I am taking a big risk by putting this out there, but so be it. Do not feel guilty if you do not drop a tear for Charlie Kirk. Yes, it’s always a bad thing when anyone is shot down, but … we have a president who picks his condolences and has only an allegiance to those who line up with his racist, misogynistic, bigoted way of thinking.
Does Charlie Kirk deserve to be given the honor that Trump is bestowing upon him by lying in state in our Capital? Do we really need a statue of him at the White House? I don’t think the White House is the venue for statues. This comes from a president who refused to hang a portrait of President Obama in the White House!
First, let’s understand that the difference between “lying in state” and “lying in honor” is who is being honored. Lying in state is reserved for deceased government officials, including presidents, members of Congress, and high-ranking military officers. Lying in honor is a tribute for distinguished private citizens who have rendered significant service to the nation but are not government officials. As we know, Trump had declared that Charlie Kirk is deserving of this honor.
So, who is Charlie Kirk and why is he so important to Donald Trump? Kirk used a daily podcast to influence the minds of his listeners to think his way about gender, race, and politics. The countless times we have mourned the deaths of innocent children gunned down inside our classrooms have become a norm in our society. Not once has Donald Trump lowered the flag for these innocent lives.
Kirk founded the Turning Point USA broadcast aimed at young people to organise and promote the principles of fiscal responsibility, free markets, and limited government after a Black president was re-elected in 2021. It now has chapters at over 850 colleges.
Where did Charlie Kirk stand on the issues? He announced that the LGBTQ were not happy “just having marriage, but want to corrupt your children.” On October 14, 2021, Kirk said, “the facts are that there are only two genders; that transgenderism and gender ‘fluidity’ are lies that hurt people and abuse kids.” In early 2023, he said that transgender women in women’s locker rooms should be “taken care of the way we used to take care of things in the 1950s and ’60s”. On April 1, 2024, Kirk called for Trump to propose a nationwide ban on gender-affirming care for transgender people. The same day, he called for the imprisonment of doctors who perform gender-affirming care and demanded “Nuremberg-style” trials for them. Kirk called being gay an “error” and likened the LGBTQ pride movement to encouraging drug addicts.
Kirk strongly opposed abortion even in the case of rape and incest. In a September 2024 debate hosted by Jubilee Media, Kirk argued that abortion is murder and should be illegal. Kirk compared abortion to the Holocaust and said that abortion is worse. Isn’t it easy for all of these right-wing men who have never been raped or a victim of incest to say this?
Kirk was a gun owner and gun rights advocate. He was opposed to gun control. After the Parkland school shooting in February 2018, he spoke for the National Rifle Association in Parkland, Florida. In April 2023, Kirk said, “I think it’s worth it, I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights.” But….that’s not how his wife is acting now, is it? It’s different when it hits home.
Kirk’s racist comments were common in his speeches. He cited the Civil Rights Act as being “a huge mistake” and referred to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr as a “bad man.”
Kirk said that immigration to the United States should be completely stopped. Remember in the Presidential debate with Kamala Harris when Trump made the comment that immigrants were eating people’s pets? Guess where that came from? Charlie Kirk. Kirk promoted the false claim that Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, were eating residents’ pets and other wildlife.
Kirk called for the use of force against migrants at the U.S.–Mexico border, including the use of tear gas, rubber bullets, and whips. Kirk said that migrants were “bringing force upon themselves” by “invading” the country. In justifying this use of force, Kirk promoted false claims of disproportionate criminality among migrants, saying: “Those are the men that will go into your communities and break into your homes and rape your women, take your children. But, hey, they’re — they’re dreamers.” Doesn’t that sound eerily familiar to “They aren’t bringing their best” Trump speech?
A day after Kirk’s death, on September 11, 2025, Trump announced that Kirk would be posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. This is the highest civilian award of the United States, alongside the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by decision of the President of the United States to “any person recommended to the President for award of the Medal or any person selected by the President upon his own initiative”, and was created to recognize people who have made “an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, or world peace, or cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.” Trump had also ordered that the flag of the United States be flown at half-staff at the White House, on all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions, as a mark of respect for Kirk. The order remained in effect until sunset on September 14. A memorial service is scheduled for September 21 at State Farm Stadium in Arizona, which can accommodate over 60,000 people.
I do not find fault with anyone who mourns Charlie Kirk. It is their privilege and right to do so. What I do find “wrong” about this is the unprecedented honor that is being given to a man for his dedication to favoring the destruction of our democracy, the disrespect for Blacks and other ethnic races, misogyny, and the attitude of hate towards women and the LGBTQ, and a blatant promotion of hate. I will not cry for Charlie Kirk, but I do mourn the damage that his influence has had on other Americans. This is all I have to say, and I will not give any more attention to Charlie Kirk.