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U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi faced a torrent of criticism online Tuesday after she suggested in two separate interviews that the Justice Department would ‘absolutely target’ hate speech in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s shooting death — sparking intense backlash from Republicans and other conservatives and prompting her to further clarify her remarks.

Bondi attempted to bridge the divide between her remarks and what she called hate speech that leads to threats in a lengthy social media post Tuesday.

‘Hate speech that crosses the line into threats of violence is NOT protected by the First Amendment,’ Bondi said, citing three U.S. laws that criminalize threats of direct violence, such as threats of kidnapping or injury. ‘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,’ she said, adding that ‘free speech protects ideas, debate, even dissent but it does NOT and will NEVER protect violence.’

Bondi’s remarks, made during a ‘The Katie Miller Podcast’ interview and in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity during conversations about the fatal shooting of Kirk, prompted backlash across the aisle, though it was conservative voices who were the loudest. Many noted that Kirk, the Turning Point USA founder and subject of the interviews, was himself a vociferous defender of free speech protections under the First Amendment, which protects most forms of speech in the U.S., including offensive and hateful speech.

Many also appeared to view the new statement as insufficient cover for Bondi’s previous remarks. 

‘This isn’t a correction or a retraction or a retreat; it’s a post hoc attempt to bend the term ‘hate speech’ to mean something that it never has,’ Charles C.W. Cooke, a senior editor at the National Review, said on social media.

Nearly 24 hours after Bondi’s remarks, the criticism has continued — nearly all of it from Republicans and other notable conservative voices.

Bondi came under fire for the two interviews Monday, neither of which distinguished the type of speech that threatened imminent violence from hate speech.

 ‘There’s free speech and then there’s hate speech,’ Bondi said Monday in an interview with former Trump administration aide and podcast host Katie Miller.

.’We will absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech,’ Bondi said.

In a separate interview on Fox News, Bondi reiterated a similar sentiment, suggesting that the government could prosecute Office Depot after an employee reportedly refused to print posters with Kirk’s face on them.

She said further that the department was ‘looking at’ the Office Depot case in question.

‘Businesses cannot discriminate,’ Bondi said on Fox News. ‘If you want to go in and print posters with Charlie’s pictures on them for a vigil, you have to let them do that. We can prosecute you for that.’

‘I have Harmeet Dhillon right now in our Civil Rights unit looking at that immediately, that Office Depot had done that,’ she said of the Office Depot employee in question. ‘We’re looking it up,’ she said.

Most of the criticism that poured in Tuesday was from Republicans, who noted that Bondi’s remarks are a flagrant violation of free speech protections guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution.

They are also, some noted, directly at odds with the views famously espoused by Kirk.

‘Hate speech’ is a hopelessly subjective term, and even if it weren’t, there is no hate-speech exception to the First Amendment,’ said Ed Whelan, a conservative legal expert who formerly clerked for the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

‘I’m sorry, but this is the sort of leftwing progressivism that conservatives, including Charlie Kirk, abhorred,’ Erick Erickson said on X. ‘We stand with Jack Philips, not against him.’

Asked by ABC News’s Jon Karl to respond to Bondi’s remarks on Tuesday, Trump declined to clarify, and instead floated the idea of going after Karl’s outlet, albeit in a joking tone.

‘We’ll probably go after people like you, because you treat me so unfairly,’ Trump said.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., shared just a brief four-word response when a reporter asked him on Tuesday why he missed a congressional vigil for Charlie Kirk.

‘I had a meeting,’ Jeffries said when the matter was broached during his afternoon press conference.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., announced on Monday that Congress would hold a vigil later that evening to honor the conservative activist.

Kirk was assassinated last week when a gunman opened fire on him during a college campus speaking event in Utah.

Fox News Digital witnessed just a handful of House Democrats at the vigil, side by side with dozens of Republican lawmakers.

When asked why more Democrats did not attend, Jeffries said Tuesday, ‘I don’t know.’

‘I guess you’d have to talk to the individual Democrats as to what else was going on and why they were present or why they weren’t present,’ he said.

The vigil was held in the U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall in the 6 p.m. hour on Monday evening.

Democratic lawmakers who attended include Reps. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., John Larson, D-Conn., Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., Chris Pappas, D-N.H., and Don Davis, D-N.C.

Notably absent were the top four House Democrats in senior leadership, including Jeffries.

Johnson, however, downplayed the lack of Democratic attendance in comments to reporters on Monday.

‘I honestly did not even see the composition of the group,’ he said when asked if he was disappointed in the number of Democrats who showed up.

‘I’m glad it was bipartisan, and I wish more had participated, and I’m not sure why they didn’t. So I don’t know what else we can do other than offer an all-member bipartisan vigil. And we’ve done that routinely for other things.’

Fox News’ Kelly Phares and Fox News Radio’s Ryan Schmelz contributed to this report.

The federal trial of Ryan Routh, accused of attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump as he played golf in September 2024, resumes Tuesday with more FBI forensic experts scheduled to testify.

On Monday, jurors heard FBI Firearms and Toolmarks Examiner Erich Smith, who alleged the rifle found near the sixth hole of Trump International Golf Club was a Chinese-made Norinco SKS. Smith said the weapon was ‘in working condition’ when recovered, test-fired successfully at the FBI lab and was configured with a round in the chamber and the safety off — meaning it was ‘prepared to fire.’ 

He also testified the rifle’s serial number had been ‘obliterated in several places’ but could be partially restored.

Smith showed jurors the 7.62×39 mm full metal jacket rounds loaded in the rifle. 

‘Bullets are designed to put holes in things,’ he said. ‘It would have put a hole in something if it had hit the target.’

Routh, representing himself, cross-examined Smith about whether all SKS rifles are semi-automatic, whether test-firings were videotaped and whether the gun could have changed hands at a gun show before he obtained it. 

‘So, we’re just supposed to take your word for it?‘ Routh asked Smith. 

Smith replied: ‘That’s what happened.’ 

Trump-appointed Judge Aileen Cannon sustained prosecution objections when Routh strayed beyond the scope of testimony. 

The court also heard from FBI biologist Curtis Gaul, who testified about collecting potential DNA samples from the rifle grip, a glove, zip ties and other items found. Routh cross-examined briefly, asking where the glove was found and whether Gaul knew who removed the rifle’s scope.

Cannon cut off questioning several times, urging both prosecutors and Routh to keep examinations moving. 

Jurors appeared confused during parts of Gaul’s testimony, as prosecutors referenced exhibit numbers without always displaying them. Meanwhile, Routh was seen leaning forward, taking notes and staring intently when fingerprints reportedly matching his own were displayed on a screen.

When court resumes Tuesday morning, prosecutors are expected to call FBI biologist Kara Gregor, followed by additional FBI specialists in digital forensics and supervisory roles as they continue building their case against Routh.

Democrat Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii clashed with FBI Director Kash Patel during a heated Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, questioning agency firing and counterterrorism priorities and even calling the bureau’s physical fitness requirements ‘harsh’ for applicants.

In an exclusive statement to Fox News Digital, Patel said, ‘Americans expect their FBI agents to be capable, resilient and ready to protect them.

‘That’s why, under my watch, every field office is receiving more trained agents, more boots on the ground and a renewed commitment to getting out from behind the desks and back onto the streets where they’re needed most. We’re rebuilding a bureau that earns the public’s confidence by being present, prepared and physically ready to do the job.’

The most viral clash came when Hirono pressed Patel on fitness standards.

‘One question I had is that you are now requiring applicants to be able to do a certain kind of pull-ups, which a lot of women cannot because of physiological differences. Are you requiring these kinds of pull-ups?’ Hirono asked.

Patel didn’t budge.

‘We are requiring everybody to pass the 1811 standards at BFTC. If you want to chase down a bad guy, excuse me, and put him in handcuffs, you had better be able to do a pull-up.’

Hirono replied, ‘There are concerns about whether or not being able to do these kinds of harsh pull-ups is really required of FBI agents.’

Patel interjected, ‘Doing one pull-up is not harsh, and there are always medical exemptions to that.’

According to the FBI recruitment website, ‘Starting in November 2025, pull-ups will be a required event for all candidates.’ For male recruits, 2-3 pull-ups are now a required minimum alongside the traditional Physical Fitness Test (PFT). For female candidates, one pull-up is the required minimum. 

Any additional pull-ups count to a recruit’s overall PFT score, with the maximum points received for 20 or more pull-ups capped at 10.

The White House’s official X account, @RapidResponse47, shared the exchange in a now-viral clip on X.

Beyond fitness standards, Hirono accused Patel of being loyal to Trump rather than the FBI.

‘Your most significant qualification … was your 100% loyalty to President Trump. And I fear that continues to be the motivating factor in your position as FBI director.’

Patel rejected that claim. 

‘That is an entire falsehood. You can delete my 16 years of government service to multiple administrations all you want. … There was no loyalty then. There’s no loyalty now to anything but the Constitution.’

Patel also used the hearing to share the bureau’s wins under his leadership. He pointed to 409 cyber arrests this year and 169 convictions, a 42% increase from the same time last year.

The FBI and the office of Sen. Mazie Hirono did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

The Social Security Administration is pushing back against Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., after she accused the agency of removing key data and covering up dysfunction.

In a Sept. 16, 2025 letter and data report shared exclusively with Fox News Digital, SSA Commissioner Frank J. Bisignano claimed Warren’s analysis was inaccurate. 

He said the agency is more transparent and performing better under the Trump administration than it did under the prior administration. The documents reflect SSA’s position and have not been independently verified.

‘SSA currently reports nearly three times the number of data elements on the performance webpage under the Trump Administration (30) than it did under the Biden Administration (11),’ Bisignano wrote.

‘These facts conclusively demonstrate that you are wrong in alleging a lack of transparency.’

He also pushed back on Warren’s charge of a cover-up, saying SSA has made improvements in customer service, including ‘shorter wait times on the phones and in offices, as well as reduced backlogs.’ Bisignano said 81 percent of performance measures are better than before, with the rest about the same.

According to SSA’s data, average phone wait times dropped from 29 minutes in 2024 to 16 minutes in 2025, with August down to just 9 minutes.

Pending disability determinations fell from nearly 1.2 million in August 2024 to about 907,000 a year later. Disability claim processing sped up from 231 days to 217 days. SSA reports retirement and survivor claims were processed on time 87% of the time in August 2025.

Bisignano wrote that the agency’s goal is to become a ‘digital-first’ operation that runs efficiently and serves people whether they call, visit an office or use the website. He said constant monitoring of key performance indicators is part of that effort.

He also urged Warren to work with SSA instead of spreading what he called ‘fearmongering and reckless lies that Social Security is going away.’

‘The time has come to stop weaponizing Social Security,’ he wrote. ‘The American people do not want a Social Security War Room. They want their leaders to protect and preserve Social Security, just as President Trump has promised.’