The snarky replies and anyone who’s downvoting this clearly haven’t actually read it, because those people seem to think this is a moral argument supporting his ideas.
It is also a tragedy that the political climate he played a large part in fostering is a plausible explanation for what spurred the violence that resulted in his death, but I will let the word “plausible” do some lifting for me as the killer is still at large
Cwya on
HE TOLD US TO NOT BE EMPATHETIC!!!
I AM HONORING HIM!!!
Cr4zySh0tgunGuy on
Before anyone just reads the headline and goes no further, here are a couple quotes:
> I won’t pretend that America lost a great man
> Words are not violence—violence is violence. After Trump’s brush with death, before anything was known about his would-be assassin, J. D. Vance and others blamed the shooting on the rhetoric of his political opponents. Within hours of Kirk’s killing, with the shooter still at large, Elon Musk posted on X: “The Left is the party of murder.” Stephen Miller’s wife, Katie, wrote: “You called us Hitler. You called us Nazis. You called us Racists. You have blood on your hands.” Some right-wing activists are calling for the Trump administration to crack down on leftist organizations—in other words, to use Kirk’s death as a pretext for political repression, which is just what an authoritarian government would do.
This article is not a defense of Kirk, nor is it sanewashing him. The title is a little clickbait-y, but its message is clearly anti political violence
PoliticalAlt128 on
>And no one should use the killing of a man known for his defense of free speech to muzzle others or themselves from speaking the truth about the perilous state we’re in.
Obviously killing a person for their views is an attack on free speech, but also, did Kirk actually believe in free speech? He certainly believed it for himself I’ll admit that, but if his political endorsements and identification is any indication… This feels like whitewashing
Cheeky_Hustler on
“Stephen Miller’s wife, Katie, wrote: “You called us Hitler. You called us Nazis. You called us Racists. You have blood on your hands.””
Oh, but calling Democrats communists is just fine? Fuck off.
“Words are not violence—violence is violence.”
Words that encourage violence, even indirectly, are violent. Charlie Kirk supported the violence of Jan 6th and politicized violence against Dem politicians. Either both sides condemn violence when it happens to either side, or political violence is ok. And provocateurs like Charlie do not condemn violence when it happens to Democrats.
7 Comments
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The snarky replies and anyone who’s downvoting this clearly haven’t actually read it, because those people seem to think this is a moral argument supporting his ideas.
Here’s the article for free so that they have no excuse: [https://archive.is/https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/09/charlie-kirk/684172/](https://archive.is/https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/09/charlie-kirk/684172/)
Nevermind, mods deleted snarky replies. Boo, mods.
It is a tragedy that he was killed
It is also a tragedy that the political climate he played a large part in fostering is a plausible explanation for what spurred the violence that resulted in his death, but I will let the word “plausible” do some lifting for me as the killer is still at large
HE TOLD US TO NOT BE EMPATHETIC!!!
I AM HONORING HIM!!!
Before anyone just reads the headline and goes no further, here are a couple quotes:
> I won’t pretend that America lost a great man
> Words are not violence—violence is violence. After Trump’s brush with death, before anything was known about his would-be assassin, J. D. Vance and others blamed the shooting on the rhetoric of his political opponents. Within hours of Kirk’s killing, with the shooter still at large, Elon Musk posted on X: “The Left is the party of murder.” Stephen Miller’s wife, Katie, wrote: “You called us Hitler. You called us Nazis. You called us Racists. You have blood on your hands.” Some right-wing activists are calling for the Trump administration to crack down on leftist organizations—in other words, to use Kirk’s death as a pretext for political repression, which is just what an authoritarian government would do.
This article is not a defense of Kirk, nor is it sanewashing him. The title is a little clickbait-y, but its message is clearly anti political violence
>And no one should use the killing of a man known for his defense of free speech to muzzle others or themselves from speaking the truth about the perilous state we’re in.
Obviously killing a person for their views is an attack on free speech, but also, did Kirk actually believe in free speech? He certainly believed it for himself I’ll admit that, but if his political endorsements and identification is any indication… This feels like whitewashing
“Stephen Miller’s wife, Katie, wrote: “You called us Hitler. You called us Nazis. You called us Racists. You have blood on your hands.””
Oh, but calling Democrats communists is just fine? Fuck off.
“Words are not violence—violence is violence.”
Words that encourage violence, even indirectly, are violent. Charlie Kirk supported the violence of Jan 6th and politicized violence against Dem politicians. Either both sides condemn violence when it happens to either side, or political violence is ok. And provocateurs like Charlie do not condemn violence when it happens to Democrats.