In a lengthy X post, published Tuesday morning, Bondi wrote hate speech that “crosses the line into threats of violence” is not protected by the First Amendment. She then cites a federal law about threatening to injure another person, then cites a second law warning it’s a felony to threaten public officials, including members of Congress.
“For far too long, we’ve watched the radical left normalize threats, call for assassinations, and cheer on political violence. That era is over,” she wrote.
Bondi’s online comments on X came after 1 ½ days of public backlash, much of it – if not most of it – from numerous conservatives. Their comments express surprise and alarm after she vowed to crack down on free speech after Kirk’s death.
Bondi’s political troubles began Monday morning. That is when she told podcast interviewer Katie Miller there is “no place” for “hate speech” after Charlie Kirk’s horrific murder last week.
“We will absolutely target you, go after you,” she said, “if you are targeting anyone with hate speech.”
That controversial comment went viral on social media. It was picked up by The Blaze, the conservative news website, which was closing in on 8 million views by Wednesday.
In an X post, Tony Perkins, who leads the Family Research Council, said "constitutional conservatives" defend the First Amendment.
"That’s why the pushback against AG Pam Bondi’s comments on 'hate speech' is encouraging," Perkins wrote. "We may detest some speech, but in America, speech is free. Period."
Monday night, Bondi caused more consternation on the Right after she told Fox News host Sean Hannity the DOJ was investigating Office Depot for discrimination. She was referring to an Office Depot location in Michigan where liberal employees had refused to print a customer’s poster for a Charlie Kirk vigil.
“Businesses cannot discriminate,” Bondi told show host Sean Hannity. “If you want to go in and print posters with Charlie’s pictures on them for a vigil, you have to let them do that. We can prosecute you for that.”
Bondi shared that Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the Civil Rights Division at the DOJ, is “looking at that,” referring to an investigation.
A day later, however, Dhillon sought to clarify the DOJ is not investigating the fired employees. “We are not prosecuting people for nasty speech alone -- but true incitement to violence, or hate-motivated attacks, are illegal and will be treated as such by this DOJ!” Dhillon wrote on X.
Replying to Dhillon, numerous commenters thanked her for clarifying but slammed her boss for using the words “hate speech” a day earlier. They also urged Bondi and the Trump administration to drop a term used by Democrats and the Left to attack their enemies.
Bondi’s comment to Fox News was picked up by X account Acyn, which is associated with the far-left Meidas Touch podcast. That clip has now topped 13 million views on X.
One of the most blunt online reactions came from Matt Walsh of The Daily Wire. He pointed out the two store employees have been fired by Office Depot, and he flatly called for her to be fired as U.S. attorney general.
“Get rid of her. Today. This is insane,” Walsh wrote. “Conservatives have fought for decades for the right to refuse service to anyone. We won that fight. Now Pam Bondi wants to roll it all back for no reason."
In an X post, conservative news website Not the Bee called her comments to Fox News “the most dangerous thing I've heard an official say in a long time, and that includes the previous administration.”
Walsh’s blunt and fiery comment was reported by website The Gateway Pundit. That website is known for MAGA-themed stories that support President Trump and criticize Democrats, and rarely publishes negative stories about him and his administration.
With the online backlash growing, and generating a Fox News story, Bondi went to political website Axios to explain her words. “Freedom of speech is sacred in our country, and we will never impede upon that right,” she told Axios. “My intention was to speak about threats of violence that individuals incite against others.”
A more friendly Gateway Pundit story about Bondi, published Wednesday, described her “scrambling” to clarify her remarks. The story included the X post and the Axios story.
After AFN asked the White House for comment about the controversy, a White House spokeswoman shared a video of President Trump being asked by reporters about Bondi’s free speech comments.
“Pam Bondi has done an unbelievable job and everybody agrees with that,” Trump told reporters as he was boarding Marine One.
That same exchange included Trump reminding an ABC News reporter, Jonathan Karl, the president and ABC News had settled a lawsuit after he sued the news network.
"She’d probably go after people like you, because you treat me so unfairly," Trump jokingly told Karl. “It’s hate. You have a lot of hate in your heart.”
