Charlie Kirk as a martyr

UNCMSinLS said:
Whew, I guess we're all safe since they're going after the "Democrat" party instead of the Democratic Party.
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And yet just yesterday we were told repeatedly that only liberals were engaging in overheated rhetoric and promoting violence against conservatives. And yet here are Trumpers in tweets calling for us liberals and Trump critics to basically be wiped out and totally destroyed. Real defenders of democracy and freedom of speech and the Bill of Rights they are.
 
 
 
In memoriam, Part 3

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Right-wing celeb Charlie Kirk thinks George Floyd is a 'scumbag' • Minnesota Reformer

Right-wing celebrity Charlie Kirk opened his appearance in Mankato Tuesday night by giving the crowd some advice: “Just don’t totally mess up this state. It was built by wonderful Scandinavians, and it seems as if it’s being destroyed now, rather intentionally.” In an 80-some-minute speech, Kirk...
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Naz Hashem on Instagram: "Charlie Kirk: “Palestine doesn’t exist. It’s called Judea and Samaria.” 🎯 @charliekirk1776"

3,664 likes, 321 comments - naz_hashem on April 2, 2025: "Charlie Kirk: “Palestine doesn’t exist. It’s called Judea and Samaria.” 🎯 @charliekirk1776".
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nycfan said:
A week or so ago, VP Vance made a comment (that was widely misquoted) that a wise pollster told him that the problem with midterm elections for almost every sitting president was that midterm voters tend to be the angry people and MAGA voters are happy with the Trump Administration, so they don’t have that angry driver to get out and vote in the 2026 midterm.

Well, this assassination provides exactly what the Trump Administration was looking for — a martyr to inflame their supporters to act by voting. I am not saying they are happy this happened to Kirk or engineered it or something — I am just saying this is a terrible political “gift” they will whole-heartedly exploit.

@Ramrouser is getting dragged by some for saying 9/10 will be the 9/11 for a lot of young conservatives but I think that may not be hyperbole — and I think conservative politicians will absolutely feed that fire. At least in the social media under 30 MAGAsphere, Kirk is an immensely popular and influential figure. He could be a powerful martyr for millions of young men and conservative young women.

The eventual power of his martyrdom will depend on the extend to which it reaches outside dedicated MAGA Men and I to the broader population. As a purely crass political matter, that makes it vitally important to Trump, Vance and those who will use his martyrdom for their own purposes to whitewash and nice Kirk’s views — simplify his often extreme rhetoric to be anodyne support for traditional family values, patriotism, being a good Christian Dad and free speech advocate.

I doubt that Trump will mention that Kirk was a vocal supporter of releasing the Epstein Files — mentioning that will be considered in bad taste or something. Bringing up Kirk’s radical statements about gun rights and LGBTQ rights to exist and women’s rights outside a traditional motherhood role subject to the husband’s control will be treated as disrespect for the dead to sanitize Kirk’s martyrdom.

How dare you speak ill of the dead — even if you are quoting his own recorded words — will be a well worn cudgel.

The playbook is well worn for political martyrdom. Martyrdom is political sainthood.
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This resonates. After all, look at how conservatives used the tragedy of 9/11 for political purposes and started a war against Iraq that had literally been planned since before Shrub was elected. Thinking that they care about the people instead of their agenda is foolish. This Horst Wessel, oops, I mean Charlie Kirk thing is no different.
 
Heelsandeers said:
I'm still amazed at OP's hostile work environment

It's also amazing to me how many people (apparently) seek the type of content Kirk was putting out

What is the Liberal equivalent to it? Is there one?
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Explains to a large degree why we lost the election. Both that folks don't know how many people are looking for that content and that the Left has no equivalent.
 
My first and (hopefully) last post on the influencer, flamethrower, seemingly good dad and husband, provocateur, political strategist, and now right-wing martyr Charlie Kirk.

I have nothing new to say about the killing itself. As so many have said here over the years, including me, all violence is deplorable and has no place in a civil society. I hope they now have the right guy, and if he is convicted, I hope he is punished to the full extent allowed by law. I will never favor the death penalty as a matter of principle, but I also won't weep for this guy if that's his ultimate fate.

This, though, is a microcosm of what I find to be most important and powerful about this moment.

Scene 1:

Who was MLK?

A myth has been created and it has grown totally out of control

While he was alive most people disliked him, yet today he is the most honored, worshipped, even deified person of the 20th century

Today we are going to tell the truth and explain how this myth was…

— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) January 15, 2024
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"Kirk took a strong stance against MLK in December when he spoke at a Turning Point USA political convention, Wired reported. Kirk founded Turning Point USA, an American conservative organization with strong ties to former president Donald Trump, in 2012.

"At the convention, Kirk pushed back against praise for MLK, calling the civil rights activist "awful" and "not a good person", according to Wired."

www.newsweek.com

Charlie Kirk flips on Martin Luther King Jr., attacks gro...

In the past, Kirk has praised King, but he voiced a drastically different belief this year.
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Scene 2:



Oh, that all of us could have the same grace and wisdom that MLK's children displayed to the assassinated Kirk, and not the disdain and ugliness that Kirk displayed to their assassinated father.

I do not much care what random people on X or Truth Social or this message board or whatever have to say about Kirk and his death. Most of us are much like young children, whose political views tend to be virtually identical to their parents'. It is what the "parents" -- those with influence in our political society -- say that matters. And it matters not just when a right-winger like Kirk is killed, but also when left-wing politicians or influencers are subjected to violence. We message board peons have no responsibility to say anything. But when one assumes a role of political influence, he can't express outrage when violence is directed to his team and stay silent, or worse, when violence is inflicted on the other team.

This all starts, of course, with the person with the biggest megaphone not just in our nation, and not just in our time, but maybe in the history of the democratic world -- Donald Trump. To nobody's surprise, Trump has used this terrible moment not to call for unity and peace, but to cast blame, demonize large groups of Americans, and call for policies that would further entrench his political aims. For the umpteenth time, Trump has dishonored our nation. He has brought further shame to the idea that American democracy will find and elevate the best of us to positions of power, rather than the worst of us. The terrible rhetoric infecting our nation in this moment starts at the top, with Trump.

And that brings us to the other central figure in this story, and another person of immense influence in our national discourse -- Charlie Kirk. I have thought several times over the last few days, "If the person assassinated was a left-wing politician or influencer rather than Kirk, what would Kirk likely have said about it?" I would be very surprised if it was much different than the terrible, violence-perpetuating rhetoric we've heard from Trump, Laura Loomer, Alex Jones, Jesse Watters, Derrick Van Orden, etc., etc., etc.

I mourn Kirk's death because I mourn all lives cut short by the intentionally violent acts of other people. But I am aware that those speaking out against violence and calling for peace and unity in this moment are extending a grace to Kirk, and to the nation, that he would not have extended in different circumstances. He may be a martyr, but unlike MLK, there's no reason for him to be remembered.
 


The responses to this tweet are … well, sad. I thought Kash was popular with MAGA, but I guess that only goes so far …
 
Batt Boy said:
Explains to a large degree why we lost the election. Both that folks don't know how many people are looking for that content and that the Left has no equivalent.
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I've been saying this since the election. The left is not connect with a large portion of the general public. As long as a large percentage of Americans are getting their "news" from TikTok, X, and Charlie Kirk/ Joe Rogan manosphere podcasts, the left doesn't stand a chance. Dems have to figure out a) what their message is and b) how to reach people where they are.
 
Ramrouser said:
For many young folks on the Right, 9/10 will be their 9/11.

I think many of you here (understandably since Kirk wasn't in your social media feed) grossly underestimate the power, influence and reach of Charlie Kirk. He mobilized the youth on college campuses and on social media and I would argue, played a huge role in Trump winning the under 30 vote (particularly among young men). Kirk wasn't a right wing provocateur; instead, he was famous for showing up on campuses with a smile and politely engaging with liberals in a friendly manner. Kirk also played a role in the return of young men to church which has been quantified. There was/is no one equivalent on the Left.

Kirk will be hard/impossible to replace.
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I think the best comparison I can make is the assassination of Malcolm X. And even that is tenuous at best.
 
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