After years of being excoriated for saying violence and "good people" were on "both sides" in Charlottesville – a campaign narrative weaponized by former President Joe Biden – President Donald Trump is fully rejecting equivocation on leftist violence and assassinations.
"The problem we have is on the left, if you look at the problem," Trump told reporters on the tarmac in a media scrum Sunday night. "The problem is on the left. It's not on the right like some people like to say is on the right.
"The problem we have is on the left. When you look at the agitators, when you look at the scum that speaks so badly of our country, the American flag burnings all over the place, that's the left. That's not the right."
When asked if there are investigations going high up into leftist groups, Trump said, "they're all under investigation," adding "we'll see" what comes of it after the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the two attempts on his own life on the campaign trail.
"They're already under major investigation," Trump continued. "A lot of the people that you would traditionally say are on the left, already under investigation."
Even foreign countries and officials celebrating the death of Kirk are under Trump administration scrutiny.
"We are looking at names," Trump said. "We don't like that. That's not right.
"We wouldn't celebrate if something happened on their side, and we don't.
"These are sick people. These are really deranged people."
Kirk, 31, was shot and killed last week at Utah Valley University. Authorities have charged Tyler Robinson, whose online affiliations reportedly included pro-trans and far-left organizations now under scrutiny. One such group, Armed Queers Salt Lake City, has since wiped its social media presence.
Law enforcement is also examining Robinson's relationship with a live-in partner, who is cooperating with investigators, as well as online posts that hinted at potential threats ahead of Kirk's campus appearance.
Utah Republican Gov. Spencer Cox confirmed the probe is exploring whether Robinson acted alone or with help from others. Trump vowed the investigation would be "very major."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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