During a joint press conference on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio characterized the assassination of as a “death in the family” for the White House, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cautioned that such political violence imperils democracy worldwide.
Rubio and Netanyahu were delivering their joint statements in Jerusalem after a meeting to discuss the ongoing conflict with Hamas in Gaza when a reporter inquired about the ramifications of Kirk’s assassination.
Rubio described the assassination as “horrifying” and “shocking” to those in the White House, specifically mentioning President and Vice President JD Vance, both of whom had a close relationship with Kirk.
“He was a personal friend to numerous individuals within that White House,” Rubio remarked concerning Kirk. “The president, the vice president, multiple people. It was a combination, you know, political assassination, but also a death in the family type event.”
Kirk’s work involved him engaging in debates with individuals holding opposing views and ideologies across university campuses and online. He was fatally shot during a debate on the campus of on Wednesday at a Turning Point USA event.
Both Rubio and Netanyahu asserted that the assassination constituted a threat to democracy, noting its apparent aim to “intimidate” and “silence” efforts for discourse among those with differing opinions, not only in America but globally.
“When a society loses the capacity for individuals with strong disagreements to engage in discourse, the sole remaining options are either silence or violence,” one of the speakers stated. “Neither of these is acceptable. Both are extremely destructive.”
The prime minister then posed a rhetorical question about how democracies might confront members of society who do not uphold free speech and instead resort to violence.
“How does one genuinely confront the peril of the poisonous incitement from individuals who do not believe in free speech, who seek to impose their beliefs on others? They speak of democracy but, in reality, wish to crush it. How do you manage such a threat?” the prime minister questioned.
Netanyahu subsequently defined democracy as “the nonviolent resolution of conflict within a society.”
“Nonviolent resolutions and decisions are achieved through balance, not bullets,” he stated. “And these individuals are becoming progressively more violent.”