AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
The assassination of right-wing youth leader Charlie Kirk last week has once again shifted focus onto political violence and the increasing polarization in American society. Here's Utah's Republican Governor Spencer Cox speaking to the press on Friday.
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SPENCER COX: To my young friends out there, you are inheriting a country where politics feels like rage. It feels like rage is the only option. But through those words, we have a reminder that we can choose a different path.
RASCOE: We're now joined by NPR senior national political correspondent Mara Liasson. Good morning, Mara.
MARA LIASSON, BYLINE: Good morning, Ayesha.
RASCOE: So, you know, it was exactly three months ago that we were talking about the assassination of Minnesota state Democratic Representative Melissa Hortman, who was shot and killed in her home, along with her husband. Her fellow Democratic lawmaker, Senator John Hoffman, and his wife were also targeted. They survived the assassination attempt. And now here we are again talking about another assassination.
LIASSON: That's right. There have been so many acts of political violence recently - the two assassination attempts against President Trump, the attack on Nancy Pelosi's husband, the shooting of House Republican Steve Scalise, the pardoning of the January 6 violent offenders, where Trump sent the message that political violence conducted on his behalf is OK. And the fact is that polls show that political violence is becoming more acceptable among the public. There was a PBS/Marist/NPR poll that showed 1 in 5 Americans said political violence may be justified in some circumstances. Republicans were a little more likely to agree with that statement than Democrats - 28% of Republicans, 12% of Democrats.
And the way people look at their political opponents in the United States has become very apocalyptic. The other party isn't just someone you disagree with, but if they got elected, America would be destroyed. And you've seen other polls among college students. Recently, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression found that 34% of college students in the U.S. approved of using violence to stop a campus speech. And that's exactly what happened with Charlie Kirk's assassination.
RASCOE: Usually, when there are acts of political violence, we depend on our leaders to try to tamp this down, to try to bring us together. Is that what's happening now?
LIASSON: Well, it certainly is happening with the Utah governor, Spencer Cox - you just played that bite from him - but not so much from President Trump. He dedicated a four-minute address to Charlie Kirk on Wednesday night. He held what he called the, quote, "radical left" responsible for Kirk's assassination. He promised that his administration would find, quote, "each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity," even though the ideological motives of the alleged assassin are still unknown. But Spencer Cox has been trying to tamp down the rage. He said one person is responsible for this.
RASCOE: So how is this divisive, maybe even, you know, acrimonious vibe going to spill over to other things, like, you know, a possible government shutdown if Congress can't pass the federal budget?
LIASSON: Well, it's hard to imagine Congress being any more divisive and polarized than it already is. Even after Charlie Kirk's death, there was a shouting match on the floor of the House. But you're right, Congress is facing the possibility of a government shutdown if they don't pass a budget or a continuing resolution by September 30. And the only way that Congress can keep the government open is with a bipartisan vote in the Senate. There are just not enough Republicans to overcome a filibuster. And that means the pressure is on Democrats and whether they're going to agree to keep the government open, to give the Republicans the votes they need, as they have in the past.
And there's now a big part of the Democratic base that wants its leaders to fight, to refuse to provide votes to keep the government open. They say this is Democrats' only leverage to get concessions on Medicaid cuts or Obamacare subsidies. But then there are other Democrats who say Donald Trump and the Republicans don't want the government to stay open. Why should Democrats play into their hands? So this is a very fraught issue for Democrats, who aren't quite sure who would benefit politically from a government shutdown.
RASCOE: I mean, so there's a lot going on domestically, but President Trump is heading to the U.K. this week for a state visit. What do we know about this trip?
LIASSON: Well, we know that he is the first American president to get two state visits to the United Kingdom. This is a very fraught moment for Europe. Russia has attacked a NATO member, Poland, with a 12-hour massive drone attack that Europe has condemned. Trump has not, at least not yet - he said it could have been a mistake. But even though other American officials have said the U.S. stands with NATO and our treaty commitments are intact, Trump seems to be giving, once again, Vladimir Putin the benefit of the doubt.
RASCOE: That's NPR's Mara Liasson. Thank you, Mara.
LIASSON: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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