Democrats Can't Erase Republicans From Instances of Political Violence and Expect Unity

Following the assassination of Charlie Kirk, one of the most well-known conservative activists in the country, politicians and pundits rushed to the airwaves with their favorite line: political violence exists on both sides. Democrats, in particular, love reminding us that violence happens to them, too. That’s true. But the way they twist the narrative—by erasing Republican victims and minimizing the violence committed by their side—makes it impossible for Republicans to take seriously their calls for unity and “toning down the rhetoric.”

Take Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. Earlier this year, the Pennsylvania Executive Residence was firebombed while his family was inside. It is horrific, and thank God no one was hurt. Shapiro just tweeted about it again in light of Charlie Kirk’s murder, using the moment to remind people that he, too, was targeted. However, he left out the assailant’s motive: he was a pro-Palestinian activist who specifically targeted Shapiro because he’s Jewish. Why erase the identity and motive of the attacker? Because Pro-Palestinianism is a cause dear to leftist activists?

Or look at the killing of Minnesota state senator Melissa Hortman, her husband, and their dog. Democrats online spun a false narrative that Republicans, led by Trump, somehow celebrated her death. That never happened. Trump immediately expressed condolences and sent the FBI to help catch the killer. And when the suspect confessed, he said he acted because he believed Governor Tim Walz told him to. That fact alone blows apart the idea that this was right-wing political violence. But Democrats would rather peddle a lie than admit reality.

Most egregiously, this pattern shows up in how Democrats retell the 2011 shooting of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords. Her husband, Senator Mark Kelly, has spoken at length about the trauma—and rightfully so. But when Senator Kelly went on a livestream done by the Free Press with Bari Weiss last week, he failed to mention that U.S. District Judge John Roll, a Bush-appointed Republican judge, was murdered at the same event his wife Congresswoman Giffords was shot at.

Senator Kelly isn’t the only Democrat who leaves out the Republican killed in the attack which also left Congresswoman Giffords with brain damage. Mike Emanuel mentioned the situation as an instance of right-wing violence in an appearance on Fox, despite the shooter being a paranoid schizophrenic who killed a Republican Judge as well. Gabby Giffords didn’t even mention Judge John Roll’s death in her own statement about Charlie Kirk’s shooting–she did call for gun control, though. Neither did the op-ed she co-published with Jeff Flake in USA Today.

In their attempt to make the conversation about political violence about “both sides,” Democrats actively erase Republican victims of political violence from the same events. Really, they’re making Charlie Kirk’s assassination about themselves, and their preferred policy objectives–gun control. If Democrats truly want unity, they cannot diminish their own side’s involvement in political violence, erase Republican’s experiences of political violence in the stories they tell to prove their point, and use these situations to pivot to their preferred policy debates.

Now, as the facts around Charlie Kirk’s assassination come into focus, the same narrative spin is already happening. Reports indicate the assassin was motivated by left-wing ideology, with ties to extremist transgender networks. Authorities have arrested individuals—including foreign nationals with pipe bombs—connected to the attack. Group chats show up to 20 transgender furries in Utah likely had prior knowledge of this attack, as they discussed in their group chats. Yet every time Democrats and the media discuss the case, their first concern isn’t Charlie Kirk. Their first concern is that “transgender individuals across America” might feel stigmatized. The conservative leader who was gunned down is treated as an afterthought, while “protected classes” are elevated as the real victims.

This is the script: erase Republicans from their own tragedies, pretend violence only flows in one direction, and then lecture us about “toning down the rhetoric.” It’s insulting. It’s gaslighting. And it’s dangerous.

Political violence is wrong—always. Nobody should be targeted because of their political beliefs. But if Democrats cannot even speak honestly about who the victims are, if they can’t acknowledge Republican lives lost in the same breath as Democratic ones, then they have no standing to lecture conservatives.

Charlie Kirk’s assassination should have been a moment of clarity: political violence has gone too far. Instead, Democrats are using it to push the same dishonest narrative they’ve always used—that only they are victims, and conservatives are somehow to blame for everything.

How can we take calls for unity from the Democrats seriously, if they simultaneously erase violence against Republicans from the stories they tell? We cannot allow half-truths and selective storytelling to become the record of history. When they erase Republican victims, they erase the truth, and it is incumbent on Republicans and conservatives to set the record straight, rather than be polite and engage in “both sides” rhetoric.