Charlie Kirk either deserved to die or was asking for it, said many on the Left yesterday about the popular 31-year-old conservative leader who was famous for debating college students. “He’s been one of the most divisive — especially divisive — younger figures who is constantly pushing hate speech aimed at certain groups,” said MSNBC political commentator Matthew Dowd, just moments after a sniper shot Kirk in Utah. “You can’t stop with these sort of awful thoughts you have and then saying these awful words and not expect awful actions to take place.” The author of a new Batman comic book spinoff, Gretchen Felker-Martin, posted “Thoughts and prayers you Nazi bitch. Hope the bullet’s okay after touching Charlie Kirk.” And some in the news media referred to Kirk as “far-right.”
But Kirk was not “far-Right” or a “Nazi,” and he did not spread “hate speech.” Kirk was critical of transgender ideology, the Left’s dishonesty about race and crime, and the message of contemporary feminists. Consistent with his Christianity and his commitment to the American Constitution, Kirk believed that he had the right and a moral obligation to speak unpopular truths, including that it is not possible to change one’s sex, that the rate of crime among black men is disproportionate, and that families provide social stability and fulfillment.
Many on the Left expressed upset at Kirk’s assassination, and MSNBC and DC Comics fired Dowd and Felker-Martin. “I apologize for my tone and words,” Dowd said at BlueSky. “Let me be clear, I in no way intended for my comments to blame Kirk for this horrendous attack.” Governor Gavin Newsom immediately condemned the assassination of Kirk, whom Newsom had debated on a podcast earlier this year. Other Democratic politicians did the same. New York Times columnist Ezra Klein wrote about how one could vehemently disagree with Kirk, as he did, and still not believe he should be killed.
But the extent to which people on the Left expressed joy at the killing of Kirk nonetheless remains disturbing. Many progressives agree with Dowd that Kirk is responsible for having created the environment that led to his death. Social media is filled with videos of leftists filming themselves openly celebrating Kirk’s murder. Hundreds of thousands of people liked social media posts justifying the assassination.
And the mainstream liberal view is that Kirk encouraged political violence by spreading “hate” and “misinformation.” Dowd, in his apology, defended himself by saying, “I was asked a question on the environment we are in,” and apologized for his “tone and words,” not his message, which was that Kirk had contributed to and perhaps birthed the heated atmosphere that led to his killing. “Charlie Kirk isn’t a martyr,” wrote a progressive on X yesterday. “He’s a casualty of the violence he incited.” The post has over 12 million views, 46,000 reposts, and 360,000 likes.
But the environment that led to Kirk’s death was created by the Left in its decades-long demonization and dehumanization of conservatives. For 80 years, schools, universities, and the media have used Hitler, Nazism, and fascism as symbols of ultimate evil. To call someone a “Nazi,” “fascist,” or “far-Right,” is therefore to imply that they are part of this evil, and like the historical Nazis, must be eliminated. Over the last 10 years, not just the radical Left but the mainstream news media, including the New York Times, and mainstream Democrats like Newsom, repeatedly characterized Trump and his supporters as Hitler-adjacent fascists. The New Republic openly depicted Trump as Hitler. A recent South Park episode implied that Kirk was a racist and anti-Semitic influence over young people, despite Kirk’s close relationship with influential Jewish conservatives and support for Israel that many on the Right viewed as excessive.
This was all part of a deliberate dehumanization campaign. Kirk, Trump, and other conservatives, Democrats argued, are white supremacists and misogynists who “hate” black people and women, who are committing “trans genocide,” and who are destroying “our democracy.” For progressives who truly believe this rhetoric, killing such individuals would be as justified as killing Hitler and his supporters 80 years ago. After all, this act would not only save the lives of black and trans people, but would also save the entire country from an authoritarian fascist dictatorship.
The same leftists who had for decades produced studies, books, movies, essays, songs, and poems about how the Nazis dehumanized their enemies dehumanized, without hesitation, MAGA conservatives. They falsely claimed Trump had praised white supremacists in Charlottesville in 2017. And reporters who had for decades covered Trump’s rise to wealth and power in 2016 reported as truth the outlandish conspiracy theory that Trump was a Manchurian candidate controlled by Russian president Vladimir Putin – another alleged Hitler-like fascist.
Why did the Left spread so much hatred of Kirk and other conservatives? Why did they engage in so much dehumanization for so long?
