Charlie Kirk Was Not a Universally Beloved Figure While He Was Alive

The news of Charlie Kirk's death has led to a flurry of conversation about not just political violence, but also about how divisive he was while he was alive. For as much lionization as Kirk has received in the days since his death, there are also plenty of people who are pointing out that Kirk's views were, at least to some, deplorable.

Given the news of his death, many now want to know more about why a significant section of the population hated him. Here's what we know.

The short answer is that Charlie Kirk had some pretty radical beliefs, and he was not shy about sharing them. The beliefs that have garnered the most attention since his death, in addition to the ones about the Second Amendment and gun violence, are ones in which he appears to dismiss an entire group of people out of hand. The Guardian compiled relevant quotes on a range of topics from Kirk that might speak to why some people didn't like him.

In discussing Black people, he said, "Happening all the time in urban America, prowling Blacks go around for fun to go target white people, that’s a fact. It’s happening more and more," on an episode of The Charlie Kirk Show from 2023.

In a 2024 episode of that show, he said, "We need to have a Nuremberg-style trial for every gender-affirming clinic doctor. We need it immediately."

In a separate episode, he said, "The American Democrat party hates this country. They wanna see it collapse. They love it when America becomes less white," tacitly advocating for the Great Replacement Theory that Democrats were trying to reduce the white population of America.

Of course, Kirk hosted this show every day, so this is just a sampling of the kind of rhetoric that he deployed to his audience regularly.

It's fair to say, then, that Kirk was comfortable with stating his views and more than willing to divide his audience into people who agreed with him and people he thought were wrong. In the days since his death, he has received a combination of fond remembrances from those who appreciated his willingness to debate anyone, and posts from others who suggest that Kirk's legacy is not something that should be emulated, at least in the world of politics.

"George Floyd was a father, too, and Charlie Kirk called him a 'scumbag,'" one user wrote on Bluesky.

"I do not support what happened to Charlie Kirk, but Charlie Kirk supported what happened to Charlie Kirk," another person added, suggesting that Kirk's suggestion that some gun deaths were worth the Second Amendment complicate his legacy.

It's fair to say, then, that Kirk was a uniquely divisive figure in a landscape where most political figures are. Even by those standards, though, Kirk was unafraid of dismissing entire groups of people as unworthy of his time or attention and made statements that were racist and misogynistic throughout his time in public life.