In a burst of apparent concern and respect for assassinated Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk and his family, Attorney General Pam Bondi went too far in adopting some anti-free speech terminology.
Bondi went on The Katie Miller Podcast Monday and announced a determination to target “hate speech.” After facing numerous critiques, Bondi clarified that she was referring specifically to certain threats of violence that are not in fact First Amendment-protected speech.
MRC Vice President for Free Speech Dan Schneider noted that Charlie Kirk was a founding member of MRC’s Free Speech Alliance. “He was a champion for the importance of First Amendment free speech, and built his organization around debate and free discussion,” Schneider said. “He would be the first to tell the attorney general, his friend, that she is wrong to target ‘hate speech.’”
On the podcast, Bondi asserted, “There's free speech and then there's hate speech, and there is no place, especially now, especially after what happened to Charlie, in our society.” She added, “We will absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi: "There's free speech and then there's hate speech, and there is no place, especially now, especially after what happened to Charlie, in our society...We will absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech." pic.twitter.com/Bqj6TQOGwP
— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) September 16, 2025
Bondi immediately faced criticism for her comments, with some pointing out that Kirk himself defended hateful speech last May on X, stating, “Hate speech does not exist legally in America. There's ugly speech. There's gross speech. There's evil speech. And ALL of it is protected by the First Amendment.”
Bondi released a clarification on Tuesday, this time using more specific language concerning speech involving violence.
“Hate speech that crosses the line into threats of violence is NOT protected by the First Amendment,” she wrote on X. “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.”
The attorney general then cited the specific laws to which she was referring: “Under 18 U.S.C. § 875(c), it is a federal crime to transmit ‘any communication containing any threat to kidnap any person or any threat to injure the person of another.’ Likewise, 18 U.S.C. § 876 and 18 U.S.C. § 115 make it a felony to threaten public officials, members of Congress, or their families.”
Therefore, Bondi added, “You cannot call for someone’s murder. You cannot swat a Member of Congress. You cannot dox a conservative family and think it will be brushed off as ‘free speech.’ These acts are punishable crimes, and every single threat will be met with the full force of the law.”
She went on, “Free speech protects ideas, debate, even dissent but it does NOT and will NEVER protect violence. It is clear this violent rhetoric is designed to silence others from voicing conservative ideals.” She also promised not to allow Kirk’s legacy to “be erased by fear or intimidation.”
The U.S. Supreme Court also established a standard known as the “Brandenburg test” from the Brandenburg v. Ohio case on what constitutes inflammatory or violent speech that is not constitutionally protected.
The left has repeatedly pushed the subjective term “hate speech” as a reason for censoring free speech with which they disagree, and Big Tech platforms have justified censorship of users by citing hateful content as can be found in MRC Free Speech America’s exclusive CensorTrack database.
In August, for example, TikTok deleted the comment, “No men in women's prisons. Castrated men aren't women either. Give them their own section in men's prisons.” TikTok accused the user of “hate speech.” Also in August, X limited visibility of a user’s post, claiming “hateful conduct.” The post read: “TRANS VIOLENCE IS VIOLENCE OUTLAW TRANTIFA Minneapolis Catholic School Murderer Was a Trump-Hating, Satanic Cult Tranny.”
Free speech is under attack! Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on hate speech and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us using CensorTrack’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
