Politics
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September 15, 2025
Outstanding Republicans are attacking anybody who insists on describing who the late Charlie Kirk and his motion actually have been, even attempting to get them fired.
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Charlie Kirk in Phoenix.
(Justin Sullivan / Getty Photos)
There’s greater than a little bit irony in the truth that acolytes of slain right-wing provocateur Charlie Kirk, hailed as a champion of free speech, have spent the times since his dying working arduous to assault individuals and even get them fired for factual social media posts about Kirk’s noxious and loudly broadcast political opinions.
Brutally murdered final Wednesday, allegedly by a 22-year-old Utah man with a rifle and a harmful immersion in Web “meme” tradition, the founding father of Turning Level USA has been eulogized, even by some liberals, for his dedication to free speech and his willingness to debate—usually on wildly uneven phrases—his detractors. But his admirers, from the highly effective Stephen Miller to the obscure of us who run a web site known as “Charlie’s Murderers,” need to silence not solely the handful of random of us alleged to have celebrated Kirk’s dying (I’ve actually not seen a single social media submit like that) however those that have described, precisely, his racist, homophobic, sexist, antisemitic, anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant views, blasted to all who’ll pay attention.
The very best-profile casualty of this campaign is now-former Washington Publish columnist Karen Attiahwho introduced Monday morning that she was fired by the paper at this time for a sequence of social media posts deriding gun tradition and “inaction” by “white America” to do something concerning the gun violence epidemic. On her Substack, she wrote that the Publish mentioned her social media posts have been “unacceptable,” “gross misconduct,” and endangered “the bodily security of colleagues.” In none of her posts did she applaud Kirk’s homicide. The day Kirk died, MSNBC contributor Matthew Dowd misplaced his job for saying on air, “I all the time return to, hateful ideas result in hateful phrases, which then result in hateful actions.”
Sadly, politically motivated firings include the territory while you’re a mainstream media commentator—usually lamentable, however not unusual. Far more uncommon has been the handfuls if not a whole bunch of firings of individuals whose jobs don’t have anything to do with politics.The Carolina Panthers fired a communications coordinator who posted: “Why are y’all unhappy? Your man mentioned it was value it…,” a reference to Kirk’s public assertion that “I feel it’s value to have a price of, sadly, some gun deaths each single 12 months in order that we will have the Second Modification to guard our different God-given rights.”
Lecturers and directors in Greenville, South Carolina; Forest Grove, Oregon; Miami Nation Day College, and a minimum of a dozen different districts misplaced their jobs or confronted suspension for “inappropriate” social media posts, college districts confirmed. (A couple of posts did appear to have fun Kirk’s dying, which looks like questionable judgment however would nonetheless appear to be protected speech.) The Division of Protection introduced that it was reviewing service members’ social media posts for errant Kirk opinions, together with expressing inadequate grief over his dying. A Division of Homeland Safety worker was terminated for posting on X: “If you’re mourning this man, delete me. He spewed hate and racism on his present.” An X account assembled a “Trophy Case” of those and different firings.
Introducing: The Trophy Case🏆
A mega-thread of the entire individuals Twitter will get fired, up to date stay because the information is available in. Drop new submissions within the feedback beneath.
— Parker Thayer (@ParkerThayer) September 11, 2025
Delta, United, and American Airways introduced that they’d suspended pilots and different workers, pending an investigation, for Kirk posts one CEO mentioned “went effectively past wholesome, respectful debate.”
Present Concern
The “Charlie’s Murderers” web site says it has collected greater than 30,000 submissions of individuals mentioned to be celebrating Kirk’s dying and or calling for violence. I couldn’t entry the location on Monday, however different media retailers have reported seeing few if any requires violence.
Canadian journalist Rachel Gilmore mentioned she acquired a “tsunami” of threats after the location shared an internet video by Gilmore criticizing Kirk, however saying she hoped he survived the taking pictures, earlier than his dying was introduced.
“It’s completely honest to name it a coordinated harassment marketing campaign,” Laura Edelson, assistant professor at Northeastern College and director of the Cybersecurity for Democracy Undertaking, instructed CNN. “That’s completely why it exists, to coordinate and goal the harassment towards the chosen people.”
My X mentions have been a sewer since I wrote “Let’s Not Neglect Who Charlie Kirk Actually Was,” on Thursday, with a partial checklist of his offensive statements through the years. The insults are all acquainted, a whole lot of the C-word, the B-word, a number of feedback about my age and ugliness (which go hand in hand). The nicest critic known as me “grandmother-aged.” Fortunately, I don’t need to concern getting fired, although many critics known as for my firing, since I work at The Nation.
We shouldn’t be stunned that right-wingers who purport to favor free speech solely need freedom for their very own views. Their aim isn’t freedom however energy. They will use this tragedy to seize extra energy, and damage extra dissenters, as the times move. They’re not celebrating Kirk’s homicide—many little question cared about him—however they’re definitely benefiting from it, even reveling in it. I wouldn’t go anyplace close to his funeral at 60,000-seat Arizona Cardinals stadium close to Phoenix subsequent Sunday, and I’ve ventured into all types of scary Trump occasions through the years. However I feel this campaign is simply getting began, with Miller and Trump threatening the prosecution of individuals they understand as contributing to the ambiance that led to Kirk’s killing. In fact, there is no such thing as a single American extra liable for the nation’s present local weather of concern, enmity, and violence than Donald Trump. Simply don’t count on him to look within the mirror.
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Katrina Vanden Heuvel
Editor and Writer, The Nation
Joan Walsh
Joan Walsh, a nationwide affairs correspondent for The Nation, is a coproducer of The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts The Tonight Present and the creator of What’s the Matter With White Individuals? Discovering Our Means within the Subsequent America. Her new ebook (with Nick Hanauer and Donald Cohen) is Company Bullsh*t: Exposing the Lies and Half-Truths That Defend Revenue, Energy and Wealth In America.
