Jack Posobiec and David Axelrod Reflect on Asymmetric Warfare Claims After Charlie Kirk Tragedy

[00:00] Asymmetric warfare warfare. I'm

[00:02] That's what one prominent conserative

[00:04] says the political right

[00:05] is facing in the aftermath

[00:06] of Charlie Kirk's murder.

[00:08] Jack Posobiec,

[00:09] a close friend of Kirk's, is tal

[00:11] to CNN

[00:11] about who could lead the movemen

[00:13] that Kirk helped to build

[00:14] and how Republicans should respo

[00:16] to Kirk's murder.

[00:18] I mean, Anderson is out front.

[00:21] I think the worst possible

[00:23] way to remember Charlie would be

[00:27] to turn these lights off,

[00:28] that this is his life's work.

[00:31] Charlie Kirk's podcast

[00:32] continued on Friday without him.

[00:35] All right.

[00:35] Welcome back to the Charlie Kirk

[00:37] We're remembering our friend

[00:38] Charlie Kirk, his friend

[00:40] and Turning Point contributor.

[00:41] Jack was so sad in his studio,

[00:43] leaving Kirk's chair open as a t

[00:45] How do you fill this void?

[00:48] Oh, look, everybody's got to step up

[00:49] and there's there's no

[00:51] replacement for Charlie Kirk.

[00:54] Who was that?

[00:56] He was so big as a leading voice

[00:59] in right wing media,

[01:00] where some of his peers

[01:01] were quick to call Kirk's assass

[01:02] an act of war.

[01:04] Charlie Kirk's a casualty of war

[01:06] Do you think we're at war,

[01:09] my friends in a box right now.

[01:11] And it wasn't an accident.

[01:14] Or are we facing a civil war?

[01:16] Well,

[01:16] there's no question

[01:17] that we're clearly facing

[01:19] asymmetric civil warfare.

[01:20] One of the key aspects of

[01:22] that is political assassinations

[01:24] That being said,

[01:26] the idea that we're going to a,

[01:28] you know, classic Civil War scen

[01:33] I hope

[01:33] and I pray that that doesn't hap

[01:35] outside headquarters.

[01:36] For the past

[01:37] few days,

[01:37] a steady stream of fans

[01:38] have come to pay their respects.

[01:40] This was a really

[01:43] heartless act.

[01:45] I feel so sad and I feel like

[01:49] when we're trying to be silenced

[01:51] we need to come together as a wh

[01:55] and be a family.

[01:57] Do you feel any responsibility t

[02:00] bring the temperature down

[02:01] in this political discourse?

[02:04] I want people to be safe,

[02:05] but if you're someone

[02:07] who is part of a group

[02:08] that is fanning the flames of vi

[02:10] that is encouraging this

[02:12] or celebrating this, then that's

[02:15] absolutely something

[02:16] that we have to tamp down 100%.

[02:18] The governor this morning

[02:20] was describing the suspect

[02:21] having this family dinner.

[02:23] This is what the governor said.

[02:24] The family member also stated

[02:26] Kirk was full of hate and spread

[02:30] I mean, it's

[02:32] from that person's perspective.

[02:34] Charlie Kirk represented everyth

[02:37] they hated.

[02:38] He loved debate.

[02:39] He loved just talking things out

[02:42] It's what he lived for.

[02:43] It's what he died doing.

[02:45] And this idea that,

[02:46] you know, Charlie, is

[02:47] they're the one spreading this n

[02:49] It's he's got it completely back

[02:51] Now, turning point

[02:52] and the conservative right

[02:53] have to figure out

[02:53] where their movement goes from h

[02:55] I think we're at an inflection

[02:56] point right now.

[02:57] Just because you see

[02:58] an influencer online,

[03:00] just because you

[03:02] get mad at something they said i

[03:04] second clip,

[03:06] that that doesn't mean

[03:07] that you have to go

[03:09] and pick up a

[03:10] rifle and shoot them.

[03:13] That instead, as a country,

[03:16] that should mean, you know,

[03:19] come up with a better argument.

[03:24] And we are at a turning point

[03:25] headquarters here in Phenix,

[03:27] where people have continued to s

[03:29] these past few days with flowers

[03:31] and tributes for Charlie and his

[03:33] Erika is expected to speak from

[03:36] in about 45 minutes,

[03:37] which would make her first publi

[03:39] since this tragedy occurred on W

[03:41] So that is what we are

[03:44] expecting people to continue to

[03:46] to wait for here.

[03:47] And yeah, Nina, thank you very m

[03:49] And such an

[03:50] important and interesting conver

[03:52] which I so back

[03:54] David Axelrod is OutFront now.

[03:55] And, David,

[03:56] you know, this language

[03:56] about being at war and and obvio

[04:00] you know,

[04:00] you hear the frustration,

[04:01] a very somber words

[04:03] there from Jack was sobbing,

[04:04] but you heard others,

[04:05] who were inflamed

[04:07] and immediately firebombing. Rig

[04:10] Alex Jones among them. Right.

[04:11] Talking about being at war, how

[04:15] is this moment? Right.

[04:16] And you're looking at it

[04:17] in the context of having lived t

[04:19] a moment of political assassinat

[04:21] in America that are hard

[04:22] for many to understand.

[04:23] When you look at JFK

[04:25] and RFC and Martin Luther King J

[04:27] all, you know, happening

[04:29] in the same time frame.

[04:31] Yeah, I remember that era.

[04:33] I was a kid, but I remember it

[04:35] very clearly

[04:35] and it felt like

[04:36] the world was coming apart and w

[04:39] were able to navigate our way,

[04:42] through that.

[04:42] I think it's harder now, in part

[04:47] the media

[04:47] environment is such

[04:49] that it is in flaming.

[04:51] I mean, we don't know the whole

[04:53] about what provoked this young m

[04:55] to do what he did.

[04:57] it is kind of a perverse answer

[05:01] if you think someone is is is,

[05:03] disseminating hate

[05:05] the idea that you will go out,

[05:07] you should go out and kill

[05:08] that person is a perverse answer

[05:10] But there obviously,

[05:12] he lived in a world

[05:13] that we don't entirely, understa

[05:15] But, you know,

[05:16] listening to the the interview,

[05:20] I was thinking about the fact th

[05:23] it is tragic that Charlie Kirk,

[05:26] a young man with a family

[05:28] who was out there

[05:29] expressing himself,

[05:30] whether you agree with what he w

[05:31] saying or not, is dead today.

[05:33] And the whole world

[05:34] watched his cold blooded murder.

[05:36] That is terrible.

[05:37] It is.

[05:38] And he is as described in a box.

[05:41] It's terrible that Melissa Hortm

[05:43] the legislator from Minnesota,

[05:45] and her husband are dead today.

[05:48] It was terrible

[05:49] that,

[05:49] police officer outside

[05:51] the CDC was killed.

[05:53] And,

[05:54] because someone sprayed the buil

[05:57] we we have a problem in this cou

[05:59] and it's not going to be solved

[06:00] by throwing around words like wa

[06:02] which suggest

[06:03] that there's some legitimacy

[06:04] to picking up weapons

[06:06] that can't be the answer.

[06:08] No, no.

[06:09] While the word war being thrown

[06:11] quite loosely, in multiple conte

[06:14] in this country right

[06:15] now, but from Republicans,

[06:17] we heard two different messages

[06:18] just today. Two different ones.

[06:19] Okay. First, Utah Governor Spenc

[06:24] We can return violence

[06:26] with violent violence.

[06:27] We can return hate with hate.

[06:29] And that's the problem

[06:30] with with political violence.

[06:32] Is it metastasizes

[06:34] because we can always point the

[06:37] at the other side,

[06:39] and at some point

[06:40] we have to find an offramp

[06:42] or it's going to get much, much

[06:46] Okay, so that's the governor of

[06:48] President Trump, is is very diff

[06:51] He was asked by a Fox anchor

[06:53] about violence

[06:55] on the far left and far right.

[06:56] The question actually was phrase

[06:57] including both. Okay.

[06:59] So in that context,

[07:00] he answers a question

[07:01] about how to bring the country b

[07:03] as the president of the United S

[07:04] He answers it this way.

[07:07] The radicals on the right

[07:09] oftentimes are radical

[07:10] because they don't want to see c

[07:13] The radicals on the left are the

[07:15] and they're vicious, and they're

[07:17] and they're politically savvy.

[07:21] you mentioned Melissa Hortman, o

[07:23] some poses.

[07:24] A police officer

[07:24] showed up at her house

[07:25] tonight and assassinate her husb

[07:29] what do you make and what does i

[07:31] What does it mean that

[07:32] the president of the United Stat

[07:34] in this moment,

[07:35] chooses

[07:35] to conduct himself

[07:37] in that way and use those words?

[07:40] You know, Aaron,

[07:40] I listen to the governor,

[07:42] Governor Cox of Utah in his word

[07:45] which I thought were magnificent

[07:47] and completely appropriate.

[07:49] And I thought,

[07:49] this is the message that you wan

[07:52] from the president of the United

[07:53] He is the influencer in chief.

[07:56] He has more impact on on people'

[07:59] than anyone.

[08:00] And it's not just now, Aaron,

[08:02] that he refers to his all

[08:04] his political opponents

[08:05] and a whole political party

[08:06] as radical left lunatics.

[08:09] sick, evil, who hate our country

[08:14] those messages matter.

[08:16] Words matter.

[08:17] They're not just tactics

[08:18] for political advantage.

[08:20] They influence people.

[08:22] Especially when you have the pla

[08:24] of the president.

[08:24] What you want in this, in this k

[08:27] a very difficult period

[08:29] is you want your president

[08:30] to be a force

[08:31] for understanding, for reconcili

[08:34] and that's what we've seen in th

[08:36] from Republicans and Democrats.

[08:37] But it's not how this president

[08:39] has approached this.

[08:40] No, it's not how he's approachin

[08:42] But as you say,

[08:43] a very different view from the,

[08:46] Republican Utah governor, Spence

[08:48] who spoke very differently.

[08:49] Thank you so much, David Axelrod

[08:50] Appreciate you.