Charles James “Charlie” Kirk (1993-2025) was a tour de force in the contemporary political scene. After dropping out of community college in his freshman year, when he was eighteen, he started a movement (including co-founding Turning Point USA) to mobilize young people to get involved in politics and make a difference in their world. TPUSA eventually generated as much as $85 million annually and is credited by many as being a primary force in mobilizing the shift in Gen Z males who supported President Donald J. Trump in 2024 (thus handing him the presidency).
Far beyond mere political activism, Charlie was a staunch Evangelical Christian and a pro-life, pro-family, pro-homeschooling advocate. He shared the gospel consistently and often engaged in Christian apologetics on campus.
Charlie’s Last Words Were About Gun Violence
On September 10, 2025, at Utah Valley University, during a Q&A “Prove Me Wrong” segment for which he was so famous, someone asked how many transgender Americans had been mass shooters in the past decade. Charlie replied, “Too many.” The person then asked, “Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last ten years?” Charlie asked, “Counting or not counting gang violence?”
At that second, a shot was fired, and Charlie slumped over with a bullet through his neck. He was declared dead later at the hospital. He left behind a wife and two young children.
Charlie’s death comes on the heels of two assassination attempts against President Trump during his 2024 campaign.
Clash on the Capitol Over Moment of Silence
On the afternoon of 9/10/2025 (the day of Charlie Kirk’s death), Speaker of the U.S. House, Mike Johnson, requested a moment of silent prayer to show respect for Charlie’s death. After 30-seconds of silence, U.S. Representative Lauren Boebert (R-CO) stated that she believes, “Silent prayers get silent results,” and asked if someone could say a prayer out loud. That created a ruckus as House Democrats began protesting, yelling no and being disruptive. One Democrat yelled, “Pass some gun laws!”
Charlie Spoke about Death Threats
In May 2025, at a “Freedom Night in America” event in Phoenix, AZ, Charlie shared:
“Look, we get death threats—people want to murder us. You should not have to walk around with security for your entire family and for myself just because you support a politician or political candidate or certain values.”
On the George Janko Show on June 6, 2024, Kirk said:
“We get death threats all the time. They send stuff to our homes and all that. That’s just par for the course. I mean, if you are not getting active death threats, you’re not really doing much for the country.”
Charlie Warned about Assassination Culture
In an eerily prophetic post on April 7, 2025 on social media platform, “X”, Charlie Kirk wrote:
“Assassination culture is spreading on the left. Forty-eight percent of liberals say it would be at least somewhat justified to murder Elon Musk. Fifty-five percent said the same about Donald Trump. In California, activists are naming ballot measures after Luigi Mangione. The left is being whipped into a violent frenzy. Any setback, whether losing an election or losing a court case, justifies a maximally violent response. This is the natural outgrowth of left-wing protest culture tolerating violence and mayhem for years on end. The cowardice of local prosecutors and school officials have turned the left into a ticking time bomb.”
Celebrations about Charlie Kirk’s Death
While it would be inappropriate in this platform to repeat the vile and repulsive comments made by thousands of liberals on social media, it has been appalling to see so many people rejoicing at the death of a young husband and father. Regardless of what someone believes politically, it is truly disgusting that so many people feel free to voice the most despicable comments about his death simply because they disagreed with his politics. Charlie was always an outspoken advocate of peaceful dialogue and discussion over anger and violence.
Traditional media has also played a part. MSNBC’s Michael Dowd stated,
“The environment in which a shooting like this happens—(Kirk’s) been one of the most divisive, especially divisive younger figures in this, who is constantly sort of pushing this sort of hate speech or sort of aimed at certain groups. And I always go back to, hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions. And I think that is the environment we are in. You can’t stop with these sort of awful thoughts you have and then saying these awful words and not expect awful actions to take place. And that’s the unfortunate environment we are in.”
Thankfully, he was fired by the network for his comments.
The News Media’s Bias on Violence
It is ironic to note that the last two Instagram posts Charlie made were speaking out against violence and noting the inconsistency of the political left to report on any conservatives who are killed (or murders that do not fit their race-baiting narratives).
A search on the New York Times’ website (9/11/2025) found significant mentions of the following black men who were killed by white police:
- 5,316 mentions of George Floyd
- 2,652 for Michael Brown
- 1,149 for Trayvon Martin
In contrast, a white Ukrainian woman refugee who fled to America for safety, only to be killed by a black man while she sat peacefully on a commuter train, has only received:
- 235 mentions for Iryna Zarutska
In his last post on X, Charlie Kirk wrote:
“If we want things to change, it’s 100% necessary to politicize the senseless murder of Iryna Zarutska because it was politics that allowed a savage monster with 14 priors to be free on the streets to kill her.”
In a Facebook post on 9/11/2025, Michael Farris (founder of HSLDA and Patrick Henry College and former Senior Counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom) wrote:
“A lunatic killed Democratic legislators in Minnesota and the nation stood as one and condemned the violence. An apparent lunatic kills a major conservative Christian leader, and teachers, deans, doctors, and countless others celebrate. This is all you need to know to confirm the utter bankruptcy of the left’s philosophy.”
In a viral video on Facebook, Charlie said,
“When people stop talking, really bad stuff starts. When marriages stop talking, divorce happens. When civilizations stop talking, civil war ensues. When you stop having a human connection with someone you disagree with, it becomes a lot easier to want to commit violence against that group. What we as a culture have to get back to is being able to have reasonable disagreement—where violence is not an option.”
While hatred and violence is not relegated to only one political party or spectrum (it is a sin problem, and sin is universal), it does seem that the ideology of the political left is increasingly becoming one whose mode of operation is the suppression of free speech and the silencing of their opponent, even by lethal means if necessary.
Charlie Kirk’s Legacy
How would Charlie want us to respond to his murder? I didn’t know him personally, but I’m pretty sure (based on statements he actually said) he would ask a generation of young people to pick up the baton and carry on his important work. He would, first of all, ask, as he did countless times, for you to make Jesus Christ the Lord of your life. Then he would ask you to get married young, stay married, have children, homeschool them and impart Biblical wisdom to them. He would ask you to learn Christian apologetics and to learn how to discuss vital issues with your opponents in a respectful way (as 1 Peter 3:15 instructs us).
Charlie would want us to use his legacy to build a better and more peaceful future for the nation he loved. He would want us to be beacons of hope to a lost world, even if that world turns on us and takes our lives. Charlie was following in the steps of Jesus, and he paid for his convictions with life (just as His master did). Let us continue to pray for his dear wife, Erika, and their children.
In a viral video shared on social media platform “X” Charlie is asked, “How would you want to be remembered?”
Charlie:
“I want to be remembered for courage for my faith. That would be the most important thing. The most important thing is my faith in my life.”
May the same be said for all of us.
