Attorney General Pam Bondi received swift backlash from conservatives after she threatened to prosecute Americans for using “hate speech.”

The attorney general endorsed “hate speech” prosecutions during an appearance on “The Katie Miller Podcast,” which is hosted by the wife of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. Bondi said that targeting purveyors of hate speech has become more important in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

“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,” said Bondi in a clip of the show released on Monday. “We will absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech.”

Conservatives bashed the attorney general over her tacit endorsement of the term “hate speech,” an amorphous category of language better determined by how it is received than by what is said.

“Get rid of her. Today. This is insane,” Daily Wire host Matt Walsh said in a post on X. Walsh was responding to an interview Bondi did with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Monday. During the interview, Bondi revealed that the Justice Department is considering charging Office Depot after an employee allegedly refused a request to print flyers with Kirk’s face on them.

“The employee who didn’t print the flyer was already fired by his employer. This stuff is being handled successfully through free speech and free markets. This is totally gratuitous and pointless. We need the AG focused on bringing down the left wing terror cells, not prosecuting Office Depot for God’s sake,” said Walsh.

On Tuesday, Bondi attempted to clarify her use of the term “hate speech” and her department’s role in pursuing “hate speech” cases.

“Hate speech that crosses the line into threats of violence is NOT protected by the First Amendment. It’s a crime. 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.

While Bondi narrowed her department’s remit to tackle hate speech, her use of the term at all gives credence to the term’s use on the political Left.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration is revoking and denying visas to foreigners who celebrate the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

Rubio made the announcement on Monday. He shared a clip on X of an interview he did with Fox News in which he said the State Department has already begun revoking visas.

“We are not in the business of inviting people to visit our country who are going to be involved in negative and destructive behavior, okay? So, if we invite someone to visit the United States of America as a student, as a tourist, as whatever, then … the standard they should be held to is very high,” said Rubio.

“We should not be giving visas to people who are going to come to the United States and do things like celebrate the murder, the execution, the assassination of a political figure. We should not. And if they’re already here, we should be revoking their visa,” he continued.

America will not host foreigners who celebrate the death of our fellow citizens.

Visa revocations are under way. If you are here on a visa and cheering on the public assassination of a political figure, prepare to be deported. You are not welcome in this country. pic.twitter.com/dQys2OAeK7

— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) September 16, 2025

The Secretary of State expanded on his comments the next day while speaking to reporters.

“There’s no shortage of idiots around the world that’ve decided it’s a great idea to murder someone. We don’t want people like that in our country. By the way, it’s bad that we have people that are U.S. citizens that feel that way,” said Rubio. “But you’re a foreigner? Why would we want to allow into the United States someone who’s in favor of murder? We don’t want pro-murder people in America.”

A gunman fatally shot Kirk at a Turning Point USA event last week in Utah. Kirk, a 31-year-old conservative activist and founder of TPUSA, had been hosting one of his open debates on the campus of Utah Valley University.

Rubio’s State Department has taken an aggressive approach to reviewing and revoking visas for foreigners engaged in anti-American activity. Examples include foreigners who have expressed support for terror groups or who have close ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Rubio has also taken action against some foreign officials, as well, if they aided in the censorship of Americans or American companies.