loading . . . David Brooks: My Friends Who Are Supporters Of Trump Are Calling Charlie Kirk's Assassination "Our George Floyd" "New York Times" columnist David Brooks claims a "couple" of friends who are "supporters of the president" told him the assassination of Charlie Kirk is "our George Floyd."
AMNA NAWAZ, PBS NEWSHOUR: So let's just start with the fact that Charlie Kirk was an undeniable political force, right, had incredible influence over a new generation of young conservative men in particular.
His death, you have probably both seen, I mean, former presidents have weighed in. It is being reported on overseas. I was watching BBC today. It was wall to wall about coverage of his killing and the arrest of the alleged gunman here. There's a sense, David, that this marks something different and notable in our nation.
Do you believe that?
DAVID BROOKS, NEW YORK TIMES: Yes, I do.
Another step. In the hours after Kirk was killed, I started getting e-mails and texts from my friends who were supporters of the president. And a couple of them said independently, this is our George Floyd. And they didn't mean that literally, but in terms of emotional reaction into how gutted they were.
And they just felt that just something really terrible has happened. Another e-mailed me that this is — there's no coming back from this. And I think what they meant by that, and I had a later conversation, they see in their own lives, as I think we all do, 23-year-old young men who have turned nihilist, who just don't — they're lonely. Their whole life is on Discord or whatever.
And they have turned not — to believe in nothing, nothing to lose, hatred. I would recommend a book to capture the moment. It just came out a week ago, and obviously it was written before the killing by a guy name Bill Galston, who's probably been on the show multiple times, works at the Brookings Institution.
And it came out just a week ago, it's called "Anger, Fear and Hatred" — or and "Domination," "Anger, Fear and Domination." And it's about the dark passions. We all need to be motivated by something. And good leaders were motivated by what you might call the bright passions, hope, aspiration, a vision of a better life.
But people have discovered that it's more powerful to motivate people with the dark passions, like anger, hatred, resentment and the urge to dominate. And this has been true of politicians in both parties. I had a very poignant conversation a decade ago now with a Democratic ad maker who said, I want to elect Democrats, but every ad I make is about anger and fear and hatred. And so I feel like I'm part of the problem.
And the thing about the dark passions, they're imperialistic. They're like cancer. Once they get in you and in the body politic, they tend to spread. And it's super hard to turn that around. https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2025/09/13/david_brooks_my_friends_who_are_supporters_of_trump_are_calling_charlie_kirks_assassination_our_george_floyd.html
