Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Tuesday that the Constitution protects hate speech but also stressed that individuals who publicly celebrate the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk should expect consequences.
"The First Amendment absolutely protects speech," Cruz said at Politico's AI & Tech Summit in Washington. "It absolutely protects hate speech. It protects vile speech. It protects horrible speech. What does that mean? It means you cannot be prosecuted for speech, even if it is evil and bigoted and wrong."
At the same time, Cruz endorsed what he described as "naming and shaming" as part of democratic accountability:
"We have seen across the country, people on the left — not everybody, but far too many people — celebrating Charlie Kirk's murder. We've seen teachers in high schools and elementary schools posting online, celebrating. We've seen university professors posting. In my view, they should absolutely face the consequences for celebrating murder"
The comments come as multiple Trump officials and conservative activists have urged discipline or exposure for those who make disparaging remarks about Kirk. Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote on X on Tuesday that "hate speech that crosses the line into threats of violence is NOT protected by the First Amendment," citing federal statutes that criminalize threats.
Hate speech that crosses the line into threats of violence is NOT protected by the First Amendment. It’s a crime. For far too long, we’ve watched the radical left normalize threats, call for assassinations, and cheer on political violence. That era is over.
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) September 16, 2025
Under 18 U.S.C. §…
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Fox News on Monday that the U.S. should revoke visas from foreigners who celebrate Kirk's assassination, saying, "why would we want to bring people into our country they're going to engage in negative and destructive behavior?" Other State Department officials have also invited the public to flag such posts.
A report by The New York Times published the day after Kirk's assassination described how right-wing influencers and officials have mobilized campaigns to identify and expose individuals who celebrated Kirk's death, leading to firings, suspensions, and investigations across sectors including education and government service.
"Among those personalities have been far-right agitators like Laura Loomer and Chaya Raichik, who runs a large account on X called Libs of TikTok," said NYT. "Since the shooting, they and dozens of other online influencers have taken it upon themselves to recruit ordinary Americans to turn in fellow citizens for making comments about Mr. Kirk that may be nasty or disparaging, but are likely protected by the First Amendment."
Cruz, who described Kirk as a friend, praised social media companies for attempting to block video of the killing but added they should not broadly restrict speech. "Allow free speech," he said, noting that debate and exposure are preferable to government censorship.
Originally published on Latin Times
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