House Democrats rejected saying a prayer on the floor for conservative activist Charlie Kirk shortly after he was shot in Utah on Wednesday, and that sent the "wrong message," Rep. Ashley Hinson said on Newsmax Friday.
"'In God We Trust' sits over the speaker's lectern down there in the chamber," the Iowa Republican, who is campaigning for the U.S. Senate, told Newsmax's "Wake Up America," Friday. "We should be embracing the power of prayer as we're dealing with many of these challenges in our country."
Hinson said that while her staffers were watching coverage of the attack, a constituent meeting in her Washington office asked to pause and pray for Kirk and his family.
"We do need to take a moment to do that and to pause," she said. "I hope people, as we move past this tragedy, I hope it is unifying in the sense of at least letting us come together to have honest and open conversations in a way that there's less vitriol involved."
She praised Kirk, 31, as "so inspiring to so many," noting that her own 14-year-old son followed his work and was devastated by the news.
"My last text to Charlie last week was to let him know that my son wanted to start a Turning Point chapter at his high school, so he did inspire a whole generation of young conservatives," Hinson said.
Kirk, she added, was "out there speaking the truth and engaging in that dialogue," and his murder should spark outrage.
"This was a father, a husband, a God-loving man who was out there engaging, and I think that's what we need more of," she said. "We should step back from our phones. That's what he kind of preached, is 'Don't tweet about it so much. Let's talk about it.' And I think we absolutely need to do that going forward, and we should live in that spirit in his legacy."
Hinson said she encourages civil, open conversations, both at town halls and with her constituents.
"I was always one of those students who was not afraid to challenge my professors," she said. "Try and change my mind. If you're going to yell at me and be nasty, that's a completely different conversation. But if you're having an open, honest conversation, I think that's what we need more of in this country."
But she warned that political violence is becoming a "new normal," pointing to the recent attack on President Donald Trump, the assassination of Kirk, and assaults on Minnesota lawmakers.
"I don't want to discount that, because I think we need to make sure that our elected representatives feel safe going forward and we can do our jobs, but we need to not be afraid to have those discussions," Hinson said.
Turning to the congressional budget talks, Hinson criticized Democrats for blocking progress.
"They're the ones who are preaching, 'We want regular order.' And their only response is that their Trump derangement syndrome has gotten in the way of them getting this job done for the American people," she said. "And, you know, I'm rooting for our country to get this bill, these bills all passed. We have all 12 out of our committee. So we're doing our jobs in the House to make sure we're moving that process forward."
She added that Democrats are "actually playing politics here," and that risks real consequences.
"Yeah, we shouldn't be playing politics with people's healthcare. We should be delivering on the promises we made to the American people," she said.
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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