The U.S. State Department will deny visas to individuals who are found to be celebrating the death of right-wing podcaster and activist Charlie Kirk, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Tuesday.
Speaking from Israel on Tuesday, Sec. Rubio confirmed that the department would not issue visas to people who were "celebrating" the shooting death of Kirk.
If you’re a foreigner and you’re out there celebrating the assassination of someone who was speaking somewhere, I mean, we don’t want you in the country,” Sec. Rubio said.
“Why would we want to give a visa to someone who think it’s good that someone was murdered in the public square? That’s just common sense to me," he said.
Last week Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau ordered department officials to "take appropriate action" in cases where people seeking visas made light of or rationalized Kirk's death.
Specific details about whether and how visas would be denied was not clear. It's also not clear how many visas may have been denied or revoked so far.
President Donald Trump's administration has warned that it will crack down on speech that it claims constitutes threats or otherwise supports political violence in the aftermath of Kirk's death.
Attorney General Pam Bondi warned during a podcast appearance on Monday that the Trump administration "will absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech."
Her comments drew wide criticism, from civil rights groups and conservative media figures alike.
"For far too long, we’ve watched the radical left normalize threats, call for assassinations, and cheer on political violence. That era is over," Bondi wrote in later comments on social media.
"It is clear this violent rhetoric is designed to silence others from voicing conservative ideals."
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Meanwhile, in the local government and private sectors, there have been numerous examples of public officials losing their jobs or being placed on leave due to comments they posted on social media concerning Kirk's death. In other cases, businesses have become the subject of boycotts or lost partnerships.
Vice President JD Vance, while hosting Charlie Kirk's radio show on Monday, appeared to encourage pushback against people who "celebrated" Kirk's death.
"When you see someone celebrating Charlie’s murder, call them out. And, hell, call their employer," the vice president said.
