Introduction

Do you see what I did in the headline to this article?

Media Matters has engaged in character assassination against Charlie Kirk since the moment he stepped onto the public spotlight.

That’s what this article is going to be about. But when I chose my headline, I chose to leave the word “character” out.

Remember what I did as you read on.

Why I’m Writing This

After Charlie Kirk was shot on September 10, 2025, like many Americans I was horrified. It was the murder of a young 31 year old man, the father of a 3 year old girl and a 1 year old boy, who was shot in the throat for nothing more than practicing his freedoms—the word that was on the T-shirt he was wearing that would end up covered in blood.

Every American knows—or used to know—that this nation was founded on the concept of Liberty. The First Amendment guarantees the right to freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and freedom to petition the government for redress of grievances. Charlie Kirk loved his country and practiced all of those freedoms. A murderer decided that he knew better than the Constitution of the United States. Charlie Kirk was not allowed to have these rights. So he killed him.

But what horrified me most wasn’t the killer. It was watching the reaction of Americans who posted videos like these.

American citizens were reveling in the assassination of a fellow citizen as if he were Hitler or Pol Pot. And yet of the people who met and interacted with Charlie Kirk in person, all of them—regardless of political party, religion, color, or sexual orientation—spoke of him positively.

  • Gavin Newsom — praised Kirk’s “passion and commitment to debate,” saying the best way to honor him is to keep engaging in spirited discourse.
  • Van Jones — shared that Kirk had reached out the day before his death asking for a “respectful conversation” on crime and race.
  • Bill Maher — said “I liked him” and criticized those on the left who mocked his killing, crediting Kirk for promoting dialogue.
  • Naima Troutt (USC student, BLM organizer) — respected that he was one of the few right-wingers willing to regularly debate.
  • Mason (grad student who debated him on Surrounded) — called him a “formidable combatant” and said he found it easy to have a conversation with him, even staying in touch afterward.
  • Christina Lorey (journalist, childhood friend) — wrote a tribute recalling the “Charlie Kirk I knew,” honoring him despite political differences.

And I wondered. The people laughing and dancing at Charlie’s death never knew him, never met him, and most likely never even watched more than 20 seconds of a video of him.

So where were they getting their opinions from?

It Gets Personal

I have many friends on the Left. One is my best friend from childhood.

We don’t talk politics, because thank God we knew each other before the age of social media, so we were able to forge ties that were far more important than politics.

When I was with him yesterday, he started to say some really nasty things about Charlie Kirk. He doesn’t really know that I’m what he would call the “far right” (which of course today includes everyone from RFK Jr to Tulsi Gabbard to Joe Rogan).

When I asked him to tone it down, he doubled down. Didn’t I know that Charlie Kirk was a racist who HATES blacks and Asians?

At this point I started seething inside. I angrily shouted, “you’ve been brainwashed.” He shouted back, “YOU’VE been brainwashed”.

Thankfully, we didn’t let it escalate beyond that. We both agreed not to discuss politics again. It’s the same agreement I made with my sister years ago, and that’s worked out well.

But something really bothered me. I mean, when I saw those TikTok videos, it was one thing. But my friend is a highly educated, highly intelligent person. He is kind to everyone he meets and normally a rational thinker.

Why was he cheering the murder of a father of two toddlers as if he were a combination of Hitler and Pol Pol?

And worse, if he knew the extent to which I admired Charlie Kirk, would he cheer on harm to me as well? I don’t think he would. But now I’m not sure.

I asked my friend to send me where he heard of Charlie Kirk. I wanted to know how he formed the opinion he did. He sent me some news articles. One was from NBC News. The other was from Wired. Those were enough to convince him that Charlie Kirk deserved to die.

Let’s look at the NBC News article.