The killing of Charlie Kirk prompted a furious reaction from rightwing media on Wednesday, with prominent figures claiming “we’re in a war” and vowing “retribution” for Kirk’s death.
It was a reaction that will heighten fears about political violence in the US, coming hours after Kirk, the rightwing activist and provocateur, was shot and killed during an event at Utah university.
Greg Gutfield, the prominent Fox News host, was among the first at the network to issue an angry on-air response.
“If they could do this, they are capable of anything. I think that was the message. I believe that was the message,” he said.
Related: ‘Despicable’: Republicans and Democrats condemn violence after Charlie Kirk killing
“It’s really hard to radicalize Republicans. You know, it’s – we’re not the radical type. But if you thought that you were going to shut a movement down, you’re going to get a rude awakening. You woke us the fuck up.”
Police and the FBI were still searching for a suspect on Thursday morning, and the shooter’s motive remains unclear. But high-profile media figures, and Donald Trump, appeared united in blaming Democrats and liberals for the incident.
“We’re in a war,” Alex Jones, the far-right conspiracy theorist and podcast host, said in a live stream. “The left has been saying: ‘Put a bullseye on Trump, a bullseye on his supporters.’ They’ve been calling for violence.”
Jones offered no evidence for his claims. He later added: “This is dangerous. This is a war, this is a war, this is a war. This is the war. This is it, get ready. They’re terrorists, they mean business.”
Trump echoed much of the same sentiment in an address on Wednesday night, as he described the act as “political violence”.
“Violence and murder are the tragic consequences of demonising those you disagree with,” Trump said. “For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals.”
The president was echoing much of the response among the conservative media.
“We have to have steely resolve. Charlie Kirk’s a casualty of war. We’re at war in this country. We are,” Steve Bannon said on his podcast.
“We’re not gonna back off an inch. If you’re gonna back off, then this is not for you. Charlie Kirk gave his life for his country, he’s on the battlefield of political combat, OK. And they cut him down with an assassin’s bullet. Let’s be blunt about this, they cut him down with an assassin’s bullet.”
Bannon’s co-host, the far-right activist Jack Posobiec, went even further, promising “retribution” for Kirk’s death.
“There’s never going to be another Charlie Kirk. But you know what else is going to happen: there’s never going to be another assassin to take out someone like the way they did, because of what comes next. Because what comes next will be swift, it will be quick and it will be retribution,” Posobiec said.
On her YouTube channel, Megyn Kelly, the former Fox News host, appeared to be in tears as she broke the news, while Laura Loomer, the rightwing conspiracy theorist who has become a close adviser to Trump, wrote on social media: “This has been a very radicalizing week. A message to the left: debate time is over. You ended it.”
Amid the rage there was also a lionizing of Kirk, an evangelical Christian who frequently framed his political arguments through a religious lens, as a “martyr”, including from Trump.
Kirk, the president said, had become “a martyr for truth and freedom” who was “a man of deep, deep faith”.
Benny Johnson, the rightwing political commentator, tweeted on Thursday morning: “Charlie Kirk is a martyr. And martyrs only become more powerful. We must all, in our own poor and inadequate ways, seek to carry on Charlie’s mission.”
He added: “For Charlie. American Martyr. Christian Soldier. May we defeat the evil that stole him from us. So help us, God.”
There were also frequent dark descriptions of the shooting as being a “turning point” – perhaps a deliberate reference to Turning Point USA, the conservative organization founded by Kirk which has the stated aim to “win America’s culture war”.
Jesse Watters was among those to use the phrase, suggesting to his audience in a lengthy monologue that the left “are at war with us”.
“And what are we going to do about it? How much political violence are we going to tolerate and that’s the question we’re just going to have to ask ourselves,” Watters said.
“This is unacceptable and has to stop, and it has to stop now. And everybody’s accountable, and we’re watching what they’re saying on television and who’s saying what: the politicians, the media, and all these rats out there. This can never happen again. It ends now.”
Watters had earlier told the audience: “We are sick. We are sad. We are angry. And we are resolute.”
He added: “And we are going to avenge Charlie’s death in the way that Charlie wanted to be avenged.”