CNN Talker: Democrats Were 'Generally Much More Unified In This Is Wrong' After Kirk’s Assassination

On September 15, 2025, former Republican turned Democrat and Never Trumper Joe Walsh went on CNN’s Laura Coates Live. Walsh is an ex-Republican congressman from Illinois who is now a registered Democrat voter. That shift is exactly why CNN brings him on: to present him as the so-called “Republican voice” who reliably trashes President Trump and Republicans while praising and covering for Democrats.

“To what happened last week. Generally the Democrats have been much more unified in this is wrong. The president of the United States, again we can't overlook this, did not lift a finger and hasn't to unify the country. He's humanly incapable of it. That’s really problematic.”

In reality, Democrat leaders and their voters were anything but unified in this wrong — they objected when Republicans tried to extend a tribute in Congress, skipped the Capitol vigil, refused to lower flags in some states, and too many mocked or celebrated Kirk’s assassination. That’s not “generally unified,” that’s deeply divided.

Most Democrats didn’t show up for the vigil. In Statuary Hall, dozens of Republicans, including their leadership, gathered to honor Kirk. Only a handful of Democrats appeared. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries — the top Democrat in the chamber — skipped altogether. Confronted by reporters, he brushed it off with, “I had a meeting,” and shrugged, “I don’t know,” when asked why more Democrats didn’t attend. For a party supposedly “much more unified,” their absence spoke louder than words.

Democrats may have stood for the moment of silence, but the tribute collapsed into a shouting match the moment Rep. Lauren Boebert requested a spoken prayer. Instead of allowing it, Democrats erupted, shouting her down and turning what should have been a solemn moment into partisan theater.

And all across the country, Democrats publicly showed where they stood. Some in office — including figures like Rep. Ilhan Omar and others in Congress — mocked Kirk or framed his death as something he brought on himself. Other Democrats refused to lower flags. Countless thousands of Democrat voters continue to flood social media with posts celebrating the assassin, jeering at mourners, and excusing political violence. Yet most Democrat leaders stayed silent — they did not call on their voters to stop. Memorials were vandalized, vigils stomped out. One Colorado family put up a memorial for Kirk at their home, only to see it burned down and their car windows smashed.

Among additional incidents: a stand-up comedian gloating over Kirk’s death; an airline pilot celebrating it; a doctor saying she was “glad that Charlie Kirk got himself f*cking shot”; users on Bluesky mocking the assassination; students in a college Democrats group chat making light of his killing. A site called Expose Charlie’s Murderers reported more than 50,000 submissions of individuals glorifying the killing — including teachers, lawyers, journalists, doctors, nurses, public officials, federal employees, U.S. military service members, and others in trusted professions.

Examples like these never stop, and they are what we should be talking about on CNN — not Joe Walsh’s claim that “generally” most Democrats stood in unity. CNN gives Walsh a platform because he plays the role of the “Republican voice” willing to attack his own side, while ignoring the ugly reality of how Democrats actually responded.

And while Walsh accused Trump of being “humanly incapable” of uniting the country, it was Trump who condemned the assassination directly, calling it “a dark moment for America,” praising Kirk as “a tremendous person,” ordering flags lowered nationwide, and urging Americans to remain peaceful.

If Democrats were unified in anything, it wasn’t in condemning Kirk’s assassination. They were unified in withholding respect — skipping vigils, cutting off a prayer, answering with indifference, and using his death to attack him. That is the real “unity” Walsh ignored.

But instead of covering these ugly truths, CNN handed Joe Walsh the microphone to sell a misleading story of Democratic unity in condemning Charlie Kirk’s assassination.