‘We have to disagree better’ in wake of Charlie Kirk’s killing, Janet Mills says
By Annie Rupertus, Bangor Daily News Staff
Gov. Janet Mills urged Americans to embrace civil discourse and nonviolence Monday in the wake of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination in Utah last week.
“We have to disagree better, no matter what your politics, your religion, your philosophy [are],” Mills said at a lunch talk with business owners in Dover-Foxcroft Monday. “Come on folks, we’re all human, and no matter what your opinion is, we’ve got to learn to disagree better.”
She cautioned against letting anger dictate politics and referenced the polarized reactions to Kirk’s death on social media.
“I see people on social media who are just enraged about things, and that rage does not bode well for our sense of civility and our need to be a nation of people, a community of people who respect each other as human beings first and foremost,” Mills said.
The charged environment online has led to numerous firings across the county, with Vice President JD Vance encouraging supporters to report anyone celebrating Kirk’s death to their employers.
The heated national discourse has also raised concerns about security for political figures, including in Maine.
Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford received a threat stating that there was an explosive device in the mailbox of his home. Maine took down the addresses of lawmakers from the Legislature’s website after former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband were assassinated in June.
Mills also referenced Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, who has spoken out in the last week to encourage nonviolence in the aftermath of the attack.
Mills described Cox as a friend and said she agreed with his message of nonviolence and civility.
“To my young friends, you are inheriting a country where politics feels like rage,” Cox said Friday. “Your generation has an opportunity to build a culture that is very different than what we are suffering through right now.”
Cox, a Republican, has faced some criticism for advocating for peaceful discourse, with conservative commentator Steve Bannon calling Cox’s statements a “national embarrassment in a time where we need action.”
“If your view of America is not shaken right now, then there’s something wrong with you,” Cox said Sunday.