Twenty-nine years ago next month, I came on board with a fledgling cable channel. The start-up’s novel idea was to appeal directly to conservatives, people who voted for Presidents Reagan and Bush 41 — or what Richard Nixon famously called his “silent majority.”

The conservatives who started Fox News knew exactly what they were getting with me. I had worked at the Washington Post and CNN. In popular books, I had called out politicians, right and left. As a Black writer, I was known to trade punches with Black politicians.

Fox’s founders wanted me to debate star right-wing media personalities. I was happy to bring my credentials and counter their arguments. It made me sharper. And at Fox, it made for good television. Ratings climbed as viewers welcomed furious, right-leaning debates among informed people.

It’s in this spirit that I’ve been reflecting on the legacy of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, assassinated less than two weeks ago.

He built his name by inviting critics to challenge his ideas in the name of free speech. As Ezra Klein put it in The New York Times, “You can dislike much of what Kirk believed, and the following statement is still true: Kirk was practicing politics in exactly the right way. He was showing up to campuses and talking with anyone who would talk to him.”

Now contrast that with the disturbing comments from Attorney General Pam Bondi. I must protest when the nation’s top law enforcement officer 

© The Hill