A presidential historian compared today's political violence to the 1960s assassinations, warning that social media has created a more dangerous landscape for democracy.

Political violence in a polarized US is surging, with the past five years of assassinations and attempts on the lives of politicians the highest on records dating back to the 1960s, a Bloomberg Geo-Economic analysis shows.

The differing reactions suggested that Kirk’s death likely will only deepen America’s yawning political divide – as two assassination attempts on Trump did last year. Almost a quarter century has passed since the nation was last unified by tragedy, following the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.