After the assassination of political commentator Charlie Kirk, students on campus held vigils on the Quad, banners were hung outside some of the fraternities on University Boulevard. with quotes like “Pray for the Kirks” along with Bible verses. A similar banner was also hung on Denny Chimes.
Whether or not you agree with his opinions, Kirk was a man dedicated to free speech — some would even say to a fault. Yet after his death, Kirk has been used by the right for purposes entirely contradictory to what he stood for. President Donald Trump made this clear at Kirk’s funeral last Sunday, saying of Kirk, “He did not hate his opponents. He wanted the best for them. That’s where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponent, and I don’t want the best for them.”
Most Americans who agree with Trump have the conservative sentiment in mind. Nobody, no matter their political affiliation and opinions, should be killed for their beliefs. To see people on the other side mocking the death of a well-known political commentator is heartbreaking. The hypocrisy is that political violence is not a new phenomenon, and politician’s responses, instead, a part of a larger play to gain control.
The Cato Institute estimates that since 1975, and excluding 9/11, 618 people have died in politically motivated attacks, 63% of which have been committed by those with right leaning ideologies. All that this goes to show is that political violence is not new, and despite the narrative by President Trump that left-wing violence is out of control, the right ends up exhibiting a lot of this guilt.
This summer, the Democratic Speaker of the State House of Representatives of Minnesota, Melissa Hortman, and her husband were killed by an assassin carrying a hit list of other Democratic politicians, and Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, had a molotov cocktail thrown into his home.
This goes to show that the public dialogue condemning the assassination of Kirk, and lack thereof for the aforementioned instances of violence, is more than just condolences — it’s an attempt to grab power.
The most public example of this is the suspension of late night television host Jimmy Kimmel after he called out this power grab on national television. Brendan Carr, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission, which oversees radio and television communications, was quick to implicitly threaten to revoke ABC’s broadcast licenses after the comments, an attempt at state-sponsored censorship.
Or, look at the recently removed viral website Expose Charlie’s Murderers, where users were encouraged to submit evidence of people celebrating Kirk’s death online and dox their personal information to get them fired from their jobs or face public scrutiny.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi quickly responded to those mocking Kirk’s death by pledging that the Trump administration would “absolutely target” individuals using hate speech in the wake of the killing of the conservative activist, which she later clarified on social media that she meant that “hate speech that crosses the line into threats of violence is NOT protected by the First Amendment.”
This is in direct contrast to Kirk’s own claims about hate speech made on X early last year, when he wrote, “Hate speech does not legally exist in America.”
This isn’t to say that the left is correct in mocking the killing of an innocent man, or that the right is wrong to be outraged. It is to say, though, that the death of America’s most prominent conservative commentator proves that America has become a nation more eager to exploit tragedy for power, than to honor the principles it once stood for.
Hence then, the article about opinion charlie kirk and free speech the great american grift was published today ( ) and is available on The Crimson White ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Opinion .. Charlie Kirk and free speech: The Great American grift )
Also on site :
- From collapse fears to resilience: How Russia reshaped its economy by the end of 2025
- Russian MOD shows map of Ukrainian drone attack on Putin’s residence
- Advantech Unveils Next-Generation Edge AI Compute Solutions Powered by Qualcomm Dragonwing IQ-X Series