Did Trump Just Declare War on the American Left?

"In the hours immediately after the conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed in front of a large crowd of students at a Utah university on Wednesday, there was no word on who had actually done it and no explanation for why it had happened. But, in Washington, those who profess certainty no longer need much in the way of facts: partisans come equipped with preëxisting truths, and events are slotted into narratives that existed long before the events occurred."

"In a different time, it might have been easier to dismiss Mace as just playing to the cameras, and to take heart instead from the many statements rejecting political violence and expressing shock, horror, and solidarity that were already rolling in from Democrats and Republicans alike. Vice-President J.D. Vance offered a heartfelt eulogy on X, calling the thirty-one-year-old political provocateur, who had been his close friend, an exemplar of "a foundational virtue of our Republic: the willingness to speak openly and debate ideas.""

Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist, was shot and killed in front of students at a Utah university, with no immediate clarity about the shooter or motive. Washington partisans quickly applied preexisting narratives and assigned blame despite absent facts. Republican congresswoman Nancy Mace publicly blamed Democrats, insisting "Democrats own this a hundred per cent." Other officials expressed shock and rejection of political violence, including Vice‑President J.D. Vance, who praised Kirk's willingness to debate ideas. On the House floor, members briefly observed a moment of silence, then erupted into a shouting match, underscoring frayed bipartisan norms and heightened polarization.

Read at The New Yorker