It has been a bleak and dangerous week for America. The assassination of the young conservative leader, Charlie Kirk, has many Americans fearing an intensifying cycle of political violence.

The problem with political violence is it metastasizes.

All five living presidents condemn the murder, but President Trump also condemned the political left, which he blamed for this terrible act.

As we sort through the meaning and consequences of the Kirk assassination, we know one thing.

Citizens are stunned and scared, but political leaders have no ready solutions to lift the country

out of this downward spiral.

Next.

Good evening and welcome to Washington Week. Officials in Utah announced earlier today that a suspect in the assassination of Charlie Kirk, a 22-year-old named Tyler Robinson,

has been arrested. There's a great deal of speculation about his motives. We will try to be

responsible here about not over-speculating,

given the paucity of details so far. But what I can say with certainty is that America has a

serious problem with political violence. The list of its victims, or would-be victims, is

distressingly long and features figures from both the right and left, from Donald Trump and

Supreme Court

Justice Brett Kavanaugh to Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, and of course the Minnesota

State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, both assassinated in June.

Joining me tonight to discuss the Kirk assassination and its fallout, Peter Baker, the Chief

White House correspondent at the New York Times.

Laura Brown-Lopez is a White House correspondent for MSNBC.

Susan Glasser is a staff writer at The New Yorker.

And Tom Nichols is a staff writer at the Atlantic.

Thank you all for joining me.

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