Charlie Kirk, 31, founder of Turning Point USA has died – 10 Sept 2025. He was shot while giving speech at Utah Valley University (at a Turning Point USA event)

And, frankly, I am not entirely upset about it based around his… ideologies. Charlie Kirk and I are the same age. However, we have very very different ideas of what the world should look like.

Who Was Charlie Kirk?

He was born in Illinois in October 1993. He was politically active since high school. He briefly attended Harper College. He dropped out to be a full-time political activist. He was influenced by the Tea Party (which I have spoken about the alt-right and the tea party here). He wrote for Breitbart News, claiming there was a ‘liberal bias’ in school textbooks and went on Fox News. He would go on to be a popular alt-right podcaster and political pundit.

What Were His Stances?

Race and DEI

If I see a Black pilot, I’m going to be like, ‘Boy, I hope he’s qualified’ ” (Jan. 2024), in the context of attacking DEI.

-Charlie Kirk

The ‘Great Replacement’ is not a theory, it’s a reality.

-Charlie Kirk

“Great Replacement” is a conspiracy narrative, not demographic policy; mainstream analyses identify it as unfounded and extremist in origin. An per the Immigration Forum’s Replacement Theory Explainer, “The “great replacement” theory, in simple terms, states that welcoming immigration policies —
particularly those impacting nonwhite immigrants — are part of a plot designed to undermine or “replace” the political power and culture of white people living in Western countries.”

This is the great replacement theory… you can see the white population collapse in L.A. That’s intentional. They’ve wanted it that way

Charlie Kirk, The Charlie Kirk Show, June 9, 2025

Remember we talked about how they wanna replace white Anglo-Saxon Christian Protestants with Mexicans, Nicaraguans, with El Salvadorians.

Charlie Kirk, The Charlie Kirk Show, June 9, 2025

In this segment Kirk displayed a chart sourced from white nationalist site American Renaissance. Experts say the chart’s decline data are taken out of context, and that Kirk’s framing implies intent where none has been shown

Feminism and Women

His track record on women is… for a man who has been married for four years, I don’t think he likes women.

“The biggest thing is this: more younger women need to get married at a younger age and start having kids.”

Charlie Kirk

In the above video, a woman named Maren asked Charlie Kirk if there are any cases in which abortion should be legal (as this is one of his main stances). And she lobs the hypothetical “if you had a ten year old daughter who was raped and she was going to give birth and she was going to live, would you want her to go through that and carry her rapist’s baby?”

The answer is yes, the baby would be delivered. Let me ask you a question there’s two ultrasounds I have: One baby is conceived by rape, the other a loving couple, which is which?

Charlie Kirk, “Can 25 Liberal College Students Outsmart 1 Conservative?”, Jubilee, 2024

Think about that for a minute. And just for context, he has a daughter who was born in 2022. He has a daughter and his response to this very real hypothetical scenario is that yes, his daughter would carry her rapist’s baby.

Young ladies need to be able to submit to a godly man.

Charlie Kirk, Young Women’s Leadership Summit, June 13-15, 2025

If girls do want to attend college, their end goal should not be a degree, but rather a husband.

Charlie Kirk, Young Women’s Leadership Summit, June 13-15, 2025

COVID-19 and Public Health

I am not anti-vax, but I am certainly anti-this-vax.

Charlie Kirk, Podcast episode, 2021

The science around masks is very questionable. Very questionable. In fact some people, some doctors think that masks actually make you sicker

Charlie Kirk, July 2021

Public health authorities strongly support mask-wearing to reduce virus transmission. Kirk’s claim misrepresents the scientific consensus and gives undue weight to fringe or anecdotal views.

Lockdowns are tyranny … they are destroying America for a virus less deadly than the flu.

Charlie Kirk, Various appearances in 2020

If they can make you put a mask on, they’ll take your guns. They can make you take a vaccine, they control your children.

Charlie Kirk, Charlie Kirk Show, July 2021

A false equivalence meant to spread fear.

Charlie Doesn’t Understand Government/Elections/Democracy

True Americans love this country, defend its Constitution … except we are not a democracy. Everyone seems to forget that. We are a republic. American History 101.

Charlie Kirk’s Facebook Page

The U.S. is both a constitutional republic and a representative democracy; the terms aren’t mutually exclusive. Scholars and civics orgs note the “not a democracy” trope is misleading shorthand often used to argue against popular democratic reforms. It is accurate that we’re not a direct democracy, but framing often omits that the U.S. is still a democracy (representative, with constitutional constraints). Civics experts caution this trope is used to downplay the democratic element.

I will say it very bluntly. This election was stolen from President Trump.

This claim has been repeatedly debunked. Courts and audits found no evidence of systemic fraud sufficient to change the result.

As government imposes the will of a few upon the many, the many begin to resist. Ultimately, it becomes necessary for the government to use force to make the people conform.

This miscasts representative government as simply “the will of a few on the many.” In reality, laws are created through elected legislatures, checks and balances, and judicial review. Suggests a lack of grasp of pluralism and consent of the governed.

The Democrats want a pathway to citizenship for the illegal immigrants so they can become Democratic voters in a few years — and some Democrats even argue that non-citizens ought to be able to vote in U.S. elections.

This misrepresents both immigration and election law: non-citizens cannot vote in federal elections, and legal immigration/citizenship is a lengthy process overseen by multiple branches.

Charlie was a Racist

Before I start lobbing quotes, I am going to define racism.

Racism is the prejudices and prejudgements through exercising power against a racial group that comes to be defined at inferior — and they are defined as inferior through individuals and institutions.

We made a huge mistake when we passed the Civil Rights Act in the 1960s.

Charlie Kirk, Speech at AmericaFest 2023

This claim mischaracterizes the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as harmful to American society, ignoring its foundational role in dismantling legalized racial segregation and expanding access to voting, education, and public life. Historians and civil rights experts argue the law was essential, not detrimental.

The courts have been really weak on this. Federal courts just yield to the Civil Rights Act as if it’s the actual American Constitution.

Charlie Kirk, Speech at AmericaFest 2023

This misstates how courts interpret federal statutes: courts do not treat the Civil Rights Act as equal to the Constitution. Instead, they interpret it as a law passed by Congress under constitutional authority. Kirk’s framing suggests an illegitimate usurpation of constitutional law, but in reality the Act was passed under Congress’s constitutional power, and judicial review of discrimination claims is a well-established practice.

Empathy

Empathy in politics and society refers to the ability (or practice) of understanding, sharing, and responding to the feelings, experiences, and perspectives of others — especially across lines of difference (race, class, gender, nationality, etc.).

I can’t stand the word empathy, actually. I think empathy is a made up New Age term that … it does a lot of damage.

This statement comes from a Turning Point USA / Charlie Kirk video clip (shared as an Instagram Reel) in which he criticizes modern usage of the term empathy, describing it as something that causes harm.

Empathy—understood as the ability to understand or share the feelings of another—is widely recognized in psychology, ethics, medicine, and leadership as an important skill or attribute, not merely a “New Age” fad.

By dismissing empathy as damaging, Kirk overlooks evidence that empathy is linked to better social outcomes, trust building, and prosocial behavior.

Kirk is tapping into a wider critique among some conservative thinkers who argue that “empathic” frameworks lead to overvaluing feelings over principles, enable victimhood narratives, and discourage personal responsibility. But many experts say this is a selective critique that doesn’t engage with the depth of empathy research or its applications.

I really try to have some Christ-like compassion, I do … but then I ask … ‘How long have they been here?’ … Oh, they’ve been here for 30 years, and they don’t speak any English?’ … That’s an immediate symbol you have not assimilated.

Charlie Kirk, The Charlie Kirk Show, August 22, 2025

For those who may not be aware, assimilation is when a power minority that is discriminated against changes things about themselves to get as close as they possibly can to their discriminators in power.

Assimilation is one of the six outcomes of discrimination.

Kirk’s framing conflates language proficiency with moral worth and “assimilation.” Experts warn using compassion selectively — based on language or “time in country” — is not consistent with universal compassion or humanitarian principles. It also sidesteps structural issues around access, education, and immigration policy.

It is common in sociological persepctives that structural issues around access, education and immigration policy are all dependent on the social classes of a nation — and these social classes are often dependent on wealth and income, once you have your social class, it determines your power and prestige.

We should have uniculturalism. One culture, Americanism … You are Americans. You’re not … Vietnamese-American / Indian-American … No. You’re an American.

Charlie Kirk, The Charlie Kirk Show, August 22, 2025

Kirk’s “one culture” vision denies multicultural realities and the lived experience of ethnic or cultural minorities. Critics argue that seeing hyphenated identities as illegitimate is a denial of pluralism and erasure of cultural diversity. Compassion in public policy often recognizes cultural identity as part of personal dignity.

Critics argue that empathy and compassion are tools of soft power in politics — not weakness, but means of persuasion, healing, and solidarity. Kirk’s framing treats these traits as cultural liabilities.

Kirk’s criticism of hyphenated identities and emphasis on assimilation reflects a monocultural view of national belonging, which critics say lacks recognition of diverse histories, identities, and social equity.

The End of a Bitter Man

His career was built on provocation — on statements about race, gender, democracy, public health, and compassion that revealed a worldview rooted less in truth or understanding than in grievance and division. For his supporters, Kirk was a brash champion of conservatism. For his critics, he was a cautionary figure who mistook outrage for insight and weakened the very pluralism that sustains a diverse democracy.

So no, I cannot say I mourn his passing in the way others might. Instead, his legacy serves as a warning: of how misinformation corrodes institutions, how ideology can eclipse compassion, and how easy it is for influence to be used not to unite, but to divide. If anything, Charlie Kirk’s life reminds us of the urgent need for empathy, critical thought, and inclusive democracy in shaping a better future.