Sen. Ted Cruz paraphrased a 19th-century philosopher on Tuesday in defending the free speech rights of the throngs of people who celebrated Charlie Kirk's assassination last week — at the same time advocating for the "naming and shaming" of those same people.
"Just like John Stuart Mill said: 'The best response to bad speech is more speech,'" the Texas Republican said at Politico's AI & Tech Summit in Washington, D.C.
"We have seen people on the left, not everybody but far too many people, celebrating Charlie Kirk's murder," Cruz said. "We've seen teachers in high schools and elementary schools posting online, celebrating. We've seen university professors posting. In my view, they should absolutely face the consequences for celebrating murder," he said. "Naming and shaming is part of a functioning and vibrant democracy."
However, he defended their right to say it.
"The First Amendment absolutely protects speech," Cruz said. "It absolutely protects hate speech. It protects vile speech. It protects horrible speech. What does that mean? It means you cannot be prosecuted for speech, even if it is evil and bigoted and wrong."
And it's that principle that Kirk was assassinated for, Cruz said.
"He was assassinated for believing in free speech, for engaging in his views. He was assassinated not because he was spreading lies, but because people were afraid of what he was saying. The courage he had, to go to college campuses and engage with people who disagreed with him," the senator said.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.