While conservatives were horrified by last week's public murder of Charlie Kirk, many on the left reacted to his killing with praise and celebration.

However, one prominent Senate Democrat recently turned against that trend by speaking out against political violence. 

Illinois senator says it is "unacceptable" to portray "MAGA as Nazis"

According to Breitbart, that stance was taken by Senate Minority Whip Sen. Dick Durbin during a Tuesday appearance on "CNN News Central."

The veteran Illinois Democrat declared that characterizing "MAGA as Nazis" is "unacceptable" and pointed to "the loss of Mr. Kirk" as being "a good reason" to embrace that position.

"There is no place for violence in politics, and we ought to speak as one. Some of the statements that have been made blaming the Democrats, blaming the Republicans, are just flat-out wrong," Durbin insisted.

However, the senator also took an opportunity to unfavorably contrast President Donald Trump's operating style with that of his two predecessors.

Durbin praises George W. Bush and Barack Obama for trying "to calm a nation"

"I think back with George W. Bush and Barack Obama and others who have tried to calm a nation and move it in the right, positive direction," Durbin asserted.

"We don’t get that approach at all out of President Trump. It is confrontational. It’s every day’s political score," the Democratic official complained.

Durbin was not alone in disavowing comparisons between conservatives and Nazis, as Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman did as well.

The freshman senator's comments were made this past weekend while speaking with CNN's "Inside Politics" host Manu Raju.

Fetterman notes how Trump "is a product of a democratic election"

“If you compare him to an actual autocrat, that… it’s just not that," Fetterman said of Trump. "This is not an autocrat, this is a product of a democratic election."

New — John Fetterman tells Ds:
— Not to call Trump an autocrat
— Don’t dig in to force govt shutdown
— Accept Trump’s help on crime
— Defend Israel (even the Doha strikes, which Trump distanced himself from)
- Says Mamdani doesn’t reflect party

“Clearly we've lost the argument” pic.twitter.com/jIJRSt9SnK

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) September 15, 2025

He went on to denounce attempts to link the Trump administration with the Third Reich, declaring, "Don’t ever compare anyone to Hitler, and those kinds of extreme things."

"Look what happened to Charlie Kirk—a man was shot," Fetterman recalled. "We can’t compare people to these kinds of figures in history."