It didn’t take long for the leader of Norway’s most left-leaning political party to crack down on the leader of its own youth organization, for mocking the murder of the right-wing American Charlie Kirk last week. At issue is the goal of keeping Norwegian political debate as civilized and least-polarized as possible.

Reds leader Marie Sneve Martinussen reacted swiftly and firmly to a highly controversial video posted by her party’s youth leader on TikTok last week that mocked the murder of Charlie Kirk.  PHOTO: Ihne Pedersen/Rødt

The leftist Reds Party (Rødt) was one of the big winners in Norway’s Parliamentary election last Monday, gaining more seats than ever before. Reds leader Marie Sneve Martinussen and her fellow Reds members were jubilant, until the Rød Ungdom leader Amrit Kaur spoiled the triumphant mood: Kaur published what was widely regarded as a venomous video on the social media platform TikTok, in which she feigned sorrow over the murder of Kirk and what most view as a political attack on the right-wing views he stood for.

“The Reds strongly oppose all forms of violence and murder,” Martinussen said shortly after Kaur’s video was released. “This is nothing to joke about. Kaur should have never done that.”

Martinussen stated that she and her colleagues in the Reds’ leadership “have tried to be understanding, especially given Kaur’s young age, but we have to draw a line. Kaur is a political leader who must take responsibility for her political statements.” Martinussen went on to state that “it’s important that leaders on all sides of the political spectrum clearly distance themselves from politically motivated violence.”

Martinussen bluntly added that she had sent a message to the youth organization that Kaur “is no longer capable of being leader of Rød Ungdom, and we expect her to quit.” Within hours, Kaur did resign. Martinussen then stressed that the organization itself was responsible for choosing a new leader.

It had already lashed out at Kaur itself, and one of Rød Ungdom’s two deputy leaders even quit in protest over Kaur’s video. “There is no excuse for killing political opponents, regardless of how much you disagree,” he said before the youth organization’s other deputy leader, Halvor Bergkvist, took over as acting leader just before the weekend.

The party itself had already received various threats via social media that police were investigating. Kaur claimed that “neither I nor Rød Ungdom support the murder of Kirk, or assassinations at all.” She admitted that her video wasn’t well-thought-out and wrote on social media that “I understand why people have reacted.” Her video has since been deleted from TikTok.

The drama within the Reds and Martinussen’s swift reaction were the subject of much commentary during the weekend, with Norway’s largest newspaper Aftenposten calling it all “a healthy reaction to an unhealthy act.” Norwegians pride themselves on maintaining “an open and informed conversation” on important issues. “It’s a great strength for Norway that the political debate is relatively not divisive or polarazing despite political disagreement,” wrote Aftenposten.

The newspaper noted that the recent election campaign also unfolded “in a respectable manner” apart from a few occasions. The right-wing Progress Party leader Sylvi Listhaug, for example, accused the leader of Labour’s youth organization as being “a notorious liar.” The leader of the small Generations Party, Gyda Oddekalv, also started screaming to her opponent from the Greens Party, Frøya Skjold Sjursæther, during a live nationally televised debate and had to be ushered out of state broadcaster NRK’s studio. Sjursæther, meanwhile, ended up winning election as the youngest Member of Parliament, ever at just 19 years of age.

‘Uplifting’
Aftenposten, traditionally Norway’s conservative newspaper, editorialized how it was “uplifting” to see how the leftist Reds leadership handled its internal drama, and student commentator Amo Boracco Borring agreed. Borring expressed concern in newspaper Klassekampen on Saturday that the debate on social media and among young politicians can often seem more “crass” and polarizing than Norwegians are used to.

“When political opponents are referred to as evil, dangerous or corrupt, it weakens fundamental confidence in the entire democratic conversation that’s built on dialogue, disagreement and compromise,” wrote Borring. “At the same time, we risk losing  the voices we need. Who wants to go into politics if the most important thing is how loud you can shout?

“The worst outcome (of disrespectful language) is that it can normalize political hatred,” Borring continued. “Words form reality, and when young leaders, consciously or not, use language that dehumanizes opponents, the threshold for more serious response sinks. Violence (as in the case of Charlie Kirk) doesn’t always start with a punch. It starts often with words.”

NewsinEnglish.no/Nina Berglund