White House senior adviser Stephen Miller vowed Monday that the Trump administration will do everything in its power to root out the left-wing organizations that have fomented political violence, following the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
During an appearance on a special tribute episode of “The Charlie Kick Show” hosted by Vice President J.D. Vance, Mr. Miller said the final text he received from Mr. Kirk was focused on coming up with an organized strategy “to go after the left-wing organizations that are promoting violence in this country.”
“We are going to channel all of the anger that we have over the organized campaign that led to this assassination, to uproot and dismantle these terrorist networks,” Mr. Miller said, citing the doxing of public officials and organized street violence. “It is a vast domestic terror movement.”
“With God as my witness, we are going to use every resource we have at the Department of Justice, Homeland Security, and throughout this government to identify, disrupt, dismantle, and destroy these networks and make America safe against the American people,” he said. “It will happen, and we will do it in Charlie’s name.”
An evangelical Christian and co-founder of the youth organizing group Turning Point USA, Mr. Kirk was shot and killed last week during an appearance at Utah Valley University.
The 31-year-old has been credited with reshaping the conservative movement by attracting more young people to the cause and emphasizing the importance of debate. Police have charged 22-year-old Tyler Robinson of Utah with the murder.
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President Trump has since said the “radical left” has leaned into hyperbolic rhetoric that is “directly responsible for the terrorism that we are seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now.”
“My administration will find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity and to other political violence, including the organizations that fund it and support it, as well as those who go after our judges, law enforcement officials, and everyone else that brings order to our country,” Mr. Trump said last week.
On Monday, Mr. Vance picked up on that message in his closing remarks on “The Charlie Kirk Show,” saying the nation can come together in the aftermath of Mr. Kirk’s assassination if it recognizes the problem is the growing radical left.
“Real unity can be found only after climbing the mountain of truth, and there are difficult truths we must confront in our country,” he said, before citing polls that show liberals are more open to political violence than their conservative counterparts.
Mr. Vance said he thanks God most Democrats don’t share that perspective but, at the same time, it is crucial to acknowledge that “something has gone very wrong with a lunatic fringe, a minority, but a growing and powerful minority on the far left.”
“The data is clear, people on the left are much likelier to defend and celebrate political violence. This is not a ’both sides’ problem,” Mr. Vance said. “If both sides have a problem, one side has a much bigger and malignant problem, and that is the truth.”
“I promise you that we will explore every option to bring real unity to our country and stop those who would kill their fellow Americans because they don’t like what they say,” he said.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.