There is a deep schism in how Americans understand the assassination that took place a little more than a week ago and that gap is being widened by social media.
When Vice President Vance hosted an episode of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s podcast on Monday, he blamed an « incredibly destructive movement of left-wing extremism » for Kirk’s assasination. That same night, talk show host Jimmy Kimmel said the « MAGA gang » was desperately trying to characterize the killer as « anything other than one of them. » Kimmel was suspended indefinitely for his comments, raising concerns about free speech.
The disparate statements from the conservative vice president and the liberal talk show host revealed a troubling fact: there is a deep schism in how Americans understand the assassination that took place a little more than a week ago.
That gap is being widened by social media. More than half of U.S. adults now get their news sometimes or often from social media platforms, and those platforms are fragmenting how Americans view what’s happening.
American politics has long been home to conspiracies and even fracturings of understanding around events, said Nicole Hemmer, a professor of history at Vanderbilt University.
« What’s new is the speed at which all of this is shared, the ease of access that people have to it, and the algorithmic push », she said. »I have seen the most horrible thing and you need to see this too »
Social media disseminated the act of violence that took Charlie Kirk’s life in a matter of minutes.
Kirk had just opened his event at Utah Valley University and many students were filming with their phones when a single shot rang out. Within the hour, videos of his death flooded the web. The images were uploaded and reuploaded by news outlets, independent journalists, influencers and others.
From a forensic perspective, the images built up a remarkably consistent version of a major news event just moments after it had happened. Multiple videos, together with a statement from the university, suggested the sniper had lain prone on the roof of the Lossee Center roughly 135 yards away from his target. The rifle shot rang out at 12:23 local time.
The graphic images of Kirk’s death got millions of views and thousands of repostings on sites including X and Instagram, and that was exactly the point, Hemmer said. For those who were filming, sharing the content is part of processing: « It’s like, ‘I have seen the most horrible thing and you need to see this too, because this is the only way you’re going to grasp what happened.
