'Particularly disgusting': GOP senator blasts top conservatives' responses to Kirk murder
U.S. right-wing activist and commentator Charlie Kirk appears at a Utah Valley University speaking event in Orem, Utah, U.S. September 10, 2025. Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune via REUTERS
With tensions running high over the shocking assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Congress erupting in "partisan shouting" yesterday on the House floor, and conservative pundits calling for war and retribution, one Republican is telling people to cool it.
National Journal congressional policy reporter Nancy Vu reported Thursday that Sen.Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) has issued a sharp rebuke to his colleagues calling for violence.
"What I was really disgusted by yesterday is a couple of talking heads that sees this as an opportunity to say we're at war so that they could get some of our conservative followers lathered up over this," he said, "It seems like a cheap, disgusting, awful way to pretend like you're a leader of a conservative movement. And there were two in particular that I found particularly disgusting."
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One talking head Tillis may have been referencing is Fox News host Jesse Watters, who told his viewers, "They are at war with us, whether we want to accept it or not. And what are we going to do about it?"
Watters' comment was starkly different in tone compared to Tillis' initial reaction upon hearing of Kirk's assassination, in which he posted on X, "Political violence has no place in our society."
Another who may be the focus of Tillis's ire is Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.), who was quick to blame the media for Kirk's murder.
When a reporter questioned Van Orden's claim, the far-right MAGA Republican responded, "You know what, knock it off ... You are responsible for that assassination yesterday. You should be ashamed of yourself."
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While MAGA recoiled online at Tillis's condemnation of his colleagues, others agreed, with one noting, "This exact message should have come from Trump himself rather than a GOP representative."
