Politics

(WASHINGTON) — In August, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told then-CDC director Susan Monarez that changes would be coming to the childhood vaccination schedule in September, according to Monarez’s testimony on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

Her comments allege Kennedy had already decided to make changes to the childhood vaccine schedule prior to an analysis of data by the CDC’s independent advisers.

Monarez also said she had a conversation with Kennedy on August 25 in which Kennedy said President Donald Trump had been briefed on those plans.

“In that morning meeting, he did say that he had spoken to the president. He spoke to the president every day about changing the childhood vaccine schedule,” Monarez testified.

The CDC’s advisory committee on vaccines, called ACIP, will meet later this week and consider different vaccines that are recommended for children.

According to Monarez, Kennedy asked her to promise to sign off on any forthcoming updates to vaccine recommendations without giving specifics about what those plans would be.

“He did not have any data or science to point to,” Monarez said. “As a matter of fact, we got into an exchange where I had suggested that I would be open to changing childhood vaccine schedules if the evidence or science were supportive, and he responded that there was no science or evidence associated with the childhood vaccine schedule. And he elaborated that CDC had never collected the science or data to make it available related to the safety and efficacy.”

“To be clear, he said there was not science or data, but that he still expected you to change the schedule?” Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, asked Monarez.

“Correct,” she said.

ABC News has reached out to HHS for comment on Monarez’s testimony.

Kennedy is a longtime vaccine skeptic who has promoted false information about the harms of vaccines. With Kennedy at the helm of HHS, major medical organizations have expressed extreme alarm about restrictions to COVID-19 vaccines that have already taken place and warned of potential further restrictions to routine childhood vaccines.

Monarez says she was ousted because she held the line and refused to endorse vaccine policies not supported by scientific evidence.

Routine childhood vaccines have prevented more than one million premature deaths from vaccine-preventable illness, according to a CDC analysis of 117 million children born between 1994 to 2023.

According to Monarez, Kennedy also asked her to meet with Aaron Siri, a lawyer who previously worked for Kennedy and has pushed the FDA to revoke approval of the polio vaccine.

Monarez testified she was concerned that more children would die of vaccine preventable illnesses.

“I believe preventable diseases will return, and I believe that we will have our children harmed for things that we know they do not need to be harmed by polio, measles, diphtheria, whooping cough, I worry about the ramifications for those children in illness and in death. I worry about our school systems. I worry about our medical institutions having to take care of sick kids that could have been prevented by effective and safe vaccines. I worry about the future of trust in public health.”

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — President Donald Trump kicked off his state visit to the U.K. on Wednesday by traveling to Windsor Castle to meet with King Charles III.

Trump is the first elected political leader in modern times to be hosted for two state visits by a British monarch, having already been hosted by the late Queen Elizabeth II in 2019.

The president and first lady Melania Trump will attend a state banquet with the royal family in Windsor on Wednesday evening.

Trump arrived at Windsor Castle aboard Marine One on Wednesday, having spent the night at Winfield House in central London. He and Melania Trump were greeted in the castle’s Walled Garden by Prince William and his wife, Kate Middleton.

After being welcomed by the king, Trump and the first lady were taken by carriage to Windsor Castle, where they observed a ceremonial reception.

A crowd gathered in central London to protest Trump. Many of the protesters held anti-Trump signs and Palestinian flags.

The protest, which was organized by the Stop Trump campaign, planned to march towards Parliament later in the afternoon.

The Trumps explored Windsor Castle with the king and queens and viewed historical items from the Royal Collection.

Laid out across five tables were a collection of artifacts symbolizing U.S.-British relations, such as 18th-century watercolor paintings, transatlantic messages between Queen Victoria and President James Buchanan and a hot dog picnic in the 1930s that young Queen Elizabeth wrote about.

Trump walked around the displays, marveling at them as a guide explained what they were.

“That is so amazing,” Trump said.

Following the tour, the president and some of his key advisors, Scott Bessent, Marco Rubio, Susie Wiles, James Blair, Steve Witkoff and Stephen Miller, visited St. George’s Chapel for a service.

A choir of small children performed for the audience.

The Trumps laid a wreath on the tomb of Queen Elizabeth II during the service and spoke with the children before taking a tour of the chapel.

Following the service, the two couples, seated in red chairs, watched the Beating Retreat musical performance.

This was the first time the Beating Retreat had been performed at a state visit. At least 200 military personnel were involved in the ceremony, according to U.K. officials.

The roughly 30-minute musical performance ended with a flyover from the Red Arrows, the Royal Air Force display team. Red, white and blue smoke came out of the plane’s engines, filling the sky with colorful smoke.

Thursday will see Trump meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Chequers, the prime minister’s official country residence in Aylesbury. The two men are expected to hold a press conference before Trump begins his journey back to the U.S.

During a background call on Monday with reporters, White House officials said that this visit will highlight what they called the deep ties between the United States and the United Kingdom.

“This historic second state visit is set to highlight and renew the special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom. At the same time, the visit will recognize and celebrate the upcoming 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States,” a White House official told reporters during a background call previewing the trip.

Trump will be greeted by a joint U.S.-British flypast of F-35 fighter jets. Around 1,300 members of the British armed forces accompanied by 120 horses will be involved in the ceremonial welcome at Windsor Castle.

The guard of honor at Windsor will be the largest ever organized for a state visit to the U.K.

ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart, Zoe Magee and Joseph Simonetti contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Former President Barack Obama says he finds the murder of Charlie Kirk “horrific” and “a tragedy” and stressed that Americans must be able to disagree, push back against ideas they don’t ascribe to, while respecting the right of others to hold those opinions.

In remarks during a conversation with journalist Steve Scully at the Jefferson Educational Society in Pennsylvania Tuesday night, Obama also acknowledged that the shooting of Democratic Minnesota state legislators Melissa Hortman and John Hoffman were also a tragedy.

“Regardless of where you are on the political spectrum, what happened to Charlie Kirk was horrific and a tragedy,” he said. “What happened … to the state legislators in Minnesota, that is horrific. It is a tragedy. And there are no ifs, ands or buts about it, the central premise of our democratic system is that we have to be able to disagree and have sometimes really contentious debates without resort to violence. And when it happens to some but even if you think they’re, quote, unquote, ‘on the other side of the argument,’ that’s a threat to all of us. And we have to be clear and forthright in condemning them.”

He continued: “And so, look, obviously I didn’t know Charlie Kirk. I was generally aware of some of his ideas. I think those ideas were wrong, but that doesn’t negate the fact that what happened was a tragedy and that I mourn for him and his family.”

Obama also praised Utah GOP Gov. Spencer Cox’s handling of the aftermath of Kirk’s murder.

“I’ve been very impressed with Governor Cox in Utah and how he’s approached some of these issues. I suspect Governor Cox and I disagree on a whole bunch of stuff. He is a Republican, self-professed conservative Republican, but in his response to this tragedy, as well as his history of how he engages with people who are political adversaries, he has shown, I think, that it is possible for us to disagree while abiding by a basic code of how we should engage in public debate.”

Obama also suggested that what he sees as the Trump administration’s desire to target political enemies is part of a larger issue, and stressed that when he served as president, he “wasn’t putting the weight of the United States government behind extremist views.”

“And so, when I hear not just our current president, but his aides, who have a history of calling political opponents ‘vermin’, enemies who need to be ‘targeted,’ that speaks to a broader problem that we have right now and something that we’re going to have to grapple with, all of us. Whether we’re Democrats, Republicans, Independents, we have to recognize that on both sides, undoubtedly, there are people who are extremists and who say things that are contrary to what I believe are America’s core values,” he said.

“But I will say that those extreme views were not in my White House. I wasn’t embracing them. I wasn’t empowering them. I wasn’t putting the weight of the United States government behind extremist views. And that…when we have the weight of the United States government behind extremist views, we’ve got a problem,” said Obama.”

He said that the role of president is to unify — rather than stoke — division, saying, “But my view was that part of the role of the presidency is to constantly remind us of the ties that bind us together.”

“And I’m not alone in that belief,” he continued. “I think George W. Bush believed that. I believe that people who I ran against — I know John McCain believed it. I know Mitt Romney believed it. What I’m describing. Is not a Democratic value or Republican value. It is an American value. And I think at moments like this, when tensions are high, then part of the job of the president is to pull people together.”

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — A day after FBI Director Kash Patel sparred with Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, he is set to answer questions from members of the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.

Chair Jim Jordan applauded Patel’s work as the director of the FBI before his appearance.

“The Biden Administration weaponized the FBI. Kash Patel is focused on catching criminals. Such a contrast,” the Ohio Republican wrote on X on Monday.

Ranking member Jamie Raskin said Democrats on the committee will be pushing Patel for answers on the investigation into the Jeffrey Epstein files.

“FBI Director Kash Patel steps before @HouseJudiciary on Wednesday. America wants answers about the ongoing coverup allowing Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and their billionaire pals to thwart justice for trafficking victims and accountability for predators,” Raskin wrote in a post on X.

On Tuesday, Patel appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he feuded with Democratic Sens. Adam Schiff and Cory Booker — at one point calling the California senator a “political buffoon” and an “utter coward.”

In a shouting match with Booker, the New Jersey senator said that Patel was making the country “weaker and less safe.”

Patel fired back that Booker’s comments do “not bring this country together.”

Patel also faced questions about the assassination of conservative activist and influencer Charlie Kirk last week. He said the FBI is investigating if others are involved after the online messaging platform, Discord confirmed reports that before the shooting the alleged shooter, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, posted messages to a small group of friends on the platform that said, “Hey guys, I have bad news for you all … It was me at UVU yesterday. im sorry for all of this.”

“There are a number of individuals that are currently being investigated and interrogated, and a number yet to be investigated and interrogated, specific to that chat room. So we are very much in our ongoing posture of investigation,” Patel said, adding that other people could be involved.

 

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — President Donald Trump kicked off his state visit to the U.K. on Wednesday by traveling to Windsor Castle to meet with King Charles III.

Trump is the first elected political leader in modern times to be hosted for two state visits by a British monarch, having already been hosted by the late Queen Elizabeth II in 2019.

The president and first lady Melania Trump will attend a state banquet with the royal family in Windsor on Wednesday evening.

Trump arrived at Windsor Castle aboard Marine One on Wednesday, having spent the night at Winfield House in central London. He and Melania Trump were greeted in the castle’s Walled Garden by Prince William and his wife, Kate Middleton.

Thursday will see Trump meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Chequers, the prime minister’s official country residence in Aylesbury. The two men are expected to hold a press conference before Trump begins his journey back to the U.S.

During a background call on Monday with reporters, White House officials said that this visit will highlight what they called the deep ties between the United States and the United Kingdom.

“This historic second state visit is set to highlight and renew the special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom. At the same time, the visit will recognize and celebrate the upcoming 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States,” a White House official told reporters during a background call previewing the trip.

Trump will be greeted by a joint U.S.-British flypast of F-35 fighter jets. Around 1,300 members of the British armed forces accompanied by 120 horses will be involved in the ceremonial welcome at Windsor Castle.

The guard of honor at Windsor will be the largest ever organized for a state visit to the U.K.

 

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — FBI Director Kash Patel faced questions about the assassination of conservative activist and influencer Charlie Kirk last week — including that other people could be involved — when he appeared before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday.

In his appearance, his first in two days of hearings on Capitol Hill, Patel addressed his handling of the Kirk investigation — something he faced criticism for after he shared on social media at one point that a suspect was in custody, but then had to backtrack an hour and a half later.

Ranking Member Dick Durbin, a Democrat, slammed Patel during his opening remarks on Tuesday, saying Patel sparked “mass confusion” in his posts about Kirk’s killing. Patel stood by his performance, touting the fact that Kirk’s suspected shooter was caught in less than 36 hours.

Patel said he directed authorities to release the photo of the suspect, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, in the Kirk shooting. Kirk was killed in Utah on Wednesday and Robinson was apprehended after his father recognized him in photographs released by authorities, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said on Friday. His father told Robinson to turn himself in, with the 22-year-old initially saying no, but later changing his mind, officials said.

Patel contends this only happened because he ordered “against all law enforcement recommendations,” as he said on X on Saturday, the release of video and enhanced photos of the suspect.

“We cannot do our job without the American public and credible reporting in the media,” Patel said. “And that’s why Tyler Robinson is in custody today about to face charges.”

Patel addressed criticism that he has faced for how he handled the investigation on “Fox & Friends” on Monday morning.

“I was telling the world what the FBI was doing as we were doing it. I continue to do it. I challenge anyone out there to find a director who has been more transparent and more willing to work the media with high profile cases or any cases that the FBI [is] handling.”

The online messaging platform, Discord confirmed reports that about two hours before Robinson was taken into custody last week, the alleged shooter posted messages to a small group of friends on the platform that said, “Hey guys, I have bad news for you all … It was me at UVU yesterday. im sorry for all of this.”

Patel addressed the Discord message during the hearing, saying that the FBI is investigating “anyone and everyone involved in that Discord chat” with Robinson. Patel said there are “a lot more” than 20 people linked to Robinson on Discord, “and we’re running them all down. … Every single one.”

“There are a number of individuals that are currently being investigated and interrogated, and a number yet to be investigated and interrogated, specific to that chat room. So we are very much in our ongoing posture of investigation,” Patel said, adding that other people could be involved.

President Donald Trump appears to be standing behind Patel. Asked for his thoughts on Patel’s performance so far Tuesday morning, Trump said he supports Patel and that he has “confidence in everyone in the administration.”

The Epstein investigation

Patel is facing questions on a host of other issues while he has been at the helm of the FBI, including the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

The Trump administration has been dealing with blowback it received from MAGA supporters for its decision to not release more materials related to the investigation into Epstein, the wealthy financier and convicted sex offender who died by suicide in jail in 2019.

Epstein, whose private island estate was in the U.S. Virgin Islands, has long been rumored to have kept a “client list” of celebrities and politicians, which right-wing influencers have baselessly accused authorities of hiding.

The Justice Department and FBI announced in July that they had found no evidence that Epstein kept a client list after several top officials like Patel, before joining the administration, had themselves accused the government of shielding information regarding the case.

Patel squarely blamed former U.S. Attorney and Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, who initially oversaw the Epstein investigation. Acosta resigned amid controversy over his role in a 2008 plea deal with Epstein and defended his decision, saying his goal “was straightforward” and included putting Epstein behind bars.

“I’m here to testify that the original sin in the Epstein case was the way it was initially brought by Mr. Acosta back in 2006. The original case involved a very limited search warrant, or set of search warrants, and didn’t take as much investigatory material it should have seized,” Patel said. “If I were the FBI director, then it wouldn’t have happened.”

Patel testified that Epstein was not an FBI informant as some have claimed.

Patel spars with Democratic senators

Patel and Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff had a tense exchange amid questions about the Epstein investigation, during which Patel called the California senator a “political buffoon.”

Patel called Schiff “the biggest fraud to ever sit in the United States Senate.”

“You are disgrace to this institution and an utter coward,” Patel added.

Schiff hit back as the two yelled over each other: “You can make an internet troll the FBI director, but [he] will always be nothing more than an internet troll.”

Democratic Sen. Cory Booker and Patel engaged in a shouting match over Booker accusing Patel of making the country less safe.

“I believe you have made our country weaker and less safe,” Booker told Patel, before detailing what he perceived as Patel’s failures as the FBI’s leader, including the ouster of several top FBI leaders without explanation.

“That rant of false information does not bring this country together,” Patel shot back at Booker.

The two men shouted over each other until Chair Chuck Grassley intervened and allowed Patel to respond.

Sen. Ted Cruz, who spoke next, quipped: “It used to be that to see theater you had to go to the Kennedy Center, now apparently you need only go to the Senate Judiciary Committee and see our Senate Democrats berating the director the FBI.”

ABC News’ Sarah Beth Hensley contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — FBI Director Kash Patel faced questions about the assassination of conservative activist and influencer Charlie Kirk last week — including details about a Discord chat group involving the alleged shooter — when he appeared before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday.

In his appearance, his first in two days of hearings on Capitol Hill, Patel addressed his handling of the Kirk investigation — something he faced criticism for after he shared on social media at one point that a suspect was in custody, but then had to backtrack an hour and a half later.

Ranking Member Dick Durbin, a Democrat, slammed Patel during his opening remarks on Tuesday, saying Patel sparked “mass confusion” in his posts about Kirk’s killing. Patel stood by his performance, touting the fact that Kirk’s suspected shooter was caught in less than 36 hours.

Patel said he directed authorities to release the photo of the suspect, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, in the Kirk shooting. Kirk was killed in Utah on Wednesday and Robinson was apprehended after his father recognized him in photographs released by authorities, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said on Friday. His father told Robinson to turn himself in, with the 22-year-old initially saying no, but later changing his mind, officials said.

Patel contends this only happened because he ordered “against all law enforcement recommendations,” as he said on X on Saturday, the release of video and enhanced photos of the suspect.

“We cannot do our job without the American public and credible reporting in the media,” Patel said. “And that’s why Tyler Robinson is in custody today about to face charges.”

Patel addressed criticism that he has faced for how he handled the investigation on “Fox & Friends” on Monday morning.

“I was telling the world what the FBI was doing as we were doing it. I continue to do it. I challenge anyone out there to find a director who has been more transparent and more willing to work the media with high profile cases or any cases that the FBI [is] handling.”

The online messaging platform, Discord confirmed reports that about two hours before Robinson was taken into custody last week, the alleged shooter posted messages to a small group of friends on the platform that said, “Hey guys, I have bad news for you all … It was me at UVU yesterday. im sorry for all of this.”

Patel addressed the Discord message during the hearing, saying that the FBI is investigating “anyone and everyone involved in that Discord chat” with Robinson. Patel said there are “a lot more” than 20 people linked to Robinson on Discord, “and we’re running them all down. … Every single one.”

“There are a number of individuals that are currently being investigated and interrogated, and a number yet to be investigated and interrogated, specific to that chat room. So we are very much in our ongoing posture of investigation,” Patel said, adding that other people could be involved in the shooting.

President Donald Trump appears to be standing behind Patel. Asked for his thoughts on Patel’s performance so far Tuesday morning, Trump said he supports Patel and that he has “confidence in everyone in the administration.”

The Epstein investigation

Patel is facing questions on a host of other issues while he has been at the helm of the FBI, including the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

The Trump administration has been dealing with blowback it received from MAGA supporters for its decision to not release more materials related to the investigation into Epstein, the wealthy financier and convicted sex offender who died by suicide in jail in 2019.

Epstein, whose private island estate was in the U.S. Virgin Islands, has long been rumored to have kept a “client list” of celebrities and politicians, which right-wing influencers have baselessly accused authorities of hiding.

The Justice Department and FBI announced in July that they had found no evidence that Epstein kept a client list after several top officials like Patel, before joining the administration, had themselves accused the government of shielding information regarding the case.

Patel squarely blamed former U.S. Attorney and Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, who initially oversaw the Epstein investigation. Acosta resigned amid controversy over his role in a 2008 plea deal with Epstein and defended his decision, saying his goal “was straightforward” and included putting Epstein behind bars.

“I’m here to testify that the original sin in the Epstein case was the way it was initially brought by Mr. Acosta back in 2006. The original case involved a very limited search warrant, or set of search warrants, and didn’t take as much investigatory material it should have seized,” Patel said. “If I were the FBI director, then it wouldn’t have happened.”

Patel testified that Epstein was not an FBI informant as some have claimed.

Shouting match between Booker, Patel

Democratic Sen. Cory Booker and Patel engaged in a shouting match over Booker accusing Patel of making the country less safe.

“I believe you have made our country weaker and less safe,” Booker told Patel, before detailing what he perceived as Patel’s failures as the FBI’s leader, including the ouster of several top FBI leaders without explanation.

“That rant of false information does not bring this country together,” Patel shot back at Booker.

The two men shouted over each other until Chair Chuck Grassley intervened and allowed Patel to respond.

Sen. Ted Cruz, who spoke next, quipped: “It used to be that to see theater you had to go to the Kennedy Center, now apparently you need only go to the Senate Judiciary Committee and see our Senate Democrats berating the director the FBI.”

ABC News’ Sarah Beth Hensley contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — FBI Director Kash Patel kicked off two days of questioning on Tuesday from congressional committees about his tenure leading the FBI so far. He’s also facing questions about the assassination of conservative activist and influencer Charlie Kirk last week.

In his appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday, Patel addressed his handling of the Kirk investigation — something he faced criticism for after he shared on social media at one point that a suspect was in custody, but then had to backtrack an hour and a half later.

Ranking Member Dick Durbin, a Democrat, slammed Patel during his opening remarks on Tuesday, saying Patel sparked “mass confusion” in his posts about Kirk’s killing. Patel stood by his performance, touting the fact that Kirk’s suspected shooter was caught in less than 36 hours.

Patel said he directed authorities to release the photo of the suspect, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, in the Kirk shooting. Kirk was killed in Utah on Wednesday and Robinson was apprehended after his father recognized him in photographs released by authorities, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said on Friday. His father told Robinson to turn himself in, with the 22-year-old initially saying no, but later changing his mind, officials said.

Patel contends this only happened because he ordered “against all law enforcement recommendations,” as he said on X on Saturday, the release of video and enhanced photos of the suspect.

“We cannot do our job without the American public and credible reporting in the media,” Patel said. “And that’s why Tyler Robinson is in custody today about to face charges.”

Patel addressed criticism that he has faced for how he handled the investigation on “Fox & Friends” on Monday morning.

“I was telling the world what the FBI was doing as we were doing it. I continue to do it. I challenge anyone out there to find a director who has been more transparent and more willing to work the media with high profile cases or any cases that the FBI [is] handling.”

For his part, President Donald Trump is standing behind Patel. Asked for his thoughts on Patel’s performance Tuesday morning, Trump said he supports Patel and that he has “confidence in everyone in the administration.”

Patel is facing questions on a host of other issues while he has been at the helm of the FBI, including the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

The Trump administration has been dealing with blowback it received from MAGA supporters for its decision to not release more materials related to the investigation into Epstein, the wealthy financier and convicted sex offender who died by suicide in jail in 2019.

Epstein, whose private island estate was in the U.S. Virgin Islands, has long been rumored to have kept a “client list” of celebrities and politicians, which right-wing influencers have baselessly accused authorities of hiding.

The Justice Department and FBI announced in July that they had found no evidence that Epstein kept a client list after several top officials like Patel, before joining the administration, had themselves accused the government of shielding information regarding the case.

Patel squarely blamed former U.S. Attorney and Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, who initially oversaw the Epstein investigation. Acosta resigned amid controversy over his role in a 2008 plea deal with Epstein and defended his decision, saying his goal “was straightforward” and included putting Epstein behind bars.

“I’m here to testify that the original sin in the Epstein case was the way it was initially brought by Mr. Acosta back in 2006. The original case involved a very limited search warrant, or set of search warrants, and didn’t take as much investigatory material it should have seized,” Patel said. “If I were the FBI director, then it wouldn’t have happened.”

Patel testified that Epstein was not an FBI informant as some have claimed.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Attorney General Pam Bondi faced bipartisan backlash Tuesday over her comments that the Justice Department “will absolutely target” anyone who targets others with “hate speech” in the wake of the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Bondi made the comments in a podcast interview with Katie Miller, the wife of White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller.

“There’s free speech and then there’s hate speech, and there is no place, especially now, especially after what happened to Charlie, in our society,” Bondi said.

“Do you see more law enforcement going after these groups who are using hate speech and putting cuffs on people so we show them some action is better than no action?” Miller asked in response.

“We will absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech — and that’s across the aisle,” Bondi responded.

Bondi’s comments quickly gained traction across social media, with some users replying with a 2024 post from Charlie Kirk, in which he wrote: “Hate speech does not exist legally in America. There’s ugly speech. There’s gross speech. There’s evil speech. And ALL of it is protected by the First Amendment. Keep America free.”

“Someone needs to explain to Ms. Bondi that so-called ‘hate speech,’ repulsive though it may be, is protected by the First Amendment. She should know this,” conservative commentator Brit Hume wrote on X.

Bondi issued a defiant statement from her X account on Tuesday morning in response to mounting backlash.

“Hate speech that crosses the line into threats of violence is NOT protected by the First Amendment. It’s a crime,” Bondi wrote. “For far too long, we’ve watched the radical left normalize threats, call for assassinations, and cheer on political violence. That era is over.”

Bondi listed out several criminal statutes the Justice Department has historically deployed to prosecute threats of violence.

“You cannot call for someone’s murder. You cannot swat a Member of Congress. You cannot dox a conservative family and think it will be brushed off as ‘free speech.’ These acts are punishable crimes, and every single threat will be met with the full force of the law,” Bondi wrote.

“Free speech protects ideas, debate, even dissent but it does NOT and will NEVER protect violence. It is clear this violent rhetoric is designed to silence others from voicing conservative ideals,” she posted.

In a separate interview on Fox News’ “Hannity” on Monday evening, Bondi also suggested she has directed the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division to “prosecute” businesses that refuse to print Kirk’s pictures for vigils. It is not clear what criminal statute would be relevant in that instance.

Bondi’s comments come as President Donald Trump and other senior White House officials have repeatedly said they would use the Justice Department in the wake of Kirk’s assassination to explicitly target left wing groups.

During Trump’s first administration, Justice Department officials repeatedly resisted attempts by Trump and the White House to designate Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization — a move they described as “highly problematic” and which would likely run afoul of the First Amendment.

The First Amendment protects the rights of Americans who like spewing “hateful speech” and “assembling with others who share the same hateful views,” so “unless an organization engages solely in unprotected activity, such as committing crimes of violence, any designation of a (U.S.-based) organization as a terrorist organization … would likely run afoul of the First Amendment,” Mary McCord, the former head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, told a House panel in January of 2020.

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(NEW YORK) — Minnesotans are set to vote Tuesday in the special election to replace Melissa Hortman, the former Democratic Minnesota House speaker who was killed alongside her husband at their home in June, a politically motivated killing thrust back into the spotlight after the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.

The election has significant political implications, too, due to Republicans’ one-seat edge in the statehouse.

Voters will choose between Democratic nominee XP Lee, a former Brooklyn Park City Council member, and Republican nominee Ruth Bittner, a real estate agent.

Lee told The Associated Press that continuing Hortman’s legacy is one of the reasons why he is running for her former seat.

“It makes me want to focus on healing and coming together even more,” he said. “You know, I wouldn’t be running if it wasn’t for the murder of Melissa Hortman. So I am very conscious of political and gun violence. So I want to help our community heal.”

Born in a refugee camp in Thailand after his family fled the Vietnam War, Lee says he is focused on improving education and access to health care.

Lee won the Democratic primary last month over two others with 59% of the vote, according to KSTP. On Sunday, he was joined for a door-knocking event by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who encouraged the community to cast their ballots in favor of the Democratic candidate.

Lee is favored to win in Hortman’s blue-leaning home district, which would restore the chamber to a 67-67 deadlock.

The Republican contender similarly seeks to honor the late Minnesota House speaker, with Bittner telling MPR News that Hortman was a “very unique individual” and that “we will not be trying to replace her.”

According to the Los Angeles Times, Bittner was concerned about running for office amidst the heightened environment of political violence, but she emphasized that “we have to move forward as a country” and argued that “there’s no way to solve this problem if we shrink back in fear.”

Bittner is capitalizing on her lack of political experience, branding herself as a new voice that is focused on eliminating government inefficiencies and improving public safety and education.

The candidates have acknowledged the fear plaguing Minnesotans in recent days, with Lee noting that he has spoken to citizens that have brought up the Charlie Kirk shooting and the Annunciation Church shooting that took place in their state — two instances of violence that had occurred after Hortman’s murder.

Hortman’s alleged killer, Vance Boelter, is charged with shooting and killing Hortman and her husband Mark at their home in Brooklyn Park and shooting and wounding state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette at their house in nearby Champlin in the early hours of June 14, authorities said.

Boelter allegedly showed up at their doors, impersonating a police officer and wearing a realistic-looking latex mask to carry out his “political assassinations,” prosecutors said.

Investigators recovered a list of about 45 elected officials in notebooks in Boelter’s car, according to prosecutors. The alleged shooter’s list of potential targets also included the names of abortion providers and pro-choice activists, several sources told ABC News. Many of the Democratic lawmakers on the list have been outspoken about pro-choice policy positions, two sources said.

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