In the wake of the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk , House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday that "I think this could be a turning point" for the country, while urging leaders to "turn down the rhetoric" amid a divisive political climate.

Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan " that lawmakers should stop treating policy disputes as an "existential threat to democracy or the Republic," while urging them to stop "calling one another names."

"Calling people Nazis and fascists is not helpful," Johnson said. "There are some deranged people in society, and when they see leaders using that kind of language so often now increasingly, it spurs them on to action. We have to recognize that reality and address it appropriately."

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