Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams appeared on CNN Tuesday and said the Trump administration is using the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk as an “excuse for the advance of authoritarian rule.”
“This is about American autocracy versus American democracy. And if we allow ourselves to be pulled into this false-flag conversation, what we risk is losing access to the democracy that gave us free speech,” Abrams said.
“That will also invoke the rule of law to hold accountable anyone who undertakes the act of political violence. But we cannot allow this heinous murder to be exploited as an excuse for the advance of authoritarian rule, which is what we are watching happen.”
Abrams claimed that the Trump administration is at “step nine in the playbook of autocrats,” which, according to her 10-step framework of autocracy, is “taking advantage of political violence.”
Democrats: Republicans need to turn down the temperature!
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) September 16, 2025
Democrat Stacey Abrams: Trump is exploiting Charlie Kirk’s death to advance authoritarian rule. pic.twitter.com/EG7f0e0Rd6
Kirk, 31, a father of two, was shot and killed Sept. 10 during a campus event at Utah Valley University.
The TPUSA founder was struck in the neck as he spoke to a large crowd from under a white pop-up tent. He was rushed to a hospital and pronounced dead that afternoon.
When reached for comment, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital, “In the wake of the tragic assassination of Charlie Kirk, two-time gubernatorial campaign loser Stacey Abrams has decided to double down on radical, left-wing rhetoric that drives Democrat supporters to violence. We won’t further dignify these deranged ramblings, but all you need to know is that every word that comes from her mouth is a lie, and she should seek help for her late-stage TDS.”
Earlier this year, the former Georgia gubernatorial candidate laid out her 10-step framework on “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” similarly claiming at the time that the United States was on step nine of the autocratic playbook.
“Step nine, you start to encourage and incentivize private violence. You send the U.S. Marines into spaces they should not be. You send the National Guard in. You kidnap people off of the streets and pretend that’s normal, because that’s how you quiet dissent, because you make everyone afraid that if they don’t do what you want, they might be next. And once you’ve done those nine steps, step 10 is easy. That’s when you decide there won’t be new elections because everyone is either afraid, poor, broken or complicit,” she told guest host Anthony Anderson.
Abrams made a similar argument during her appearance Tuesday on CNN, asserting that President Donald Trump and his administration have placed Washington, D.C., under “military occupation,” and that people are being “kidnapped off of the streets” by the government.
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