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By Molly Farrar
After conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed last week, Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton condemned the political violence and took to CNN to call on President Donald Trump to do the same.
Then came the “violent and graphic” threats, according to his office, with threats made to his life and his two young daughters.
In a clip of an appearance on CNN, which garnered a million views on X, Moulton asked Trump and Ohio Rep. Warren Davidson to “be serious about where this violence is coming from.”
Moulton pointed to statistics that, while four percent of extremists killings are perpetrated by left-wing extremists, right-wing extremists are responsible for 76 percent of killings.
“There are people who are trying to polarize us further, divide our nation further and just blame the left, even while those of us on the Democratic side, by and large saying we all need to turn down the rhetoric, so let’s be serious about where this violence is coming from,” Moulton said.
While Moulton didn’t cite the source on CNN, the Anti-Defamation League, a pro-Israel organization that tracks hate crimes and extremism, reported the same figures Moulton did. Right-wing extremists are responsible for the “great majority of extremist-related murders over the last decade,” the ADL said.
“I condemn that four percent,” Moulton continued on CNN, “but we also need to be honest as a nation about where this violence is coming from.”
As a Democrat, I have no issue condemning any and all violence on the left.
— Rep. Seth Moulton (@RepMoulton) September 11, 2025
I just wish Republican leaders like President Trump had the same moral clarity when it comes to condemning violence on the right.
Instead, they excuse it or even incite it further. It must stop. pic.twitter.com/VNQIfGfczl
Moulton, whose office did not return an immediate request for comment Sunday night, said the threats came after he “pointed out the simple fact that President Trump should join Speaker Johnson and other level-headed Republicans in condemning political violence, not inciting it further.”
His office then received an “extraordinary number” of threats online and over the phone from right-wing people, Moulton posted on social media.
“Too bad he wasn’t killed in Iraq,” one person said in a voicemail. Moulton served four tours of duty in Iraq as a Marine. In a continuous audio clip posted to social media, another caller alludes to shooting Moulton and his children. Another blames Democrats and references “illegal aliens” committing violence.
“I hope some good ol’ MAGA boy blows your motherf—ing brains out,” another voicemail says. “I would spend the rest of my (expletive) life in federal prison to make America great again by eliminating somebody like you. I pray for your violent, bloody, anguishing death.”
Moulton shared the voicemails along with social media posts calling for his death.
“On a very personal level, I’ve got two little kids,” Moulton told NBC 10 Boston in an interview, “and when you see those posts or if you go online and listen to the voicemails that I received not just threatening me but threatening my little girls, that’s literally my greatest fear.”
My office has received an extraordinary number of violent and graphic threats yesterday and today from right-wing individuals online and over the phone—directed toward me, my family, and my staff—after I pointed out the simple fact that President Trump should join Speaker Johnson… pic.twitter.com/2Bitpe7fol
— Rep. Seth Moulton (@RepMoulton) September 12, 2025
Molly Farrar is a general assignment reporter for Boston.com, focusing on education, politics, crime, and more.
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