(from the i-paper) :- There have been a number of controversial takes from the left in response to the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, right-wing political firebrand in the US. Kirk had opinions that were not just politically divisive, but somewhat extreme. His statements about Jewish, gay and black people have caused many on the left to, if not celebrate his passing, not be too shy about their refusal to mourn it.
Kirk’s death is nothing less than a tragedy - he leaves behind a wife and two children.
But perhaps the worst take of all is from the President Donald Trump, who appears to have capitalised on Kirk’s death for political gain. It stands in sharp contrast to his limited response after attacks on Democrat figures earlier this summer: "In the aftermath of Kirk’s murder, Trump and the Maga establishment have immediately denounced leftist rhetoric and blamed the left for political violence in America – while ignoring entirely the extreme vitriol coming from their own side, including from Kirk himself.
To do so is to immediately, and dishonestly, weaponise and politicise his killing, and to risk even more violence in the future.
"Trump pardoned, en masse, everyone who invaded the Capitol on 6 January, 2021, including those who attacked police officers and arrived armed for a day of violence that left five dead. He shrugged off the brutal murder of Minnesota Democrats. He openly sends in the national guard and FBI to cities which vote against him. And now one of his allies lies dead, he condemns his opponents as responsible without waiting for the basic facts."
########## That text omits the extreme hypocrisy by which Chump laments the long prison sentence given to Brazil’s former right-wing despot leader (Bolsonaro), for trying to organise a revolution against the newly-elected leader, when his response to his OWN attempted terrorist revolution at the Capitol was to pardon all those concerned (a "nasty witch hunt").