The Martyrdom of Charlie Kirk and the Corrosion of Public Discourse
A response to Ezra Klein "Charlie Kirk Was Practicing Politics the Right Way".
The assassination of the right-wing social media influencer Charlie Kirk was an act of terrorism. His killing was done to inspire fear and silence those who are aligned with him. His wife and children will suffer now and continue to suffer as his death is metastasizing into political fuel for the fires President Donald Trump is stoking.
With the birth of a martyr comes the death of truth. History tends to idolize those slain and project them into our zeitgeist. Ezra Klein’s recent article in The New York Times “Charlie Kirk Was Practicing Politics the Right Way” attempted to give a favourable viewpoint to the already contorted history of Charlie Kirk. Klein, a prominent supporter of the Democratic Party, attempted to find common ground. He cites many recent and historical acts of political violence. He condemns any act of political violence and glorifies Kirk's political activism. What Klein fails to diagnose is that Kirk's work is the exact kind of malignant presence in the media that led to the division The United States is in today. Kirk did not tour colleges and argue with wide-eyed, naive, children to foster good political discussion. His goal was to generate clips for social media to continue to grow his power, wealth, and influence.
What Kirk was doing was the antithesis of fostering good political discussion. Does that mean he deserved to die? Of course not. But the reframing of him into an altruistic freedom fighter attempting to catapult him into the ranks of the greats alongside the likes of Malcom X, Martin Luther King, Medgar Evers and the Kennedy brothers is treacherous.
Charlie Kirk and his organizations weaponized their followers, money, and power to actively attempt to break democracy. The Washington Post released an article in 2020 exposing Turning Point USA for paying bot farms to flood social media with disinformation and conservative messaging. The creation of the Professor Watchlist is akin to the McCarthy-era red lists, doxing and tracking college professors whose political ideology does not align with TPUSA’s, fostering intimidation and harassment amplified through social media.
There are countless more ways to demonstrate that Charlie Kirk was not practicing politics “in exactly the right way”. His goal was division not unity, power not common ground, he did not speak on college campuses to change the views of young Americans but embarrass them to extort as much money for his media empire so he could funnel it back into political lobbying.
Klein says in his article “Political violence is a virus. It is contagious.” I will not argue with that statement. Though a much more infectious disease than violence is the corruption of the mind via media manipulation. Ideas travel quicker than bullets. As Chomsky says in Manufacturing Consent, "The mass media serve as a system for communicating messages and symbols to the general populace. It is their function to amuse, entertain, and inform, and to inculcate individuals with the values, beliefs, and codes of behavior that will integrate them into the institutional structures of the larger society." With over 12 million followers on Kirk's personal Instagram account and millions more on his companies and institutions he turned his personal brand and Turning Point USA into a media powerhouse.
I think Klein wrote this article because he feels spiritually tied to Kirk in a diametrical way. As a left-wing thought leader he is attempting to pour some water on the fire. He is attempting to find common ground during a turbulent time, which is noble in a way. Although he is lying to his readers in this article, even if it's in an ever so slight way. He is looking at Charlie Kirk and his legacy in a benevolent retrospective. This kind of absolution for Kirk's actions post mortem may be well intentioned but are a disservice to the American public.
The truth is Charlie Kirk dedicated his life to building a media empire with the intent to manipulate the political landscape to further his contorted political ideology, empower corrupt politicians, and gain personal wealth and power.
Ezra Kleins NYT Article: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/opinion/charlie-kirk-assassination-fear-politics.html