Karl Rove Rips Fellow Conservatives for Claiming an Unspecified ‘They’ Killed Charlie Kirk: ‘An Insult’
AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File
Fox News contributor Karl Rove took to the editorial page of The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday to blast those who alleged that a nebulous “they” killed Charlie Kirk.
Kirk was shot and killed while speaking at Utah Valley University last week. Prosecutors have charged 22-year-old Tyler Robinson with the killing. No one else has been charged in connection with the crime and authorities have given no indication that others may have been involved.
Immediately after the killing, before Robinson was apprehended and a motive had been ascertained, some conservatives blamed liberals for their criticisms of Kirk and right-wingers in general. Even after Robinson’s arrest, some right-wingers have been attributing Kirk’s killing to an unspecified “they.”
“[T]here has been a disturbing and growing undercurrent in our national conversation and on the internet, a pronounced emphasis on ‘they’ and ‘them,'” Rove wrote in an op-ed for the Journal. “Charlie would be alive but for ‘them.’ ‘They’ killed him. ‘They’ are responsible for his death. ‘They’ must be made to pay.”
Rove said in unequivocal terms that there is no “they” here:
No. Charlie Kirk wasn’t killed by “them.” “They” didn’t pull the trigger. One person did, apparently a young man driven by impulse and a terrible hate. If there were a “they” involved, law enforcement would find “them” and the justice system would hold “them” accountable. But “he” and “him” are the correct pronouns for this horrendous act.
Our culture is built on the principle that individuals are responsible for what they say and do. People can be influenced by words they hear and groups they’re part of. But we aren’t helpless automatons whose actions are dictated by others.
Using Charlie’s murder to justify retaliation against political rivals is wrong and dangerous. It will further divide and embitter our country. No good thing will come of it.
It is also an insult to his memory.
Rove concluded, “Above all, it needs to be repeated: Violence has no role in our country’s politics. Now or ever. Reasoned discourse is essential to our democracy. Charlie Kirk understood that. Let’s hope it’s a message his eulogists honor.”
Last summer after a lone gunman shot President Donald Trump in the ear, Kirk posted on YouTube, “They tried to kill Trump.”
