"This is existential": MAGA's siege mentality deepens after Kirk killing

• The MAGA movement has long believed that it's under siege, especially after the two assassination attempts against President Trump during the 2024 campaign.
• Right-wing activists see Kirk's death as the ultimate vindication of that mentality — and proof that the movement is at "war," whether it wants to be or not.

What they're saying: Within minutes of the shooting at Utah Valley University on Wednesday, MAGA leaders cast Kirk as the victim of an existential political battle.

• Trump called Kirk a "martyr for truth and freedom," vowing to crack down on the "radical left" for fomenting violence with its "demonization" of conservatives.
• "Charlie Kirk gave his life for his country. He's on the battlefield of political combat, and they cut him down with an assassin's bullet," Steve Bannon said on his "War Room" podcast Wednesday evening.
• "They are at war with us. Whether we want to accept it or not, they are at war with us. And what are we gonna do about it?" Fox News host Jesse Watters asked on his show Wednesday night.

Between the lines: The shooter in Wednesday's attack is still at large and their motive unknown, though the presumption is that Kirk's platform and politics played a role.

• Political violence in the U.S. has surged in recent years, affecting high-profile figures in both parties — a fact Trump and many others on the right aren't mentioning.
• State Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota were targeted for assassination in June, and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's (D) gubernatorial residence was set ablaze in April in an act of arson.

Zoom in: Many MAGA influencers on X declared Kirk's assassination a turning point, labeling Democrats a "domestic terrorist organization" and demanding sweeping retribution.

• Government officials also joined in: Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) said he will "go to war" against "leftist scumbags," and blamed the media for Kirk's assassination.
• White House official Stephen Miller, who branded Democrats a "domestic extremist organization" just last week, tweeted that the "fate of millions depends upon the defeat of this wicked ideology."

Other MAGA activists outlined specific demands, including the establishment of a House select committee on "left-wing violence" and prosecutions of progressive donors and funders.

Zoom out: Mike Jensen, the research director at the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism at the University of Maryland, was skeptical that America would reverse the trend of heightening political violence.

• "That encouragement [for violence] is always going to be seen before the voices calling for calm," Jensen told Axios. "So, escalation is the pathway that we're on."
• "The pattern of de-escalation would have to be that we move beyond simple calls for calm, for peaceful dialogues, and we need political representatives to actually demonstrate those ideals, both in their rhetoric and their actions," he added, specifically urging support for the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships at the Department of Homeland Security, which has seen its funding gutted under Trump.

The other side: A few conservatives did urge restraint, pointing to Kirk's own reputation for civil campus debates and the need for de-escalation in political discourse.

• "What I was really disgusted by yesterday is a couple of talking heads that sees this as an opportunity to say we're at war so that they could get some of our conservative followers lathered up over this," Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) told reporters.
• "It seems like a cheap, disgusting, awful way to pretend like you're a leader of a conservative movement," Tillis added.
• "We must fight for a better America — an America where good people can speak truth and debate passionately without fear of a bullet. I weep for Charlie's family, and I weep for my country today. Most of all, I weep for Charlie," wrote The Daily Wire's Ben Shapiro.