Trump threatens to 'go after' ABC's Jonathan Karl in Kirk crackdown

Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News on Sep 16, 2025

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President Donald Trump threatened to “go after” ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl as part of a White House crackdown on what it calls hate speech after the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

After Karl asked Trump a pointed question about the line between “hate speech” and “free speech” — in reference to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi’s vow to crack down on the former — the president suggested the Justice Department might take down the veteran White House reporter over his critical stance toward the administration.

“She’d probably go after people like you because you treat me so unfairly,” Trump said as he prepared to travel on a state visit to the United Kingdom. “It’s hate. You have a lot of hate in your heart.”

Trump boasted that his legal team forced ABC to shell out a big bucks settlement to his presidential library over anchor George Stephanopoulos’ claim that he was found liable for rape in the E. Jean Carroll case, when Trump was actually found liable of sex abuse and defamation and ordered to pay the writer $83 million.

“Your company paid me $16 million for a form of hate speech, so maybe they’ll have to go after you,” Trump snapped at Karl.

The stark threat underlines the danger posed by the Trump administration’s stated plans to crack down on left-leaning political speech and activism after the murder of Kirk.

He echoed the comments of Vice President JD Vance and White House hard-liner Stephen Miller, who angrily vowed to punish or muzzle anti-Trump groups they accuse of inspiring violent attacks on conservatives like Kirk.

“The radical left has done tremendous damage to the country, but we’re fixing it,” Trump said.

Trump’s MAGA movement is outraged by the killing of Kirk, which they believe was the result of incitement by anti-Trump liberals and Democrats.

The White House says it is planning action to silence or punish groups it blames for such activity, although it hasn’t released any details yet.

Civil liberties advocates say any crackdown on dissent is likely to infringe on constitutional free speech protections, concerns that will likely be dramatically heightened by Trump’s threats against Karl.

Vance called for everyday Americans to report people they suspect of celebrating the death of Kirk, even though such statements would likely constitute First Amendment-protected speech.

Democrats note that Trump himself and his allies have mocked and belittled victims of political violence who were tied to liberals, like ex-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul or Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman who was shot and killed by a gunman with a hit list of Democrats.

Trump’s attack on Karl came as he announced a $15 billion suit against the New York Times and several of its reporters, accusing the Gray Lady of a yearslong campaign to insult and defame him.

“The Times has engaged in a decades long method of lying about (me), my family, business, the America First Movement, MAGA, and our nation as a whole,” Trump wrote on his social media site.

The Times called the case meritless an “an attempt to stifle and discourage independent reporting.”

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