A congressional staffer from Mexico’s ruling party has resigned after being called out online for comments he made on a major Mexican television news program about Turning Point USA executive director Charlie Kirk’s murder.
The news network, Milenio, also released a public apology after the United States’ deputy secretary of state – a former ambassador to Mexico – evidently threatened to have Donald Trump’s presidential administration revoke any US visas on which it may count.
The episode that unfolded at Milenio continued a trend of people losing their jobs over commentary about Kirk – a self-proclaimed free-speech advocate – deemed offensive by American conservatives, though in this instance it was outside the US.
Kirk, a close Trump ally, was shot dead Wednesday while speaking at a university in Utah. Following his death, conservative commentators, activists and public officials in the US have engaged in social media campaigns against people accused of disrespecting Kirk’s memory.
A Saturday morning tally by Reuters showed that at least 15 people had been fired or suspended.
On Thursday, Christopher Landau, the deputy secretary of state and former US Mexican ambassador, warned on X that “foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country”.
“Please feel free to bring such comments by foreigners to my attention so that the state department can protect the American people,” said Landau, who was appointed US ambassador to Mexico and served from 2019 to 2021 during Trump’s first presidency.
People began responding to Landau’s post with examples of foreign nationals criticizing or making light of Kirk’s death. Among those was a clip of Salvador Ramírez, a social communications coordinator for the ruling Morena party, speaking on a television news program on Milenio.
Ramírez appeared on a roundtable political analysis program with Milenio, discussing Kirk’s killing.
“I think if Charlie Kirk lived, he may like what I am about to say, because what I am about to say is very ‘anti-woke’,” Ramírez facetiously said. “He was given a spoonful of his own chocolate. They gave a spoonful to someone who promoted the use of weapons. They gave a spoonful to someone who was financed by the National Rifle Association – a political association that is of the extreme right, pro-Trump, of the most radical wing of the Republicans.”
Ramírez added that Turning Point USA was “an anti-rights, anti-LGBT – practically anti-women – movement”.
After a post tagging Milenio and the Morena party made Landau aware of Ramirez’s comments, he responded with an image reading “El Quitavisas”, roughly meaning “the visa remover”. Minutes later, Landau went after Milenio itself, which is one of the most watched and read news outlets in Mexico.
“Really, Milenio? This is the level of ‘discourse’ that you promote on your channel? I am embarrassed for having interacted with you during my tenure as United States ambassador to Mexico,” Landau wrote.
Milenio released a public statement on Friday, apologizing for Ramirez’s comments, saying the outlet does not “promote nor accept expressions of hate, violence or disqualification towards any person or group”.
“We regret that the remarks made during one of our programs may have upset or offended a part of the audience, and we offer a sincere apology to those who felt offended,” the statement read.
Ramirez then released a video on Friday afternoon apologizing for his “very unfortunate” comments, saying they were his own thoughts and not representative of the Morena party nor of Milenio. Later that evening, Ramirez officially announced his resignation from the parliamentary group for the Morena party within the Mexican house of representatives.
Others who had similarly lost their jobs or been disciplined at them over commentary about Kirk’s killing have included journalists, academic workers, teachers, nurses a Secret Service employee, a firefighter and a worker for an NFL team.
Previously, the Trump administration has targeted people, including students and academic workers, for expressing pro-Palestinian sentiments on social media and for participating in pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
The FBI announced on Friday that Kirk’s alleged killer had been arrested after a two-day manhunt.
