Wall Street Journal slams Bondi over free speech comments: 'Kirk would want a word'

The Wall Street Journal editorial board excoriated Attorney General Pam Bondi for suggesting hate speech is not protected under the law in the wake of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s death.

In a scathing editorial published online Tuesday evening, the Journal suggested Bondi lacks a “basic understanding of the First Amendment” and said, “Kirk would want a word” with Bondi, noting the numerous times he defended hate speech as a legitimate form of free speech.

“Is a basic understanding of the First Amendment too much to expect from the nation’s Attorney General?” the editorial read. “Progressives have spent years trying to create and define a category called ‘hate speech.’"

“This misunderstanding of the First Amendment seems to have infiltrated the D.C. water supply because AG Pam Bondi repeated it Monday in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination,” the board continued.

In a Monday interview on “The Katie Miller Podcast,” Bondi said, “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.”

She added: “We will absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech.”

The Journal said this position is fundamentally at odds with Kirk’s worldview, which held that “even hate speech should be completely and totally allowed in our country. The most disgusting speech should absolutely be protected.”

The Journal also quoted Kirk saying, “As soon as you use the word ‘hate,’ that is a very subjective term… Then all of a sudden it is in the eyes, or it is in the implementation, of whomever has the power.”

Facing fierce backlash, Bondi sought to clarify her comments Tuesday morning in a lengthy post on X, writing, “Hate speech that crosses the line into threats of violence is NOT protected by the First Amendment. It’s a crime.”

But the Journal said, in her effort to clean up her comments, Bondi “incoherently mixed in” things like “violent rhetoric” to calling a SWAT team to the home of a member of Congress.

The Journal ridiculed Bondi as being overly susceptible to the whims of social media.

“Ms. Bondi hasn’t had a distinguished tenure as AG, as she too often seems to follow the latest social-media, cable-TV mood swing,” the editorial board wrote. “But she is a law enforcer, not a social-media anger management coach, and she’s sworn to uphold the Constitution.”

“Maybe Ms. Bondi should quit appearing on podcasts about Charlie Kirk until she listens to some Charlie Kirk podcasts.”

The Justice Department declined to comment on Wednesday, referring The Hill to Bondi’s Tuesday remarks.