Ted Cruz says hate speech 'absolutely' protected by First Amendment following Charlie Kirk's assassination

Sen Ted Cruz R-Texas noted on Tuesday that a person cannot be prosecuted for speech but he is in favor of other consequences for those who celebrate the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk putting the senator at odds with the Trump administration Cruz made the comments at Politico's AI Tech Summit on Tuesday when he affirmed that hate speech is protected under the U S Constitution's First Amendment The First Amendment absolutely protects speech Cruz noted It absolutely protects hate speech he continued 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 PAM BONDI CLARIFIES 'HATE SPEECH' COMMENTS AFTER GETTING BLOWBACKInstead of facing prosecution Cruz announced anyone who has celebrated Kirk s murder or suggested that he deserved to die for his political views should be met with other forms of consequences such as termination or expulsion Several people in various jobs across the country have been fired for comments made in response to Kirk's death We have seen as you noted across the country people on the left not everybody but far too a large number of people celebrating Charlie Kirk s murder Cruz announced 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 added Cruz's comments come after Attorney General Pam Bondi noted on Monday that the Justice Department would target people who engaged in hate speech following Kirk's assassination There s free speech and then there s hate speech and there is no place especially now especially after what happened to Charlie in our society We will absolutely target you go after you if you are targeting anyone with hate speech Bondi explained podcast host Katie Miller the wife of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller BONDI 'HATE SPEECH' REMARKS SPARK TORRENT OF CRITICISM FROM CONSERVATIVESBondi later attempted to walk back her comments saying hate speech that crosses the line into threats of violence is NOT protected by the First Amendment It s a crime she wrote on X For far too long we ve watched the radical left normalize threats call for assassinations and cheer on political violence That era is over Free speech protects ideas debate even dissent but it does NOT and will NEVER protect violence she added It is clear this violent rhetoric is designed to silence others from voicing conservative ideals We will never be silenced Not for our families not for our freedoms and never for Charlie His legacy will not be erased by fear or intimidation Inquired about Bondi's initial comments President Donald Trump suggested potentially going after journalists who treat me unfairly It's hate he advised reporters CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPKirk who was shot and killed during an event on the campus of Utah Valley University last week was opposed to prosecuting hate speech Hate speech does not exist legally in America he wrote on X last year There's ugly speech There's gross speech There's evil speech And ALL of it is protected by the First Amendment Keep America free In his remarks on Tuesday Cruz pushed for more naming and shaming citing English philosopher John Stuart Mill who argued that the best response to speech is more speech And naming and shaming is part of a functioning and vibrant democracy Cruz stated