Welker Blames Social Media For Kirk’s Murder: All The Questions  

On Meet the Press Sunday, host Kristen Welker was focused on the role social media may have played in the assassination of Charlie Kirk. She noted that Utah Gov. Spencer Cox “referred to social media as a cancer,” and asked several guests, including Cox, about that, and seeking ideas about what to do about social media. This line of conversation could lead to more internet censorship plans. But her questioning never explored the dangerous ideology that is likely behind the murder.

The answers have been removed here so you can consider just the questions on Meet The Press.

Introduction

Kristen Welker: This Sunday: American trauma. Conservative activist Charlie Kirk, a top Trump ally, shot and killed while speaking on a college campus in Utah.

As concerns rise over political violence, pushing the nation to a boiling point.

Plus: Border line. NATO scrambles jets to shoot down Russian drones over Poland, raising fears Vladimir Putin’s war could spread into Europe.

And: Her story. Former Vice President Kamala Harris criticizes President Biden’s decision to run for re-election. My guests this morning: Republican Gov. Spencer Cox of Utah, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona and former transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg. Joining me for insight and analysis are: New York Times chief White House correspondent Peter Baker. Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic. Kimberly Atkins Stohr, senior opinions writer for The Boston Globe. And Republican strategist Sara Fagen. Welcome to Sunday, it’s Meet the Press.

Good Sunday morning. The nation is once again reeling after a horrific act of political violence. Conservative activist and influential Trump supporter Charlie Kirk shot and killed on a college campus in Utah, while answering questions about mass shootings. After a 33-hour manhunt, the suspected killer now in custody, a 22-year-old Utah resident, who was turned in by his family. In the last decade there have been a growing number of acts of political violence, impacting Democrats and Republicans. Utah’s Gov. Spencer Cox casting this moment as a dangerous crossroads.

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Welker Questions Utah Gov. Spencer Cox

And joining me now is Republican governor of Utah, Spencer Cox. Gov. Cox, welcome back to Meet The Press. Our condolences to the Kirks, to all of you in Utah who I know are grieving right now.

Governor, let me start by just asking you to update us on the investigation. What more have investigators learned about the suspect and the motive here?

Governor, you say that the boyfriend, the roommate is cooperating with investigators. What specifically have you learned from this individual? And is the suspect cooperating?

Governor, I want to ask you about something you said on Friday. You said, quote, “There was a radicalization that happened in a fairly short amount of time.” How was the suspect radicalized? How quickly did it happen?

Governor, I want to delve into some of the messaging that we have heard from you. Lawmakers, governors of both parties across the country have frankly praised what we heard from you on Friday, your unifying message. You said you see this as a watershed moment. How can this nation step back from the brink, governor?

Well, governor, you referred to social media as a cancer on Friday. That’s an incredibly strong word. Do you believe that social media played a direct role in this assassination?

And we believe we just lost our connection with Gov. Cox. But there you heard him speaking very forcefully against social media saying that he does in fact believe that it did play a role in this horrific assassination. So our thanks to Gov. Cox. Joining me now is Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona. Sen. Kelly, welcome back to Meet The Press.

Welker Questions Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Arizona

Thank you so much for being here at the end of an incredibly difficult week for the entire country. Obviously Charlie Kirk was one of your constituents. You have lived through and experienced political violence first hand. Your wife, former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, survived an assassination attempt in 2011. What do you make of this moment the U.S. is living through right now, senator?

And you are talking about how this impacted you personally so deeply. And I imagine it impacted former Congresswoman Giffords very deeply as well. How is she processing this tragic week in America, senator?

Yes, as is the entire nation. And we did hear from Erika Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk. I want to play a little bit of her message eulogizing her husband. Take a listen.

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How do you see Charlie Kirk’s legacy, senator?

Senator, let me ask you, because President Trump is blaming the, quote, “radical left” for the political violence in this country and certainly the event of this week. What is your reaction to his message?

All right. Sen. Kelly, again, thank you for joining us for your critical insights having experienced political violence first hand after this devastating week for our entire nation. We really appreciate it. Thank you, senator.

Welker Continues Questioning Utah Gov. Spencer Cox

I now want to bring back Gov. Cox. We have re-established our connection with him. Governor, thank you for standing by for us. I do want to continue our conversation. I was just talking to Sen. Kelly and got his response to the message from President Trump. I want to play you a little bit of what we heard from President Trump this week and get your reaction. Take a look.

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[BEGIN TAPE]

What is your reaction to that message from President Trump, governor?

Gov. Spencer Cox, we so deeply appreciate your joining us and your perspective this morning and your updates on the investigation. Thank you very much for being here.

Still ahead, my conversation with former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. But when we come back, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina joins me next.

Welker Questions Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-N.C.

Welcome back, and joining me now is Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Sen. Graham, welcome back to Meet the Press.

Welcome, thank you for being here. I’m so sorry we have to meet under these circumstances again, senator. You were on this program the day after the first assassination attempt against President Trump. My question for you this morning, senator, what is your message to people this morning about this moment that we’re in in this country?

And as Gov. Cox just noted, President Trump has said he does not want any type of violence to come in the wake of this. He has also blamed Charlie Kirk’s assassination on what he called the “radical left.” Elon Musk, though, posted on X, quote, “The left is the party of murder.” We’re hearing some of those same messages on Capitol Hill. Senator, do you believe this is the right message for this moment?

Senator, very quickly, I hear in your voice, what you’re saying, are you worried there could be retaliation?

All right. Senator, I want to talk to you about Russia, which I know you’ve been very focused on. This week, NATO planes, as you well know, shot down Russian drones in Polish air space. On Saturday, Romania scrambled fighter jets after a Russian drone entered its air space. You said this week, quote, “We’ve tried the red carpet approach, it ain’t working.” Is it time for President Trump to directly punish Putin?

All right, well senator, you introduced that sanctions bill against Russia six months ago. You have 85 people on board. Why issue an ultimatum to Europe and not Putin? Why not move forward with that bill now, and are you planning to?

Are you going to push your bill forward though? Are you going to get your bill on the floor?

Very quickly, are you going to try to link this sanctions bill to the spending bill? Is that your plan?

Sen. Lindsey Graham, thank you for being here on a really significant Sunday.

We really appreciate it. When we come back, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg joins me next.

Welker Questions Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg

Welcome back, and joining me now is former Biden Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigieg. Mr. Secretary, welcome back to Meet the Press.

Thank you for being here at the conclusion of an incredibly somber week. You heard the governor of Utah, Gov. Cox, cast Charlie Kirk’s assassination, he calls it a “watershed” moment. And he asked the question, quote, “Is this the end of a dark chapter in our history or the beginning of a darker chapter?” How would you answer that question, Mr. Secretary?

And to that point, I mean, you heard Gov. Cox refer to social media as a cancer and the question I think becomes what to do about it. Do you agree with that assessment? Is social media actually a cancer right now, Mr. Secretary?

Mr. Secretary, I do want to get your response to some of what we’ve heard from the president. This from the Oval Office just this week. Take a look.

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What is your reaction to hearing that?

Well, Mr. Secretary, I do want to shift gears here just a bit. I have to ask you about this new book, Vice President Kamala Harris, we are starting to see some excerpts. She writes about President Biden’s decision to run for reelection and she says this, quote, “It’s Joe and Jill’s decision, we all said that like a mantra, as if we’d all been hypnotized. Was it grace or was it recklessness? In retrospect, I think it was recklessness.” You were in the president’s cabinet, of course. Do you believe it was recklessness for President Biden’s inner circle not to intervene sooner?

Mr. Secretary, did you ever speak out and urge him not to run? And was it recklessness on behalf of the people who didn’t do so?

All right. Secretary Buttigieg, thank you for joining us at the conclusion of a critical week. We really appreciate your perspective.

Still ahead, the panel is here. But when we come back, why vice presidents have historically struggled to criticize their boss. Our Meet the Press Minute is next.

1968 Video Of Former Vice President Hubert Humphrey

Welcome back. Former Vice President Harris is out with some sharp words about Former President Biden, criticizing his inner circle for letting him make the decision alone about whether to seek reelection while defending her own choice to stay silent until Mr. Biden stepped aside. In 1968, Vice President Hubert Humphrey joined Meet the Press to explain why he refused to break publicly with President Lyndon Johnson.

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When we come back, can America find an off-ramp from this cycle of political violence? The panel is next.

Panel Discussion

Welcome back. The panel is here. New York Times Chief White House Correspondent Peter Baker; Jeffrey Goldberg, Editor-in-Chief of The Atlantic; Kimberly Atkins Stohr, Senior Opinion Editor for The Boston Globe; and Republican strategist Sara Fagen. Welcome to all of you. Thank you for being here. Peter, I have to start with you.

One of the things that makes the assassination of Charlie Kirk so devastating is that it comes after a long list of political violence. Go back to 2011, the attempted assassination of Former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords. We have a list. This is just some of them. The attack on Paul Pelosi, the attacks against President Trump’s life, January 6th. How did we get here?

Yeah. Jeffrey, I’ve had so many conversations this week with people who say this reminds them of the 1960s, that there are so many parallels between that season of political violence and what we are witnessing right now. Do you see parallels?

And Sara, you heard Governor Cox, Secretary Buttigieg focus on the dangers of social media, Governor Cox saying yes, it played a role in this assassination that, quite frankly, the world witnessed.

And Kimberly, the question becomes, “What is the path forward?” Governor Cox’s message, which you heard, quite frankly, echoed by all of the guests this morning, but it has resonated across this country so strongly. Why do you think that is, and do you think that’s going to be a guiding principle as we look to future elections, future leaders? Will that become, potentially, one of the standards?

Well, I do think this will continue to dominate the debate here in this country and the focus, certainly, moving forward. Jeffrey Goldberg, one of the other stories that certainly, and rightfully so, started out being a big story then, obviously, didn’t get very much attention, but we do want to just touch on it this morning: the new book out by Former Vice President Kamala Harris.

You heard me talk about it with Secretary Buttigieg. You’ve obviously read it. We saw an excerpt of it in The Atlantic. She’s really distancing herself from her former boss. Do you get the sense from the excerpts that have been released, that we’ve all seen, that there might be an attempt to lay the groundwork for 2028?

Yeah. Peter, some of the language I mean, “reckless.” You didn’t hear Pete Buttigieg go so far —

– as to use the word reckless. She was under so much pressure during the campaign to distance herself from President Biden. She didn’t do it then. It’s really striking. As Jeffrey says, this is her version, her story, trying to set the record straight including on a lot of what happened while she was in office.

Yeah. All right. Well, we’ll see if we get some type of response from Former President Biden. Thank you all for being here. Really appreciate it. Had four guests, so slightly shorter time to talk today, but appreciate the fantastic conversation. Thank you. That is all for today. Thank you so much for watching. We’ll be back next week, because if it’s Sunday, it’s Meet the Press.

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Beth Brelje is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. She is an award-winning investigative journalist with decades of media experience.

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