Trump's Reichstag Fire - The Kafkaesque Consequences Of Charlie Kirk's Assassination

‘Every democratic politician must be arrested, and the party banned under RICO.’ These were the words of far-right activist Matt Forney following the extraordinary killing of Charlie Kirk earlier this month. Despite three quarters of political violence in America over the last ten years having been perpetrated by the right, Kirk’s assassination has already been followed by a crackdown on America’s left, and it is only going to get worse. Trump has been waiting, and Kirk’s death has given him an opportunity to do so.

The administration’s supposed sorrow at Kirk’s death was very short-lived, rapidly it became clear that its response would be persecution and vitriol. Even in his address to the nation immediately following Kirk’s death, Trump specifically bemoaned the ‘far-left’ as directly responsible, even before the killer or their motives had been identified. In fact, he more or less set out the persecutorial roadmap which would follow, saying he would ‘go after the organisations that fund and support’ political violence, whatever that means. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller has described the left’s ‘political violence’ as a ‘vast domestic terrorist movement.’ One thing becomes clear with all of this, if he ever was, Trump has now decided to stop trying to unite the nation under his flag. Now he is openly going after his opponents. We have already seen Jimmy Kimmel suspended from ABC for saying nothing even remotely controversial about Kirk, and Trump has threatened that other TV programmes which oppose his administration should be cancelled as well. Interestingly, though, Trump has called on his supporters to respond to Kirk’s death with nonviolence, laughably referring to the far-right influencer as ‘an advocate for nonviolence.’ Have his supporters responded so? Let’s see. 

The answer is no, right wing figures online are virtually unanimous in seeing Charlie Kirk’s death as an act of war by the left. Steve Bannon has said that ‘Charlie Kirk is a victim of war’ going on to say that the US is now a warzone. Elon Musk emerged from the shadows to say that the right must ‘fight or die.’ To respond with such extraordinarily violent rhetoric sacrifices any moral high ground that the right claims to have gained following the shooting. JD Vance has often been a go-between between Trump and his supporters, and as he is wont to do, has only stoked dangerous rhetoric. He has said that those who celebrate or mock the death of the fascist Kirk should be reported, ‘call them out, and hell, call their employer.’ As a result of this extraordinary campaign, many in the public sector have lost their jobs. This sets a dangerous precedent. This essentially silences anybody in these sectors, which include the secret service and police, who hold views hostile to those of the establishment. These should be neutral, and Donald Trump is making sure they serve him and his views.

Clearly, the era of persecution has begun. Guardian columnist David van Reybrouck has pleaded that this not be Donald Trump’s Reichstag fire. His excuse to persecute his enemies on the left, but it is frighteningly apparent that he is seizing this opportunity to do exactly that. 

On an even broader level, this episode has demonstrated that to all American politicians, not just those in Trump’s camp, some lives are more valuable than others. Even liberal figures such as Joe Biden and Barack Obama were quick to condemn Kirk’s death, similarly, calling for an end to political violence. Yet where is their condemnation of the deaths of over 60,000 Palestinians in Gaza? Or in other conflicts such as those in Sudan or Congo? Are they not too the victims of politics? Is Israel’s genocide in Palestine not a political project? Clearly ‘political violence’ is only applied to violence against people in the political class. Why is it worse that political figures are the victims of their politics rather than innocent civilians. I am by no means condoning political violence, but episodes such as this one make it obvious that in politics, the life of a Charlie Kirk is more important than a civilian’s. Make no mistake about it, Charlie Kirk was a vicious racist, Zionist, misogynistic perpetrator of hate, but his death only serves as a catalyst for America’s inevitable descent into fascism. In many ways in death, he has done the greatest service to the abhorrent principles he stood for. 

Illustration: Will Allen/Europinion