RIGHTWINGERS in the United States have seized on last week’s killing of ultraconservative activist Charlie Kirk to launch a witch-hunt targeting his critics.

Ignoring their own side’s years of complaints about a supposed “cancel culture” on the left, a campaign by public officials and others has led to numerous workers being sacked or disciplined.

Transport Secretary Sean Duffy posted at the weekend that American Airlines had grounded pilots who he said were celebrating Mr Kirk’s assassination.

“This behaviour is disgusting and they should be fired,” Mr Duffy wrote on social media site X.

President Donald Trump, when asked on Sunday whether he would investigate his political adversaries following Mr Kirk’s death, told reporters: “They’re already under major investigation, a lot of the people that you would traditionally say are on the left.”

However, Utah Governor Spencer Cox, a Republican, has cautioned that the motive for the assassination has not been confirmed.

He said the suspect in custody clearly identifies with the left and had expressed dislike of Mr Kirk before the shooting. But he and other authorities also say the suspect was not known to have been politically engaged.

Mr Kirk was seen as an architect of Mr Trump’s 2024 election win, helping to expand his appeal to younger voters.

Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn, who is seeking election as governor of Tennessee, called on social media for the sacking of an assistant dean at Middle Tennessee State University and professors at Austin Peay State University and Cumberland University.

All three lost their jobs for comments deemed inappropriate in response to Mr Kirk’s fatal shooting.

Adam Goldstein of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression noted that the State Department, in the minutes after Mr Kirk’s death, had threatened to revoke the visas of any foreigners who celebrated the assassination.