AOC: ‘We Should Be Clear About Who Charlie Kirk Was ... Uneducated & Ignorant’

Ocasio-Cortez: “... a license for the abuse of power and whitewashing of American history. Today’s resolution only underscores the majority’s recklessness by choosing to author this condemnation and honoring on a purely partisan basis instead of uniting Congress in this tragedy with one of the many bipartisan options to condemn political violence and Kirk’s murder as we did with the late Melissa Hortman. Instead, the majority proceeded with a resolution that brings great pain to the millions of Americans who endured segregation, Jim Crow, and the legacy of bigotry today. We should be clear about who Charlie Kirk was, a man who believed that the Civil Rights Act that granted black Americans the right to vote was a mistake, who after the violent attack on Paul Pelosi claimed that, quote, ‘some amazing patriot,’ unquote, should bail out his brutal assailant, and accused Jews of controlling, quote, ‘not just the colleges, it’s the nonprofits, it’s the movies, it’s Hollywood, it’s all of it,’ unquote. His rhetoric and beliefs were ignorant, uneducated, and sought to disenfranchise millions of Americans, far from the, quote, ‘working tirelessly to promote unity,’ unquote, asserted by the majority in this resolution. It is equally important that Congress does unite to reject the government’s attempt to weaponize this moment into an all-out assault on free speech across the country, all in the name of Charlie Kirk. President Trump and the FCC are now cynically threatening to shut down ABC and any outlets who give airtime to the administration’s political critics. This is a disgusting attack on the American people and the very First Amendment rights that define us as a country. It is also the ABC Corporation’s responsibility to refuse to embolden and participate in this corruption and escalation of censorship. We continue to pray for Mr. Kirk’s family and loved ones in the wake of this terrible act. I am thinking especially of his children and his wife whose grief cannot be measured. And with that, I yield back to the gentleman.”