Charlie Kirk shooting reverberates across Washington: From the Politics Desk

In today’s edition of Political officeWe dive into the way in which Charlie Kirk’s assassination has repercussions in the White House and Capitol Hill.

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How Charlie Kirk helped place JD Vance on the way to the vice-presidency

By Henry J. Gomez

Without Charlie Kirk, there could be no vice-president JD Vance.

The eminent conservative activist, who was murdered yesterday when he was speaking on a university campus in Utah, was an integral part of the rise of Vance in national politics from the first days.

In public, Kirk announced Vance as a worthy republican perspective – even when others had suspicions on the past of Vance as skeptic by Donald Trump.

And, behind the scenes, Kirk was a contribution, connecting Vance to others who would be invaluable to help him navigate in a course of Magovement outsider to insider.

Thus, the news of the death of Kirk landed particularly strong on Vance. The vice-president, in a last-minute decision that underlined their proximity, canceled his intention to attend a commemorative ceremony of September 11 in New York and rather went to Salt Lake City, where he and the second Lady Usha Vance were to meet the family and friends of Kirk.

From there, Air Force Two had to transport the Kirk coffin, as well as his family, in Phoenix, a source familiar with the plans at NBC News. Kirk had based its political organization, Turning Point USA, there.

“Charlie was fascinated by ideas and always willing to learn and change his mind,” wrote Vance in a tribute similar to a praise on X. “Like me, he was skeptical about Donald Trump in 2016. Like me, he came to see President Trump as the only figure capable of moving American politics far from globalism that had dominated all our life.

Vance, 41, and Kirk, 31, shared a common cause as representatives of a younger and inspired conservatism brand of Trump who prospered in a new media ecosystem populated by right podcasts. Trump awareness of young male voters and podcast hosts they listen to – helped by allies such as Vance and Kirk – was considered an important element of its winning strategy in 2024.

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How Trump reacts: In a video message last night, Trump blamed the “radical left” for the death of Kirk, even if the identity and the motive of the shooter are not yet known, report Jonathan Allen and Amanda Terkel. He also promised to continue “each of those who contributed to this atrocity and to other political violence”.

Trump called for “all Americans and the media to face the fact that violence and murder are the tragic consequence of demonizing those with whom you do not agree”. But he then called “radical left political violence”, without paying tribute to democratic politicians who were targeted, including in Minnesota and Pennsylvania this year.

“From the attack on my life to Butler, Pennsylvania, last year – who killed a husband and a father – to attacks against ice agents, to the vicious murder of a health care manager in the streets of New York, to the shooting of the majority of the Steve Scalise Chamber and three others, said Radical Left The political violence has too much innocent people and has taken over many innocent people and has taken too many people. said Trump.

Trump gave a more measured tone today during a souvenir ceremony on September 11 at Pentagon, where he said that he would award the presidential medal posthumously to Kirk, reports Ben Kamisar.

In relation: Inside the White House, officials learned the death of Charlie Kirk, by Monica Alba, Kristen Welker, Gabe Gutierrez and Henry J. Gomez

Congress members fear their security after Kirk’s assassination

By Scott Wong, Melanie Zanona and Kyle Stewart

The assassination of Charlie Kirk sends shock waves via Capitol Hill, the legislators on both sides of the aisle expressing their fears for their own security and taking greater security precautions after a summer of political violence.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y., the progressive star who has faced many death threats over the years, said that she had postponed two public events scheduled for this weekend in North Carolina, including a rally in Raleigh for Sunday.

“From the moment I was elected, I felt that I accept a certain level of risk to do this work,” Ocasio-Cortez to journalists. But she added that security protocols for Congress members are “for a bygone period … They are not designed for an era of digital threat”.

Other legislators say that they do not hold major city halls or public events – just small private events.

Republican representative Nancy Mace, who presents herself to the post of Governor in South Carolina, said that she cancels all outdoor and public events in the foreseeable future, including a next speech concert on a university campus.

Open critic of transgender people and housing for them, Mace said that it has felt an increase in violent threats from a recent ground spit she had with a Democrat in the House and asked for additional protection against the Capitol police and the chamber sergeant in Arms. Since Kirk’s assassination, Mace has said, she has also asked local police to patrol her district office and plans to start carrying a firearm wherever she can.

Threats to Congress members were already increasing before Kirk’s death. At the end of this calendar year, the American Capitol police said he was on the right work in 14,000 threat evaluation involving members, against 9,000 last year.

The president of the Chamber, Mike Johnson, R-La., Said that he called on calls concerned since the shooting and assured legislators that they undertake “a very in-depth examination of existing options and the way we may need to improve it to ensure the security and security of members”.

But Johnson also admitted that there are limits to the protection of the 535 members of the congress, stressing that it would cost billions of dollars and thousands of additional police to provide a security detail to each member, which is simply not realistic.

“There are many security measures in place for the members of the congress, at home, in their offices and when they go. But we live in a dangerous society, and it is difficult to cover even the President of the United States from all angles,” said Johnson. “The problem, ultimately, ultimately, is the human heart, that’s what we have to approach.”

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More Kirk shooting coverage:

It’s all of the political bureau for the moment. Today’s newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner and Ben Kamisar.

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