Republican Representative Thomas Massie on Thursday called on President Donald Trump to tone down his rhetoric following this week’s killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk in Upstate New York.
“I think there’s a lot of rhetoric. And the president himself is getting involved in it — he called it a ‘ hostile act ’ to support the Epstein resolution,” Massie told The Hill , referring to his bipartisan bill to release files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who was once friends with Trump.
He called it “ridiculous rhetoric.”
“It’s amusing,” he told the Hill. “I don’t mind him being over the top with the rhetoric, but some people are taking it literally, and he should probably reject it himself.”
Massie was not alone among Republicans in asking the president to help bring down the temperature.
Representative Don Bacon also called on Trump to call it quits and unite the country.
“But he’s a populist, and populists give in to anger,” he told NBC News in the District. “I have to remind people, including in Minnesota, right?”
Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were shot and killed by a gunman who was also targeting other Democratic figures.
Trump, however, is showing no signs of changing his tone.
Authorities have said they do not yet have a suspect or motive for the murder, but the president has blamed “radical leftists.”
“We have radical left-wing lunatics out there, and we just have to beat the crap out of them,” Trump said Thursday in the District.
Kirk, 31, was shot and killed while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University, leaving behind a wife and two young children.
Trump isn’t the only one delivering heated rhetoric, as the House moderates flared up earlier this week.
“Well, the emotions are raw because a lot of us knew Charlie Kirk personally and had interacted with him,” Massie told The Hill. “And so, I’m giving everyone here a pass.”
He added: “I don’t think you can blame anyone for what they say in the next 24 or 48 hours, but I think it will settle down, and hopefully it will settle into a calmer place than it was before.”
