Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” Sunday that he viewed the killing of Charlie Kirk as “an attack on a political movement.”
“I see this as an attack on a political movement,” Graham said. “I see this being different. Charlie Kirk is one of the top three people in the country that allowed President Trump to win in 2024 by his efforts.”
Most Republicans, Graham added, saw Kirk’s killing as “an attack on a movement by using violence.”
He urged people not to “resort to violence to settle your political differences.” The best way to honor Kirk’s legacy, Graham said, was to organize, debate and push for conservatives to win in 2026.
“I reject political violence,” Graham said. “If you are offended by what somebody says or does, then take up a political cause to fight back, not a gun, not a bomb, not a knife.”
Graham’s comments come as Americans grapple with rising political violence, including an attack on Democratic Minnesota state lawmakers that left one legislator and her husband dead and critically injured another earlier this year and the two assassination attempts against President Donald Trump last summer.
Kirk’s killing, which was captured on video and quickly circulated on social media, was the latest episode of high-profile political violence.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox also said on “Meet the Press” that friends of the suspected shooter were on the “deep, dark internet” and interested in “Reddit culture.” The governor also laid blame on social media for recent assassinations and assassination attempts.
On Sunday, Graham pushed for the repeal of Section 230, a provision of the Communications Decency Act that shields internet companies from liability for what users post.
“Section 230 needs to be repealed,” he said. “If you’re mad at social media companies that radicalize our nation, you should be mad.”
Section 230 has been a high-profile target of social media critics who note how the provision allows tech companies to avoid lawsuits for messages that spread on their platforms.
Also appearing on “Meet the Press” Sunday, Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., said Kirk’s shooting brought him back to when he received a phone call informing him that his wife, then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, was shot at a political event in 2011. Giffords ultimately survived.
“I immediately thought back to the day in 2011 when I got that phone call. And I know Erika, his wife, got a similar call,” Kelly said of Charlie Kirk’s wife. “And it is like a punch in the gut like I’ve never experienced before.”
Kirk’s shooting hit Giffords “pretty hard,” Kelly said, noting that his wife saw a video of the shooting. Graphic videos quickly proliferated online in the hours after Kirk was shot.
“I hope some of these social media companies can scrub this off the internet, because it’s not good for kids to see this,” Kelly said. “So, yeah, she’s had a tough week, and she’s thinking and praying for the Kirk family.”
Kelly described political violence in the country as “pervasive” and urged politicians to “be careful” about their words. The senator pushed back on Trump’s remarks blaming the left for political violence, noting that “both sides of the political spectrum experience this kind of violence.”
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg also condemned the shooting and Trump’s remarks on “Meet the Press” Sunday, saying that “this should not have happened” to Kirk and that “this should never happen to anyone.”
“We’re not getting the leadership we need to bring this country together from the White House,” Buttigieg said. He argued that the path forward was up to both “leaders and up to ordinary Americans.”
“Right now, the categories that matter in responding to this killing aren’t left and right or MAGA and Democrats,” he said. “I think the only category that really matters here is helping or hurting.”