Jonathan Turley Defends Free Speech Legacy After Charlie Kirk Defended Principles Without Retribution

[00:01] So Charlie Kirk strongly defended and

[00:04] modeled the principles of free speech.

[00:08] Way of life means you speak your mind

[00:10] without retribution, without being

[00:13] kicked off social media by a

[00:14] self-righteous sensor in Silicon Valley.

[00:17] Free speech is our birthright as

[00:18] Americans. When you have free speech,

[00:20] we're going to get closer to the truth,

[00:21] closer to the best way to govern, closer

[00:24] to the best polity for the country.

[00:26] You should be allowed to say outrageous

[00:28] things. You should be allowed to say

[00:29] contrarian things.

[00:31] Now, teachers and professors, even

[00:33] pilots, are among those who have been

[00:35] fired or suspended after making

[00:37] inappropriate comments about Kirk's

[00:38] murder online. Moments ago, Attorney

[00:41] General Bondi warning, quote, "Hate

[00:42] speech that crosses the line into

[00:44] threats of violence is not protected by

[00:46] the First Amendment. It's a crime." And

[00:48] for far too long, we've watched the

[00:50] radical left normalize threats, call for

[00:52] assassinations, and cheer political

[00:55] violence. That era is over. Fox News

[00:58] contributor Jonathan Turley argues

[00:59] Charlie Kirk wouldn't fire people who

[01:02] hated him, he'd win them over. And he

[01:05] joins us now. Um,

[01:08] Professor, I I know you're a free speech

[01:10] persist. I am in many respects,

[01:13] but it looks like some of these

[01:15] professors are crossing the line and

[01:18] celebrating

[01:20] glorifying murder.

[01:23] Well, Lawrence, there is no question how

[01:25] grotesque these statements are. And that

[01:27] is what Charlie uh did is he held a

[01:31] mirror to the face of higher education

[01:32] to show the hypocrisy, hate, the

[01:35] intolerance that has taken over our

[01:37] campuses. That's why they hated him.

[01:40] That's why

[01:42] all likelihood he died because he was

[01:45] such a figure of clarification to expose

[01:49] all of this. it would be a disservice to

[01:52] his life and legacy to use this murder

[01:55] to attack the very thing he fought for

[01:58] most, which is free speech. I I knew

[02:00] Charlie. I liked him a great deal. And I

[02:03] respected the fact that uh he was

[02:06] someone who who opposed all cancelled

[02:09] campaigns left and right. Now, that

[02:11] doesn't mean that you cannot take

[02:13] measures against individuals who do

[02:15] cross the line. Uh there's a teacher who

[02:17] played this video of the assassination

[02:19] and raved about Kirk in a classroom in

[02:22] Canada. Of course, that person should be

[02:24] fired. Uh there's a Secret Service agent

[02:26] who glorified or condoned this killing.

[02:29] Uh that's really incompatible with that

[02:31] position. When you have people who are

[02:33] using their positions, their official

[02:35] titles, uh if they're doing this during

[02:37] work hours, um they can be punished,

[02:40] they can be terminated. But at the same

[02:43] time, we have to honor Charlie's legacy

[02:47] by saying that he wanted debate. He

[02:49] didn't want to silence people. He wanted

[02:51] them to speak. He wanted them to speak

[02:53] to him. And we do that by protecting

[02:56] free speech.

[02:57] Let's talk about that debate because

[02:58] Bill Maher puts it this way about one

[03:01] side is open to having a debate, but the

[03:04] other side isn't. Let's play it.

[03:07] They're the people who don't want to

[03:09] talk. It's my main issue with them. They

[03:12] and Charlie Kirk was a guy who like he

[03:15] was always talking and I talked to him

[03:18] here. You know, the right-wingers, say

[03:19] what you want about them, but they talk

[03:21] to you. They they're not into this

[03:24] leftist think that the left really has

[03:27] much more of a I don't talk to you. I

[03:30] don't want to deal with you. Uh you're

[03:33] deplorable.

[03:34] Uh I can't break bread with you.

[03:37] uh that attitude and like all the

[03:40] right-wingers they they don't have that

[03:42] attitude.

[03:43] So do you agree with that Jonathan?

[03:46] I do wholeheartedly. I think that was uh

[03:49] right on the money. Uh you know I just

[03:51] returned from Europe where I was

[03:52] speaking on free speech and free speech

[03:54] isn't a freef fall in Europe and they

[03:57] did precisely what some people are

[03:59] arguing today. They used uh hateful

[04:02] rhetoric, inflammatory rhetoric to

[04:04] silence everyone to expand censorship

[04:07] and it has taken them down to the road

[04:10] which is truly horrific. Uh but the left

[04:13] has become a culture of speech phobics.

[04:16] You know they they they find it

[04:17] intolerable. You know the thing that

[04:19] drove them crazy about Charlie is he

[04:21] kept on saying debate me. For people who

[04:23] are intolerant that is the most

[04:26] infuriating invitation you can give

[04:28] them. They don't want to hear from you.

[04:30] They want to silence you. And these

[04:32] people spend more time silencing other

[04:34] people than they do speaking for

[04:36] themselves.

[04:37] It's so true, Professor. And it looks

[04:38] like it's escalated. And there's a new

[04:40] study that is exploring this

[04:43] assassination culture. And we found this

[04:45] fascinating. The respondents who believe

[04:47] the murder of Elon Musk or Trump is

[04:50] partially justified or more. So when it

[04:54] came down to Elon Musk, 31%

[04:56] said they find the murder partially

[04:58] justified. 50% left-wing respondents

[05:02] find murder partially justified. 14%

[05:05] right of center respondents found murder

[05:07] partially justified. When it came down

[05:09] to President Trump, 38% of all

[05:11] respondents found murder was partially

[05:14] justified. 56% left-wing uh respondents

[05:18] found murder partially justified. 20%

[05:20] right of center respondents found murder

[05:23] uh murder justifyully uh I'm sorry found

[05:25] murder partially justified. So that

[05:27] there is something wrong with the

[05:29] culture when you have numbers that high.

[05:34] That's right. I mean Lawrence you know

[05:35] my book the indispensable right I it's

[05:37] about rage and I talk about how rage is

[05:40] this strange thing. It gives a license

[05:42] to people to say and do things they

[05:44] wouldn't otherwise say or do. And what

[05:46] they won't admit is that they like it.

[05:48] It's contagious.

[05:49] Wow. and they need it and it gives them

[05:52] these excuses to to decouple themselves

[05:54] from every form of human decency. That's

[05:57] what we saw in the assassination of

[05:59] Charlie Kirk.

[06:00] It's incredible. I hope we dive into

[06:03] these numbers more and more and get to

[06:05] the bottom of this. Professor, thank you

[06:06] so much.

[06:08] Thank you, Lawrence. I'm Steve Ducey.

[06:10] I'm Brian Kilme.

[06:11] And I'm Anley Airhart. And click here to

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