Monday on the RealClearPolitics radio show, Andrew Walworth, Carl Cannon, and Tom Bevan discussed the future of free speech and cancel culture in the wake of the assassination of Charlie Kirk, including President Trump’s claim that left-wing groups were “already under major investigation.” They also discuss New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s motives for endorsing Democratic-Socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani and reports that the U.S. and China have finally made a deal about the future of TikTok. Later, RCP contributor and former State Department official Peter Berkowitz talks to Carl Cannon about his latest piece, “Debunking Genocide Allegations Against Israel,” and his new book from RealClear Publishing: “Explaining Israel: The Jewish State, the Middle East, and America” You can listen to the show weeknights at 6:00 p.m. on SiriusXM’s POTUS Channel 124 and then on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and here on our website. *** The show opened with President Trump’s claim that a “major investigation” of left-wing groups that supported the assassination of Charlie Kirk is underway. Vice President JD Vance called on conservatives to “call people out, and even call their employer,” if they celebrated Kirk’s death on social media, raising questions about the future of free speech and cancel culture. “This idea that the media and the left, after years of strictly enforcing speech orthodoxies on everything from George Floyd and BLM to LGBTQ pronouns to COVID, have now decided they’re going to plant their free-speech stake on the hill of being allowed to celebrate murder-that boggles the mind,” Tom Bevan said. “All three of us are First Amendment stalwarts. I’m not saying they should be locked up or even investigated,” Cannon agreed. “But if you cheer for somebody whose politics you didn’t like getting gunned down in the prime of life, would you expect the other side to cheer if somebody you admire was assassinated? Where does that leave us? We’re going to have a civil war? It’s not something a sentient person should even say.” Andrew Walworth emphasized Kirk as an example: “Charlie Kirk’s message was ‘prove me wrong.’ He engaged with ideas… You should be able to tolerate views you disagree with. That’s why we have the First Amendment. So if someone says something intemperate on social media, you engage with it, you argue back. That’s better than the right adopting cancel culture to mimic the left.” “We have to draw the line at celebrating murder,” Bevan concluded. *** Also, 19 minutes into the conversation, Gov. Kathy Hochul endorsed Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani for NYC Mayor in a New York Times op-ed. Does this represent the mainstream Democratic Party embracing the progressive agenda, or does she expect him to win? “Hochul is facing a relatively tough reelection battle, and Elise Stefanik just decided to jump in that race, so that might have had something to do with this,” Bevan suggested. “She’s one of the most prominent Democrats to endorse Mamdani. Plenty have kept their distance.” “The New York Post called her Comrade Hochul,” Cannon added. “I thought it was a savvy decision… My guess is she thinks this is a way to have influence. He’s going to win anyway; she expects/hopes to win, and now they’ll be allies, not adversaries.” *** Next, around minute 28, the Trump administration says they’ve come to a deal to keep TikTok operating in the U.S. after their latest round of meetings with China — details are expected later this week. Is TikTok’s Chinese ownership really a national security issue, or is the problem with social media in general? “Social media has a lot of good, but an awful lot of bad. We’re still learning, but the bad might outweigh the good in rewiring the brains of our kids-and us,” Bevan said. “The kid who murdered Charlie Kirk is an example: he went down an online rabbit hole, got radicalized, the algorithms reinforced his priors. It’s nasty stuff. The genie’s out of the bottle. Even if we shut down TikTok, there are ten other options just as bad, and something would pop up and replace it. I don’t know if we’ll ever unwind the damage social media has done worldwide.” *** Finally, around minute 37, RCP contributor and former State Department official Peter Berkowitz talks to Carl Cannon about his latest piece: “Debunking Genocide Allegations Against Israel,” and his new book from RealClear Publishing: “Explaining Israel: The Jewish State, the Middle East, and America” “Genocide does not mean killing more people than critics think is appropriate in a military operation,” he said. “The accusation of genocide against Israel has a long history. We began to hear it in the late 1980s with the first intifada,” Berkowitz said. “By law and morality, Hamas bears presumptive responsibility for the devastation in Gaza. They unlawfully chose to wage war inside cities, bringing this on the Palestinians.” “I suspect their focus on Israel-holding it to impossible standards, abusing the laws of war, ignoring far greater regional carnage-has to do with anti-Americanism. Many academics see Israel as an outpost of U.S.-style settler colonialism. For them, opposing Israel is a proxy for opposing the United States and the alleged evils it inflicts on the world,” Berkowitz argued. *** Don’t miss a single episode of the RealClearPolitics weeknight radio show – subscribe at Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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