On Thursday’s Morning Joe, MSNBC allowed Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) to not only dispel concerns around the Dallas shooter’s motive, but to portray President Trump as a destroyer of free speech.
When interviewing the Senator, host Willie Geist couldn’t help but slip in a hit against the right: “Vice President Vance immediately at an event blaming the left, blaming Democrats before we had all the information. Certainly did the same after the horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk.”
That's because the individual responsible for murdering Kirk was obviously motivated by political ideology. Somehow, we’re not past this.
The dubiously-worded Murphy began, “Listen, it should not matter whether the radicalization comes from the right or the left or, you know, sort of the non-ideological, deep, dark recesses of the internet.” For Murphy to muddy the waters by disregarding the source of Jahn’s motivation was deceptive. Instead of automatically blaming the other side, Murphy was removing the possibility of his own side potentially playing a part in the shooter’s ideology.
FBI Director Kash Patel recently revealed that the suspect wanted to terrorize ICE agents and was interested in footage of Kirk dying, which suggests that he could have been inspired by the assassination.
Murphy toed the party line by condemning Trump for not being a consoler-in-chief:
This President, this Vice President has had a chance now, since the assassination of Charlie Kirk, to bring the country together, to try to stamp out all sorts of violence, including political violence. And they refuse to do that. What they are trying to do is exploit these murders and these shootings in order to silence only dissent and political opposition on the left.
It is ludicrous to believe the Trump administration is trying to “silence only dissent.” If that were true, then they wouldn’t make appearances on the likes of ABC and CBS, nor would Trump allow reporters to constantly challenge him. They are sick and tired of every major political decision being wrongfully demonized.
As one should expect, Murphy gave the obligatory non-statement on political violence: “No, criticizing the way that ICE is rounding up people in this country in a deeply inhumane and immoral way is not an incitement to violence. There is a moment where you cross the line…” While true, Murphy again is redirecting blame away from the left. It's one thing to protest deportation, and another to compare ICE to the Gestapo like they're starting a new Holocaust. These are the inflammatory metaphors MSNBC is pushing.
And is it really immoral to hold trespassers that suck up American jobs and taxpayer resources accountable for breaking our laws?
Murphy continued, “…but what they are trying to do is to destroy the ability for people who oppose their policies to legitimately engage in political debate.” If Trump was really the dictator the left has made him out to be, then his critics would be too afraid to publicly dissent. The feigned resistance is simply moral grandstanding. Democrats are not satisfied with merely disagreeing with Trump and his allies. They have to villainize the other side in order to appear heroic.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" read:
MSNBC’s Morning Joe
September 25, 2025
7:43:59 a.m. Eastern
(…)
WILLIE GEIST: Before I let you go, Senator, I want to ask you about the shooting in Dallas yesterday – two people killed, another injured – and some of the rhetoric we've been talking about this morning. Vice President Vance immediately at an event blaming the left, blaming Democrats before we had all the information. Certainly did the same after the horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk. Leadership in these moments – I'm thinking about you after Sandy Hook nearly 13 years ago – how important is it for leaders, especially at the very, very top of the government, to set the tone?
SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): Listen, it should not matter whether the radicalization comes from the right or the left or, you know, sort of the non-ideological, deep, dark recesses of the internet. This President, this Vice President has had a chance now, since the assassination of Charlie Kirk, to bring the country together, to try to stamp out all sorts of violence, including political violence. And they refuse to do that.
What they are trying to do is exploit these murders and these shootings in order to silence only dissent and political opposition on the left. No, criticizing the way that ICE is rounding up people in this country in a deeply inhumane and immoral way is not an incitement to violence. There is a moment where you cross the line, but what they are trying to do is to destroy the ability for people who oppose their policies to legitimately engage in political debate. And we’re not going to let them do that.
(…)