Attorney General Pam Bondi is causing a huge controversy in the wake of the tragic assassination of Charlie Kirk. Appearing on The Katie Miller Podcast, Bondi implied that the Justice Department will target so-called “hate speech” having to do with Kirk’s murder. Watch what she had to say here for yourself: Attorney General Pam Bondi: “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.” pic.twitter.com/Bqj6TQOGwP — The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) September 16, 2025 Later, Pam Bondi doubled down on Fox News’s Hannity. While talking about a recent incident at a Michigan Office Depot, where employees refused to print posters for a Charlie Kirk prayer vigil, Bondi threatened to prosecute. Watch: Bondi: If you want to go and print posters with Charlie’s picture for a vigil, you have to let them do that. We can prosecute you for that. We have right now our civil rights unit looking at that. pic.twitter.com/GugF4PsGwZ — Acyn (@Acyn) September 16, 2025 Is it wrong for someone to refuse to print posters for a prayer vigil of a loving husband, father, and impactful leader who was just brutally murdered? Yes. It’s good that Office Depot fired the employees responsible for refusing to do so, since it is against their store policies and just flat-out morally reprehensible. But, is it prosecutable? No. For years, conservatives, under the First Amendment, have fought cases like these. I’m thinking of the gay cake situation, where, after a long struggle, the Supreme Court ultimately ruled that a Christian bakery had the right to refuse to make a cake that went against their beliefs. We can’t be hypocrites here. We can’t go against the Constitution. As you can imagine, Bondi is facing a ton of backlash on social media over her remarks. In fact, calls are growing for Bondi to be ousted — from both sides of the aisle. Matt Walsh is just one conservative voice calling for Bondi’s removal: Get rid of her. Today. This is insane. Conservatives have fought for decades for the right to refuse service to anyone. We won that fight. Now Pam Bondi wants to roll it all back for no reason. The employee who didn’t print the flyer was already fired by his employer. This stuff… https://t.co/Ry7PEUz1ca — Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) September 16, 2025 Get rid of her. Today. This is insane. Conservatives have fought for decades for the right to refuse service to anyone. We won that fight. Now Pam Bondi wants to roll it all back for no reason. The employee who didn’t print the flyer was already fired by his employer. This stuff is being handled successfully through free speech and free markets. This is totally gratuitous and pointless. We need the AG focused on bringing down the left wing terror cells, not prosecuting Office Depot for God’s sake. Between this “hate speech” nonsense and Epstein, Pam Bondi has committed two of the most egregious errors we’ve ever seen from an Attorney General. How many seismic fuck ups will Trump permit her before he cuts her loose? Is this a ten strikes and you’re out deal or what? — Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) September 16, 2025 Auron MacIntyre of The Blaze also called for Bondi to be fired: She’s either intentionally destroying the ability of the administration to go after the leftist terror network that killed Charlie Kirk or she it too stupid to be in any position that requires public speaking I don’t care which, just fire her https://t.co/7FZMPAjqbC — Auron MacIntyre (@AuronMacintyre) September 16, 2025 The Hodgetwins called her “WEAK”: Pam Bondi needs to be fired She is WEAK — Hodgetwins (@hodgetwins) September 16, 2025 Conservative activist Christopher Rufo expressed his disappointed with Bondi: This is extremely concerning. The distinction is not between “free speech” and “hate speech,” but between “free speech” and “organizing illicit activities, engaging in political violence, depriving others of their civil rights, and committing tax or nonprofit fraud.” https://t.co/inFNF3prAa — Christopher F. Rufo (@realchrisrufo) September 16, 2025 Dave Rubin also criticized Bondi, pointing out that Charlie Kirk himself would be against this: Unbelievably bad take by Bondi, worthy of immediate resignation of an Attorney General. Hate speech does not exist, you can say mean things about people. We have very specific limitations such as direct calls for violence, but amorphous “hate speech” does not exist. Charlie… — Dave Rubin (@RubinReport) September 16, 2025 Unbelievably bad take by Bondi, worthy of immediate resignation of an Attorney General. Hate speech does not exist, you can say mean things about people. We have very specific limitations such as direct calls for violence, but amorphous “hate speech” does not exist. Charlie would never want this… “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.” No Pam, we will do a basic civics lesson on the show today for you… https://x.com/BulwarkOnline/ Dave Rubin is right, by the way. Charlie Kirk lived by that age-old saying: I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. That’s why the First Amendment exists, and Charlie lived and died protecting it. But don’t take it from me; take it from Charlie himself. Last year in May, Charlie Kirk posted this: Hate speech does not exist legally in America. 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. — Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) May 3, 2024 Matt Van Swol noted: Charlie would have stood for none of what Pam has said here. The government should make no law infringing on freedom of speech to curtail “hate speech” in any way. None, zero. This is incredibly disappointing to hear. — Matt Van Swol (@matt_vanswol) September 16, 2025 After facing harsh criticism over her remarks, Pam Bondi released a statement to clarify what she meant by “hate speech.” To give her the benefit of the doubt, she says that she was referring to speech that “crosses the line into threats of violence” like we have been hearing from the left for years now and has now escalated after Charlie Kirk’s death. Exhibit A: EVIL: TikToker Calls for Murder of Charlie Kirk’s Wife & Kids, Politicians, & CEOs — “Why Did You Stop With Him?” Exhibit B: VILE: Popular Liberal Streamer Destiny Says Conservatives Should “Be Afraid of Getting Killed” Bondi cited 18 U.S.C. § 875(c), which says: (c) Whoever transmits in interstate or foreign commerce any communication containing any threat to kidnap any person or any threat to injure the person of another, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. Read Pam Bondi's full statement here for yourself and let me know what you think: Hate speech that crosses the line into threats of violence is NOT protected by the First Amendment. It’s a crime. For far too long, we’ve watched the radical left normalize threats, call for assassinations, and cheer on political violence. That era is over. Under 18 U.S.C. §… — Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) September 16, 2025 Hate speech that crosses the line into threats of violence is NOT protected by the First Amendment. It’s a crime. For far too long, we’ve watched the radical left normalize threats, call for assassinations, and cheer on political violence. That era is over. Under 18 U.S.C. § 875(c), it is a federal crime to transmit “any communication containing any threat to kidnap any person or any threat to injure the person of another.” Likewise, 18 U.S.C. § 876 and 18 U.S.C. § 115 make it a felony to threaten public officials, members of Congress, or their families. You cannot call for someone’s murder. You cannot swat a Member of Congress. You cannot dox a conservative family and think it will be brushed off as “free speech.” These acts are punishable crimes, and every single threat will be met with the full force of the law. Free speech protects ideas, debate, even dissent but it does NOT and will NEVER protect violence. 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. While some accused Pam Bondi of doing damage control, others, like Megyn Kelly came to her defense: Hate speech is not prosecutable in America (which is good). Pam Bondi knows this. I am guessing, given the statements by Stephen Miller yesterday about targeting violent cells, she means those who actually plan violence,which would not be about the speech but the conspiracy. https://t.co/gYpr6GxtV8 — Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) September 16, 2025 So did Laura Loomer: Pam Bondi @AGPamBondi has clarified her comments about “hate speech”. President Trump and his administration have always shown a commitment to free speech. I think we should be gracious and accept Pam Bondi’s clarification of her comments because it’s obvious to be she meant to… https://t.co/EFK9Jj5wLV — Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) September 16, 2025 Pam Bondi @AGPamBondi has clarified her comments about “hate speech”. President Trump and his administration have always shown a commitment to free speech. I think we should be gracious and accept Pam Bondi’s clarification of her comments because it’s obvious to be she meant to say “incitement”, not hate speech. Was it an unfortunate misuse of words? Yes, but I don’t think it was intentional or malicious. She was on a podcast with @KatieMiller when she made her comments and it was not scripted. Sometimes things are awkwardly said on podcasts. It happens. Let’s focus on nudging the Trump admin to do what we want as it relates to cracking down on political violence. As someone who has very publicly attacked the AG, I truly believe she simply misspoke. She has since clarified to reiterate a commitment to protecting free speech but a crackdown on incitement of violence. The time to act is now. Let’s focus on what we want to see. A crackdown on political violence and action from the IRS @SecScottBessent to strip these leftist groups of their 501c3 status so they can’t get a tax write off for promoting assassination culture. We need to be focused on the action we want. Let’s rally behind action. I'm curious: what do you make of this? Do you agree or disagree with Pam Bondi?