevitable clash.
The murder of conservative figure Charlie Kirk has shaken the political climate in the US and increased fears that the country is approaching a new era of political violence. The arrest of a suspect has not eased public anxiety, but rather has raised fears that any political affiliation of the suspect could become a cause for new clashes.
The US is a country with a violent political history. From the civil war to the assassinations of the 1960s, the country has gone through difficult and traumatic moments. But this current moment is different. The number of guns in circulation is the highest it has ever been in history. Technology and social media amplify the most extreme voices and spread anger instantly, without any filter.
More worrying is the reaction from the top of politics. Where previously American presidents called for calm, unity and reflection after violent acts, Donald Trump chooses to do the opposite. Instead of condemning the violence and calling for national unity, he uses the event to blame his political opponents, declaring that the “radical left” is responsible for the murder.
This rhetoric is not only dangerous, but also distorted. The facts show that the absolute majority of violent political acts in the US in recent years have been committed by right-wing extremists. Yet Trump and other right-wing figures choose to ignore these realities and fuel a sense of persecution among their supporters.
The reaction from Trump’s camp has been neither comforting nor reflective. The media voices close to him have spoken of revenge, of war, and of the need to “avenge” Kirk’s death. Some have declared that the country is now “at war.” This is a coded, and perhaps not so coded, call for violent confrontation.
In the face of this brutalized climate, the democratic camp has tried to maintain traditional norms of political behavior: condemnation of violence, condolences to the victim's family, calls for moderation and unity. But this response, while dignified, is subject to a dangerous asymmetry. The right no longer hesitates to make propaganda even over the bodies of the victims, while the left risks appearing weak because it refuses to respond with the same aggressive language.
Meanwhile, the image of Charlie Kirk is being reconstructed by the right as that of a martyr, a voice of reason, and a symbol of patriotism. His extremist views, including racist, anti-feminist, and anti-Semitic statements, are being completely ignored in an attempt to turn him into a saintly figure for the conservative cause. This is a classic strategy to push the boundaries of what society considers acceptable.
Essentially, this is what the culture of political warfare in the US is doing today: it rewards those who break the rules, who use violence as a political instrument, and who no longer recognize the law as a boundary. Meanwhile, those who seek to uphold ethics and democratic standards feel increasingly powerless.
In this context, the danger is not simply an isolated outbreak of violence. The danger is institutional: a climate where polarization, fear, and divisive rhetoric make it impossible to build a national consensus, even in the wake of tragedies. And when that happens, democracy itself enters into crisis.
If the US loses the ability to respond with prudence, equity and justice in the wake of political violence – then every crisis will turn into a clash. And every clash could bring greater destruction. And that is what seems more likely today than ever. / Adapted from “The Guardian”
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