Attorney General Pam Bondi is under fire from a broad swath of the conservative movement after suggesting the Justice Department could “target” individuals for “hate speech” in the wake of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
“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,” Bondi said Monday on the Katie Miller Pod.
“We will absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech.”
Kirk, who was shot and killed last week, had consistently argued against restricting speech, even offensive or controversial speech.
Conservatives reacted swiftly, with MAGA-aligned accounts accusing Bondi of opportunism and of echoing policies championed by the far-left.
Bondi eventually walked back her remarks, saying she was talking about prosecuting threats and incitement — not broadly restricting free speech.
Still, controversy deepened late Monday after Bondi announced the DOJ may pursue charges against a former Office Depot employee who refused to print posters for a Charlie Kirk vigil in Michigan. The employee had already been fired by the company.
Conservative commentator Matt Walsh blasted the move on X, calling for Bondi’s resignation.
“This stuff is being handled successfully through free speech and free markets. This is totally gratuitous and pointless. We need the AG focused on bringing down the left-wing terror cells, not prosecuting Office Depot for God’s sake,” Walsh wrote.
The New York Post continues:
For years, conservatives have battled against Big Tech companies for using broad definitions of hate speech in their content moderation policies.
Typically, hate speech was seen as vile remarks against specific groups of people, including comments that were racist, sexist and homophobic.
Kirk was among the critics of censorship campaigns, though his definition of hate speech doesn’t appear to include incitement of violence.
“Hate speech does not exist legally in America,” Kirk declared on X in 2024. “There’s ugly speech. There’s gross speech. There’s evil speech. And ALL of it is protected by the First Amendment. Keep America free.”
Bondi’s comments also raised legal questions. The Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that so-called “hate speech” is protected by the First Amendment. In Matal v. Tam (2017), the court reaffirmed that even offensive or derogatory speech cannot be censored by the government.
Legal scholars warn that restrictions on hate speech risk eroding free expression, noting that prosecuting speech on that basis would mark a sharp break with U.S. legal precedent.
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You complain about her speech, aren’t doing the same thing you are blaming her for?