House Democrats say political violence isn’t coming from just their side

House Democratic leaders on Tuesday insisted they don’t see a bigger problem with political violence coming from the fringe base of their party.

Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar and Vice Chairman Ted Lieu, both of California, condemned the “horrific” assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

“Last week’s killing of Mr. Kirk was also part of a broader trend of political violence in our country,” Mr. Lieu said.

He listed several recent politically motivated attacks against Democrats: the murder of Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, at their home; the shooting of Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette; the firebombing of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s residence while he and his family were celebrating Passover; and the plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

“We’ve also seen horrific political violence targeted toward President Trump, Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi and her husband, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Gabby Giffords and several other political leaders and judges in the last decade,” Mr. Lieu said.

“While political disagreements are part of democracy, there are never, ever acceptable pretexts for harming others. Political violence is never acceptable.”

However, Democrats are facing criticism that more of their younger base finds political violence acceptable, according to recent polling.

Charlie Kirk’s alleged shooter, Tyler Robinson, is 22 years old, and his family reportedly said he has leftist ideologies.   

Twenty-three-year-old Robin Westman, the alleged Minneapolis gunman last month who shot 18 schoolkids and three adults, murdering two of the children before turning the gun on himself, wrote antisemitic rhetoric, anti-Christian sentiments, and hostility toward President Trump.

Cody Balmer, 38, the suspected arsonist who allegedly tried to kill Mr. Shapiro and his family, decided to firebomb the governor’s official residence because of “what he wants to do to the Palestinian people.” 

When asked if the Democratic Party has a youth violence issue to contend with, Mr. Aguilar said, “No, I think our communities have seen violence, and I think all of it is terrible, whether it’s a school shooting or whether it’s political violence; none of it is helpful.”

He said, “It doesn’t matter if you’re a senior or a young person. I understand young people are more sensitive to the social media environment that they are in, and that is not helpful to the moment that we’re in, but it’s on all of us to condemn these acts of political terror.”

He added, “My position is unchanged. Everybody, no matter your political affiliation, has an obligation to denounce political violence. It has no place in our public discourse.”

A recent YouGov poll showed that 72% of Americans across the political spectrum said political violence is never justified.

Twenty-six percent of liberals under 45 years old, compared with 12% of liberals 45 and older, said political violence can sometimes be justified and 12% of moderates under 45 years old, compared with 6% of moderates 45 and over, said it’s sometimes justified; and 7% of young conservatives, compared with 4% of older conservatives, said it’s sometimes justified.

Another YouGov snap poll, taken two days later, showed that 18% of liberals, 7% of conservatives and 6% of moderates responded that political violence is sometimes justified to achieve political goals.