Should we offer thoughts and prayers for a person whose lies and hateful speech contributed to the deaths and distress of millions of Americans? No.
Should we grieve for someone who talked about people of color, non-Christians, women, and non-heterosexuals as if they were less-than or even sub-human? Should we care about someone who knowingly spread lies and promoted ideologies that caused widespread pain and death? No.
As we are all aware, Charlie Kirk, conservative activist and close Trump ally, was assassinated this Wednesday at his Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University, where there were nearly 3000 students in attendance. Since 2012, when Kirk and Bill Montgomery founded TPUSA, Kirk had amassed a following of 8.7 million on Instagram, 7 million on Twitter, and 8.2 million on TikTok, and he had over half a million subscribers to his podcast, The Charlie Kirk Show. Kirk also held significant sway with President Trump and the entire MAGA community. Many sources credit Kirk for Trump’s victory in 2024, as his campaigning steered a significant percentage of the GenZ vote toward Trump and other GOP candidates. At the time of his death, Kirk was vigorously broadcasting seeds of the evangelical right political platform across the country, where they landed in the fertile young minds of students at over 3500 high schools and college campuses — the venues at which Turning Point USA staged their events. The damage Kirk did to civil political discourse during his relatively short lifetime is impressive. His brand included being compative, sparse on facts, and rich in hyperbole.
Charlie Kirk’s schtick: big tent evangelism. His prey: disenfranchised young adults. His vision: to shepherd in the flock, then hand them off to the GOP, who then served them up to the Project 2025 Gestapo. The slaughter part comes later when the flock’s healthcare becomes unaffordable, the job market tanks, inflation goes through the roof, public education disappears, preventable diseases like polio and measles take root, and there are no safety net programs to break the fall. And don’t forget all those new babies everyone has been encouraged to produce — more mouths no one can afford to feed.
The outpouring of sympathy for Charles Kirk, his family, and followers is unprecedented and disturbing, especially in light of the pain his hurtful rhetoric has caused for so many. It’s as if everyone forgot how vitriolic his campaigns were and how his burgeoning cult of hatred for the “other” was ripping our country apart. Yet for days, the headline pieces, opinion columns, and social media posts on both the left and right have been watered-down accounts of Kirk’s legacy, few overtly criticizing him, most praising his ability at rallying the youth vote for the MAGA movement. No one seems brave enough to say what needs saying.
Kirk deserved none of the attention or accolades he has received. He is a dark character who reignited hateful themes that predate the civil rights movement, the women’s rights movement, and the gay liberation movement. Kirk promoted racism and white supremacy and wanted to see women returning to “their place in the home” with little to no access to birth control. He advocated for the punishment of LGBTQ+ people, referencing biblical passages that call for stoning gay people to death. He worked tirelessly to convince his followers to return to the political and social culture of the 1950s.
In light of all of this and more, the performative words of sympathy sent out by Obama, Clinton, Biden, and hundreds of other politicians, from both sides of the aisle, have been repulsive. Also disconcerting are the calls for civility and for acknowledgement of Kirk’s positive qualities — these put out by both the liberal and conservative media, and by business leaders from every sector. At what point do people stand up and say that Charlie Kirk was wrong, that he was one of the bad guys?
Charlie Kirk’s assassination was his Day of Reckoning, plain and simple. He was killed by one of his own — a smart, young, White man from a conservative family, who had ready access to a firearm, thanks to Kirk and the GOP.
At the top of every news report, opinion piece, or human interest story on Charlie Kirk, readers should have been reminded of this legacy: his hate-mongering disguised as Christian doctrine, his disparaging remarks that hurt millions and stoked up intolerance toward non-Christian, non-heterosexual, non-White people, the conspiracy theories he spun that encouraged his believers to make poor choices on issues with life and death consequences. Kirk disparaged, belittled, caused hurt and death, misinformed, and disillusioned millions of Americans. Even after his assassination, and he is gone from this earth, those people remain, and they are still hurting. The reality of their situations is exacerbated by the media's portrayal of Kirk as a hero, or at a minimum, someone worth remembering with respect.
For those editors who put sanitized portrayals of Kirk front and center in their publications: shame on you. Offering condolences and keeping the tone sympathetic to protect Kirk’s family and friends — people who shared his hateful views — is despicable, even under the circumstances of his assassination.
We should be saving our condolences and sympathy for all the people Kirk disparaged and those whose lives were damaged when they bought into his conspiracy theories. Charlie Kirk’s assassination should have been used as a time to reflect on all the hurt he caused, to reiterate the need for gun control, to condemn hate speech, however veiled it might be or cloaked in religiousity. This would have been the opportunity to call out gaslighting and the dissemination of misinformation in public forums, and to stop conspiracy theories in their tracks by blocking them on social media, which has, for many, become their only source of “news.” Social media platforms (and Fox News) need to be held to the same standards as all other news media.
If there was any lesson to be learned, it was this: we must remain vigilant in speaking out about the very principles Kirk glorified and vigilant in supporting and protecting the people Kirk ostracized and that his minions will, no doubt, continue to ostracize (as foreshadowed in his wife’s lengthy statement on Thursday). Those affected by Kirk’s ostracizing include women, the LGBTQ+ community, immigrants, non-Christians, all people of color, scientists, intellectuals, writers and journalists, doctors and virologists, etc. And then there are all the other people whom Kirk conveniently left out of his messaging who would be adversely affected by the political changes he and the GOP espouse — children, the mentally ill, the homeless, lower-income families, single mothers, the elderly, veterans, and people with disabilities. These people didn’t factor into Kirk’s vision, nor that of the GOP’s — which he supported 100%. Every program that might have benefited the vulnerable or disadvantaged is being dismantled as we speak.
The message: Charlie Kirk was not a man worth eulogizing.
Also shameful, these milquetoast opinion pieces on Charlie Kirk’s legacy. When did the New York Times lose its backbone?
What MAGA Lost When It Lost Charlie Kirk, by Carlos Lozada
Charlie Kirk Was Practicing Politics The Right Way, by Ezra Klein
If We Keep This Up, Charlie Kirk Will Not Be The Last To Die, David French
Why anyone would feel the need to point out Kirk’s positive qualities boggles the mind. Why should we care that he was a father and husband when, on a daily basis, Kirk advocated for policies that hurt millions of American families — husbands, wives, and children, just like his own? Did any of Kirk’s followers shed tears for these people when they were hurting, when their child was humiliated for being transgender, when a family member was gunned down by a mentally ill person with access to an assault rifle, or when an unvaccinated loved one died of COVID-19? I don’t think so. They certainly never spoke up about doing the things that might have prevented these tragedies: demonstrating compassion for all people, advocating for gun control, and encouraging their neighbors to get vaccinated. Pretty sure Christ would have been on board with all of these.
One has to wonder about the motivation behind the many thoughtful, though misguided (and frankly naïve) accounts of Kirk’s legacy that cropped up over the past few days, especially those referenced above from the New York Times. Did these columnists even watch an appreciable number of Kirk’s podcasts and TikTok videos? It seems not. I hope many of you will take the time to send a letter to their editors to express your concerns: letters@nytimes.com. Also, take time to respond to all of the pandering done by your elected officials. They need to know you expect them to grow some balls.
Why shouldn’t we be glad, not about the way Kirk died, but that he can no longer stir up hatred toward Muslims, the LGBTQ community, single working women, all Democrats, intellectuals, people of color, and all the other non-white, non-Christian, non-MAGA people who live in this world? Should people really be forced to hide their relief, just so they don’t offend Kirk’s MAGA followers? Expecting the vulnerable people Kirk attacked to suppress their relief after the harm that has rained down on them — that is downright cruel. It is not taking the higher ground to say nice or even neutral things about Charlie Kirk just because he’s dead. Doing so is denigrating all the people he has harmed.
And despite all his proselytizing, Kirk’s stances did not follow Christian tenets in any way, shape, or form. Kirk was masterful at seamlessly weaving hateful messages into discussions about his faith. Judging from his popularity, millions were fooled by Kirk’s gaslighting, just as they have been by Trump’s. Though Trump identifies as a Christian, most of his followers doubt the sincerity of his faith, yet they support him regardless. But this was not the case with Charlie Kirk — his fans wholly believed he followed the path of Christ, which made his hateful messages all the more impactful.
I get it. Many people believe the decent thing to do at this moment in time is to give comfort to Kirk’s family, as if they were innocent, which, of course, his children are, but his wife? But of course, Erika entered her marriage eyes wide open — she’s a smart gal. Erika loved who Charlie was. She was there for him, supporting his racist, homophobic, bigoted, and misogynistic views, making sure he was well-fed, tie straight, and that he was expertly coiffed for his hateful daily podcasts. She knew exactly who she had married, so don’t be fooled by their social-media-perfect life and her beautiful, blond locks. That is the typical GOP sympathy trap. It is not real.
If you want to understand who Charlie Kirk was, listen to his podcasts. He put his views right out there; he held nothing back. Gotta give him this — he was no coward. And neither is his wife. Erika Kirk’s tearless, angry diatribe after his assassination smacks of insincerity, like that of a televangelist looking to cash in on her tragedy. Her penultimate plea: “He [Charlie] wants you to make a difference, and you can. The movement’s not going anywhere, and it will only grow stronger if you join it.” She then goes on to mention where to do that, in case you were ready to open your pocketbook.
Erika’s hope, no doubt, is that Turning Point USA’s revenue, which was $85 million in 2024, will continue to support the lavish lifestyle that she has enjoyed at the expense of the people her husband disparages. Their family fortune has been built on hate and intolerance.
For those who have been harping on and on about free speech and Kirk’s right to express his offensive opinions, these columnists seem to have forgotten the distinction between free speech and hate speech, conspiracy theories, gaslighting, and misinformation-disseminated-for-profit — the language tools Kirk used prolifically. These are opposing categories of expression. One is sincere and truly felt or understood; the other categories are pure manipulation.
To be clear: Charlie Kirk did not deserve anyone’s admiration, nor their consideration. He should have been shunned, both in his life and his death. While I don’t condone violence, I am finding, like many other people, that it’s impossible to feel sympathy for him, or for his followers and colleagues, all of whom have so pointedly hurt millions of people for profit, power, and sport.
The Charlie Kirk Legacy…
Ironically, Kirk acknowledged it was impossible to avoid gun deaths when citizens were armed, but he believed that the right to bear arms without restriction far outweighed the consequences of firearm-related deaths and debilitating injuries. He drew these conclusions knowing full well of the unprecedented number of mass shootings that have plagued the United States. Also ironic: at the moment Kirk was killed by a Mauser bolt-action rifle, he had just begun debating an audience member about mass shootings and gun violence.
I think it’s worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the second amendment to protect our other God-given rights. That is a prudent deal. It is rational.” — Charlie Kirk at a TPUSA Faith event on 4/5/2023.
Kirk lived and died by his stated beliefs on gun ownership. Utah, where Kirk was speaking on the day of his assassination, is a gun-friendly state with a permitless carry law for adults 21 and older. His shooter was 22. Anyone in Utah is allowed to carry firearms without a permit, whether openly or concealed.
For those who care about the 103.5 million people in the United States who contracted COVID-19, and the 1.1 million who died of it, don’t shed any tears for Charlie Kirk. Unvaccinated adults were 11-17 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than those vaccinated, yet Kirk encouraged vaccine resistance and perpetuated conspiracy theories about vaccines.
Kirk claimed the World Health Organization created a cover-up about the origins of the “China Virus,” a term he coined, which was often repeated by his close friend, Donald Trump. He claimed hydroxychloroquine was "100% effective in treating the virus.” He discouraged people from sheltering in and practicing social distancing, claiming these rules were a "Democratic plot against Christianity” and that "the science around masks is very questionable." Kirk repeatedly spread misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines and described requirements for school children and college students to take the vaccine as “medical apartheid.”
This is an example of the human price paid — people who went unvaccinated because they believed these conspiracy theories:
Save your tears for the Kirk followers who heeded his advice and lost family members or who still suffer from long COVID symptoms.
If you are one of the 340 million Americans upset about election fraud claims (regardless of whether you believe them or not), you can thank Charlie Kirk for his massive gaslighting on this issue. His falsehoods, no doubt, contributed to the huge political divide in our country. Kirk’s conspiracy theories, which have no basis in fact whatsoever, undermined faith in our election process, sowed mistrust toward our election officials and poll workers (in turn putting their lives at risk), and there is no doubt that the pressure of his political influence was a contributing factor in the passage of restrictive laws that make it more difficult for people to register and vote, and that have forced expensive and unneeded changes in the election process.
It should be noted that in addition to the 7 busloads of MAGA youth that Kirk sent to Washington D.C. on January 6, 2021, to participate in the Stop the Steal protests, he also led a Stop the Steal rally in Arizona shortly after Trump lost the 2020 election, and in that rally he promoted conspiracy theories about Biden’s win. Interestingly, Kirk toned down his election fraud rhetoric after Fox and Newsmax were sued by Dominion Voting Systems. Dominion won both defamation suits handily. Dominion won $787.5 million from Fox and $67 million from Newsmax.
But especially troubling was Kirk’s paying young people in his organization, teenagers in fact, to disseminate falsehoods on social media regarding elections, and Dr. Fauci, and to parrot GOP talking points. Kirk’s organization was called out and these troll farms were taken down by Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for community violations. For more details on these shenanagans, read “Pro-Trump youth group enlists teens in secretive campaign likened to a ‘troll farm,’ prompting rebuke by Facebook and Twitter” from the Washington Post.
Save your tears for the election officials who were traumatized by the GOP Stop the Steal conspiracy theories perpetuated by Charlie Kirk.
The day before the attack on the U.S. Capitol (1/6/2021), Charlie Kirk bragged on Twitter that two of his groups, Turning Point Action and Students for Trump, would be sending 80+ buses of patriots to Washington, D.C., to fight for President Trump at the Stop The Steal protests. As it turned out, only 7 buses, carrying around 350 students, reached the District of Columbia. Kirk was quick to retract his tweet, likely realizing it could incriminate him after these same Stop the Steal protest groups stormed the Capitol.
Perhaps save your tears for the five people who died on Jan. 6, the police officers who committed suicide as a result of the trauma they experienced at the insurrection, and the 140+ law enforcement officers who were injured.
One of Kirk’s favorite targets: “liberal” college professors. Kirk hated intellectuals, as he alludes to repeatedly in his podcasts, and has gone as far as creating a Professor’s Watchlist, then organizing harassment campaigns to get “liberal” professors fired or silenced. Wikipedia had this to say: “Responses to the site [Professor’s Watchlist] include the American Association of University Professors and The New York Times raising fears that it threatens academic freedoms by harassing and intimidating staff, conservative magazine National Review describing it as an "irritable gesture" of victimhood by conservatives, and concerns about the safety and welfare of staff following a trend of threatening behavior and communication, including rape and death threats, being sent to listed faculty.”
For more on how professors have been impacted by Kirk’s Watchlist, read: “Maryland professors were targeted by Charlie Kirk. Now what?” in the Baltimore Banner. Meredith Lynch offers further commentary:
Thoughts and prayers to all the academics who have been traumatized and whose jobs are now on the line thanks to Charlie Kirk and his minions. Prayers also to the college students who may never enjoy the teachings of these exceptional scholars.
Charlie Kirk’s views on women harken back to the stone age and sadly he passed those views on to an entire generation of young men. In short, Kirk felt women in their 30s were past their prime and should have spent their early adult lives as wives and mothers. Kirk asserted that birth control made women bitter and angry and that women who chased careers were “lonely and pathetic.” Kirk also blamed career women for many of society’s woes, asserting they were the cause of increased inflation, which in turn made it difficult for traditional women to stay home and be with their children. And Kirk had an excess of vitriol for prominent Black women, especially those who were affirmative action hires, claiming they lacked the "brain processing power" to achieve success on their own merit.
Best to get all those hateful details and Kirk’s views on women’s autonomy and rights directly from the horse’s mouth. Enjoy his famous rants below:
Below, an especially enlightening segment of The Charlie Kirk Show, with misogyny and racism all blended together:
The greatest horror, as relates to Turning Point USA’s influence on women’s issues, is Kirk’s Young Women’s Leadership Challenge. Although the website suggests the conference promotes progressive and empowering themes relevant to young women, this is far from the truth. It is a cult and its stated purpose online versus what actually takes place at the summit is deceiving, to say the least. Southern Poverty Law sums it up best, calling the YWLC simply an “antifeminist women’s summit.” To understand the full impact of this toxic event, read SPL’s full article. Also important to note: the National Rifle Association was one of the YWLC’s top sponsors this year and in 2016 and 2017. Apparently a woman’s place is not just in the kitchen, but also at the rifle range.
Favorite quotes from the summit:
“The kitchen is where the real revolution starts.”
“You can’t have it all.”
“Christians are not called to empathy.”
“A revolutionary goes and gets her nails done. A revolutionary gets her hair done. A revolutionary wears heels, or cute flats. A revolutionary loves her family, loves her country, raises her children, adds to her community, serves, attends church.”
Say a little prayer for women everywhere.
Then there’s that anti-semitism thing, which Kirk had recently tried to dispell by expressing support for the war in Gaza and befriending Benjamin Netanyahu. Despite Kirk’s fervent anti-abortion stance, he apparently found nothing wrong with nearly 20,000 children having been killed in this war.
Take a little trip down memory lane as to Kirk’s previous views on Jews: Don’t let his more recent support of Israel fool you — Kirk promoted anti-semitism.
Hint on the above: people referenced with a “Z” nonsense word are Jews.
The LGBTQ+ community and transgender individuals specifically have been the whipping boys and girls of the MAGA movement. Charlie Kirk did his share in promoting hateful thoughts toward this community. From USA Today: “In 2024, Kirk criticized children's YouTuber Ms. Rachel for arguing that the bible verse ‘love thy neighbor’ in the Leviticus 18 scripture should apply to gay people. On the podcast, Kirk said: ‘by the way, Ms. Rachel, you might want to crack open that Bible of yours. In a lesser reference, part of the same part of scripture, is in Leviticus 18, is that “thou shall lay with another man shall be stoned to death.” Just saying.’" Hmm. Take that however you like.
More of Kirk’s takes on the subject:
AND FINALLY…
Let these Charlie Kirk quotes sink in (compiled by The Guardian):
On race
“If I see a Black pilot, I’m going to be like, boy, I hope he’s qualified.”
– The Charlie Kirk Show, 23 January 2024
“If you’re a WNBA, pot-smoking, Black lesbian, do you get treated better than a United States marine?”
– The Charlie Kirk Show, 8 December 2022
“Happening all the time in urban America, prowling Blacks go around for fun to go target white people, that’s a fact. It’s happening more and more.”
– The Charlie Kirk Show, 19 May 2023
“If I’m dealing with somebody in customer service who’s a moronic Black woman, I wonder is she there because of her excellence, or is she there because affirmative action?”
– The Charlie Kirk Show, 3 January 2024
“If we would have said that Joy Reid and Michelle Obama and Sheila Jackson Lee and Ketanji Brown Jackson were affirmative action picks, we would have been called racists. Now they’re coming out and they’re saying it for us … You do not have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously. You had to go steal a white person’s slot to go be taken somewhat seriously.”
– The Charlie Kirk Show, 13 July 2023
On debate
“We record all of it so that we put [it] on the internet so people can see these ideas collide. When people stop talking, that’s when you get violence. That’s when civil war happens, because you start to think the other side is so evil, and they lose their humanity.”
– Kirk discussing his work in an undated clip that circulated on X after his killing.
“Prove me wrong.”
– Kirk’s challenge to students to publicly debate him during the tour of colleges he was on when he was assassinated.
On gender, feminism, and reproductive rights
“Reject feminism. Submit to your husband, Taylor. You’re not in charge.”
– Discussing news of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s engagement on The Charlie Kirk Show, 26 August 2025
“The answer is yes, the baby would be delivered.”
– Responding to a question about whether he would support his 10-year-old daughter aborting a pregnancy conceived because of rape on the debate show Surrounded, published on 8 September 2024
“We need to have a Nuremberg-style trial for every gender-affirming clinic doctor. We need it immediately.”
– The Charlie Kirk Show, 1 April 2024
On gun violence
“I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the second amendment to protect our other God-given rights. That is a prudent deal. It is rational.”
– Event organized by TPUSA Faith, the religious arm of Kirk’s conservative group Turning Point USA, on 5 April 2023
On immigration
“America was at its peak when we halted immigration for 40 years and we dropped our foreign-born percentage to its lowest level ever. We should be unafraid to do that.”
– The Charlie Kirk Show, 22 August 2025
“The American Democrat party hates this country. They wanna see it collapse. They love it when America becomes less white.”
– The Charlie Kirk Show, 20 March 2024
“The great replacement strategy, which is well under way every single day in our southern border, is a strategy to replace white rural America with something different.”
– The Charlie Kirk Show, 1 March 2024
On Islam
“America has freedom of religion, of course, but we should be frank: large dedicated Islamic areas are a threat to America.”
– The Charlie Kirk Show, 30 April 2025
“We’ve been warning about the rise of Islam on the show, to great amount of backlash. We don’t care, that’s what we do here. And we said that Islam is not compatible with western civilization.”
– The Charlie Kirk Show, 24 June 2025
“Islam is the sword the left is using to slit the throat of America.”
– Charlie Kirk social media post, 8 September 2025
On religion
“There is no separation of church and state. It’s a fabrication, it’s a fiction, it’s not in the constitution. It’s made up by secular humanists.”
– The Charlie Kirk Show, 6 July 2022
Irony is the last phase of disillusion. François Anatole Thibault
Spot on. Thank you!
Should we?
No.