Politics

FCC Chair Defends Free Speech As Bondi ‘Hate Speech’ Comments Cause Conservative Uproar

Attorney General Pam Bondi (Screenshot/Rumble)

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Brendan Carr pushed back Tuesday against the idea that the government should police online speech, even as posts spread across social media celebrating the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.

Speaking at Politico’s AI & Tech Summit, Carr drew a sharp distinction between speech protected under the First Amendment and the narrow categories that are not. His remarks came a day after Attorney General Pam Bondi promised to target “hate speech,” sparking widespread criticism from conservatives and even calls for her removal.

“I think you can draw a pretty clear line, and the Supreme Court has done this for decades, that our First Amendment, our free speech tradition, protects almost all speech,” Carr said. “But there are certain categories of posts, of content that are unprotected by the First Amendment. These are things like incitement to violence, those are things like fighting words.”

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.”
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— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) September 16, 2025

Carr stressed that such exceptions are a “small category” and said existing laws already cover them.

Given the widespread circulation of video footage showing Kirk’s assassination, Carr was asked whether social media platforms should moderate such content.

“I don’t think it’s so much that the video was horrific and violent. I think it was the act itself that was horrific and violent,” Carr said. “I think we should be giving individuals the tools to curate their own feeds and be in control of what it is that they want to see.”

Bondi, meanwhile, has sought to clarify her earlier comments made during a Monday podcast episode with host Katie Miller.

“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 told Miller.

The attorney general later clarified she was referring to “hate speech that crosses the line into threats of violence.”

While both Carr and Bondi have stressed that only unprotected speech or incitement to violence is legally punishable, a growing number of individuals have been fired for statements celebrating or mocking Kirk’s death. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Thursday that the department is “tracking” celebratory comments about Kirk’s murder among personnel, and the department has already begun disciplining those found in violation.