‘We need to do better’: A shaken Washington struggles to come together after Kirk’s death

By Sarah Ferris, Manu Raju, CNN

(CNN) — In a Washington still reeling from the assassination of conservative icon Charlie Kirk, Republicans and Democrats are deeply splintered and fearful that violent threats to political figures will be a regular feature of the country’s bleak new normal.

In the 24 hours since Kirk’s death, President Donald Trump, who announced the death of a man he said he loved and admired, has pointed fingers at liberals. And down Pennsylvania Avenue, lawmakers on Capitol Hill have found it extraordinarily difficult to unite to turn down the temperature of political discourse, even as party leaders broadly urged it.

The blame, recriminations and heightened concern from both parties underscores a particularly tense and bitter point in American politics.

“You gotta find a way,” GOP Rep. Stephanie Bice of Oklahoma told CNN about the path forward. “Political violence is becoming normal. That’s just not acceptable. I thought a lot last night about what kind of world my daughters are growing up in, it’s not a good place.”

The targeted attack of Kirk while onstage at a college campus on Wednesday was a heart-wrenching blow to the conservative movement in Washington.

For many people in the White House, it wasn’t just political, but deeply personal. Kirk was part of a small group of people loyal not only to Trump, but to each other. Kirk had virtually open access to the White House and a direct line to Trump.

Inside the Capitol, top-ranking lawmakers and aides recalled how Kirk helped spark their political careers and lit a fire under their movement, helping them win full control of Congress last year.

“As I’ve gone through so many emotions since the shooting, that’s kind of where I’ve landed, is we need to do better in this country. Stand on truth, but love that other person that you’re having the political disagreement with,” Rep. Richard Hudson, the chair of the House Republican campaign arm, told CNN. “He loved having debates, he loved debating ideas, but he did it with love, and he stood strong for truth, but he did it from a place of gentleness.”

“It’s heartbreaking, you know, makes you angry, but obviously, for me, it also brings back some tough memories,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who was severely injured in the 2017 congressional baseball shooting, said. He added that Kirk’s organization “created a movement” of millions of people for the GOP.

It’s not just the many Republicans who knew and admired him who have been profoundly affected by his death. Elected officials in every state have been forced to again grapple with how to keep themselves safe from the rise in violent acts targeting political figures.

“We have colleagues on both sides of the aisle who are in a different place this morning than they were yesterday. People have been shaken by this event,” Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters Thursday. The speaker said multiple lawmakers have approached him since the deadly shooting in Utah about upping their own protection, particularly in their districts back home where they and their family don’t have the benefit of US Capitol Police.

The anguish felt by lawmakers across the political spectrum reopens the long-standing question of how to ensure the safety of politicians and their families with limited resources in an increasingly toxic political environment where threats of violence against politicians are at an all-time high.

In July, following the fatal shootings targeting state lawmakers in Minnesota, the House increased security funding and resources for lawmakers. Johnson told CNN approximately 60 Democrats and 20 Republicans took advantage of that program, and he wants to examine what worked and what didn’t.

Johnson has already had preliminary conversations with Republican leadership and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries about lawmaker security, he told CNN. Johnson said he’s looking at “all options” though he added that he, personally, would still hold events outdoors.

But many long-serving members said Congress needs to do more than improve security. They said it’s about both Republican and Democratic leaders reining in the extreme voices of their parties.

“That’s part of the problem. I have a responsibility to talk to those on my side of the aisle, and vice versa,” said Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, stressing that politics is “not just about getting on social media and getting hits.” The gulf between the two parties is now so acute that Meeks said he’s not sure if the country could still come together the same way it did 24 years ago on September 11.

“You look at 9/11, the unity that we did have – it comes into question whether we could have that same unity now,” said Meeks, who represented part of New York City in Congress during the 2001 terrorist attacks.

‘You are responsible for this’

Many of the details of Kirk’s murder — including the identity of the shooter — are still unclear. But some Republicans, including Trump himself, lashed out at Democrats in the immediate aftermath for what they say was extreme rhetoric that caused Kirk to be targeted.

One GOP lawmaker, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, shouted that Democrats had “f**king caused this” on the House floor on Wednesday. Trump spoke from the Oval Office on Wednesday night stating that the “radical left” had contributed to Kirk’s murder. On Thursday morning, an angry Rep. Derrick Van Orden lashed out at reporters, accusing “every one of you,” of being responsible for Kirk’s death, as well as previous assassination attempts against the president.

“You are responsible for this, because you are echoing the horrifically horrible political violent rhetoric that’s being produced by the Democrat Party,” Van Orden said.

Privately, many Democrats are fuming that their colleagues — and the president — have chosen to continue personal attacks against the other side.

“It was extremely disturbing, using rhetoric of vengeance and violence, whether it’s a member of Congress, whether it is the president of the United States, to assume and assert and cast blame when the FBI has failed to even apprehend the assailant, is absolutely an irresponsible action. We must come together,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who regularly faces personal threats, told reporters Thursday.

Republicans, too, acknowledge that both parties need to tone down the rhetoric.

Asked about the assertion by some of his GOP colleagues that Democrats’ rhetoric caused Kirk’s shooting, House Oversight Chairman James Comer responded: “Everybody’s emotions are high. I’m not going to point the finger that either party, both parties have guilt.”

A chilling question of safety

In the wake of the fatal shooting, the White House is taking extra security precautions to protect Trump, two sources told CNN.

The 9/11 memorial ceremony Trump attended Thursday morning was moved from the Pentagon’s traditional site outside the building walls to an internal courtyard amid ongoing security concerns, according to a source familiar with the matter.

And when Trump visits Yankee Stadium later in the evening, additional security measures will be in place in and around the Bronx location, according to another source. That includes security screening at all entrances and additional measures around the box where Trump will watch the game, that source said.

Trump was originally going to spend the weekend at Trump Tower in New York, but on Wednesday he changed his mind and now plans to head to his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club. CNN has previously reported that Bedminster, where Trump spent much of the summers during his first term, is considered an extremely secure facility. Trump traveled to Bedminster after the assassination attempt last year in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Lawmakers also moved quickly to change their political operations in the aftermath of Kirk’s death. But privately, many acknowledge there is no easy way to try to prevent that kind of calculated, chilling murder — a single shot apparently from a building rooftop.

“You could have had a fleet of security guards, and no one would have noticed a guy laying down on the rooftop,” Comer said, pointing to a building 200 yards away. One temporary solution, he said, would be to limit outdoor events, adding: “It’s terrible that we have to even have that conversation.”

Already, multiple members of Congress and their staff told CNN they are postponing outdoor events for the near future. And some are using their own funds to hire private security for events away from Capitol Hill.

Rep. Jared Moskowitz, who says he was the target of an assassination attempt, was one of the Democrats who took advantage of the pilot program offering lawmakers more security funding and resources. Moskowitz no longer holds outdoor events and said the pilot program helped him reimburse local police.

“People should start thinking about whether people should be wanded before they walk into events,” the Florida Democrat said.

Rep. Ralph Norman, who is running to be South Carolina’s next governor, told CNN that Kirk’s death “affects everything” when it comes to how he’ll be able to campaign, explaining that outdoor events are “all targets.”

GOP Rep. Tim Burchett, who has dealt with threats at his family home in Tennessee, called congressional leadership “woefully ill-prepared” to deal with the current threat environment.

“We’ve got to reevaluate what we’re doing. I think we better start taking this serious. We always react, overreact after an event happens, we need to react prior to that event happening,” he told reporters Thursday, adding somberly that he didn’t want to die at work so he can walk his daughter down the aisle.

When he reported the security incident at his home, he said he brought it up to GOP leadership but never heard back.

“I just feel like we’re … something really bad is going to happen before we get something really done up here, I’m afraid,” Burchett said.

Rep. Tom Cole, the top House GOP spending leader, said he is ready to fund any security package that Johnson sends his way. But he said it’s just “not possible” to give every member a personal detail like a House speaker or minority leader would get. And he recalled brushing off a former staffer when they told him to get a camera for his House.

“I already have alarms. All the camera would do is help catch the guy who murdered me. The camera’s not gonna matter, it’s not gonna stop anybody,” Cole said.

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CNN’s Alayna Treene, Alison Main, Annie Grayer, Ellis Kim, Kristen Holmes and Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.