NEW BRUNSWICK - You may disagree with them, but people who know them generally like Joe Cryan (D) and Jon Bramnick (R), and the longtime lawmakers also happen to like each other.

So, when an assassin killed Charlie Kirk against a backdrop of political violence and deepened political hatred, intolerance, tribalism, and social rancor, the two senators from different parties decided to take a tour of the state in the name of civility.

They started their journey, appropriately, at Rutgers University's Eagleton Institute of Politics, where a class of political scientists and future leaders received them with hard questions. Ginger Gold Schnitzer, Director of Education and Strategic Initiatives at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University, moderated the discussion. Eagleton Institute of Politics Director Elizabeth C. Matto, research professor and teacher-scholar-practitioner of democratic education, supplied the context about why Bramnick and Cryan felt they should start their tour here.

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It was a vital forum.

Vital and civil, at the same time, as if one concept reinforces the other.

Someone in the crowd asked the men about their reaction to individuals losing their jobs because of how they might have publicly reacted to Mr. Kirk's killing, specifically the consequences for those celebrating.

"If you're in the private sector - and to be clear, I have a consistent record saying you have free speech - I think they have the right to fire you if you're celebrating assassination," said Bramnick.

"I'd fire you," he added. "At my law firm, I'd fire you. It reflects on my firm. When you work for a company, there's consequences."

When he took a crack at the same question, Cryan focused on the Jimmy Kimmel case.

"I've certainly watched and heard a whole lot worse," said the Democrat. "There's a solution to Jimmy Kimmel. If you don't like him, change the channel. ...What shocks me is the government weighing in on speech. ...When people promote violence, it's fair game for people [in the private sector] to take a look at."

Bramnick rose again.

"I don't need government telling them," he clarified, "I'm talking about the private sector. I agree with Joe. I don't want the FCC [Federal Communications Commission] threatening anybody."

Someone else asked a question about the dangers of civility, in the sense that establishment players become comfortable with each other in positions of power - regardless of party - and protect each other.

Cryan acknowledged that bipartisanship isn't always good. The trick is to not get locked into being partisan. He decried the huge PACs that dominate politics and essentially financially reward partisanship.

SEE MORE CONTEXT ON THE EVENT FROM Professor Ava Majlesi, Chief Operating Officer of the Rutgers Democracy Lab 

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Good government types routinely laud Bramnick - a failed 2025 Republican candidate for governor - for courageously bucking his own party, which he sees as too beholden to the MAGA Movement and President Donald J. Trump. He cited as a model the late Senator John McCain, who rather than stir intolerance or hatred in a response to a partisan question about Barack Obama, defended Obama.

The Republican senator expressed his opposition to the extremes and the attitudes of extremism.

"When they say, 'Can I talk to you for a sec?' As soon as they blink [their eyes] - and this is one of the reasons I get in trouble - if they act like that, I call them out.

"I am not in a cult," Bramnick added. "If the people in the party want me to join a cult, i ain't doing it. If 5,ooo people on social media said 'stop' to the hateful person, if there was an anti-hateful rhetoric movement, maybe that person with the hateful rhetoric would stop."

Cryan objected strongly to the structures of political violence, including the Trump Administration's prosecution of undocumented workers.

"Alligator alley is a stain on this country each and every day," said the former Union County Sherriff.

He added of ICE, "If you have to wear a mask to do your job, then you probably shouldn't have your job."

The remark received applause among these young scholars in the packed room.

Other observations?

Cryan criticized the security at Utah Valley University that did not prevent the Charlie Kirk assassination. "How the hell do you not check the roof?" he asked.

The men spoke to underlying causes of political dislocation from the pulse of real people. Bramnick, for example, identified gerrymandering as a contributing factor in the rise of extremism.

"If you're in a Republican district, then you're worried about someone from the right of you, and on the Democratic side, you're worried about the very progressive Democrats," the GOP senator said. "The minute you say anything good about the opposite party, your right or left flank says, 'He's a Dem sympathizer or he's not conservative enough. Change elections and you will see [change]."

Cryan spoke to the need for professional people to remain real - and to listen. "The more we rise in academia, the more we rise in life, the ability to hear and to build consensus is what will separate us in many cases."

The Union-based Democrat did provide at least one example of successfully working across the aisle in Trenton when state Senator Vince Polistina (R-2) told him he would back Cryan's Temporary Worker Bill of Rights. "As we scrambled to get the votes, the bill had gone up and down like an elevator, Vince Polistina said he would support it. 'It's the right thing to do,' he told me. As a result, tens of thousands of people will be paid fairly. That's the direct outcome of bipartisanship."

In a stern tone, Bramnick deadpanned to laughter, "I can't believe Vince voted for that bill. Wait till I talk to Vince."