Charlie Kirk Was a Moderate

When Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at a political event last week, some on the left celebrated his death.

Let me repeat: Countless people celebrated the assassination of a human being simply because they disagreed with him politically. For them, Kirk, who had committed no crime, violence, or atrocities, had views so bad that he deserved to be murdered in cold blood. Many said he deserved to die because he was a “Nazi.”

But what were the allegedly extreme ideas that this supposed ‘Nazi’ believed?

Kirk was clear that he opposed transgender surgery for minors. An October 2024 Center Square poll found that “most registered voters, 59%, support a federal ban on transgender procedures such as puberty blockers and gender reassignment surgeries for minors.”

So a majority agreed with Kirk on that issue.

The Turning Point USA founder also frequently discussed his opposition to transgender women or biological men playing in women’s sports. An NBC News poll in April discovered that “overall, 1 in 4 respondents, or 25%, said they supported trans women participating in female sports in a yes/no question.”

The poll added, “The other 75% of American adults said they do not believe trans women should be permitted to participate in female sports.”

Seventy-five percent, according to NBC News, agreed with Kirk on this issue.

But what about LGBT issues where Kirk was clearly in the minority? Kirk always said he believed marriage could only be between a man and a woman in an era when even a majority of Republicans now support same sex marriage. A poll reported by the Hill in June revealed that a whopping 72 percent of Americans overall support gay marriage, while 26 percent don’t.

Twenty-six percent is a quarter of the country. That’s not exactly fringe. Kirk was also friends and allies with many gay conservatives, vocally fought to include them in his movement, and was an ally for that community in other ways.

Kirk’s opinion is no different than Democratic President Barack Obama’s opposition to same-sex marriage until 2012.

Senator Hillary Clinton opposed a 2004 amendment to ban same-sex marriages, but also wanted to make clear that she believed “marriage is not just a bond but a sacred bond between a man and a woman. I have had occasion in my life to defend marriage, to stand up for marriage, to believe in the hard work and challenge of marriage.”

Clinton continued, “So I take umbrage at anyone who might suggest that those of us who worry about amending the Constitution are less committed to the sanctity of marriage, or to the fundamental bedrock principle that it exists between a man and a woman, going back into the midst of history as one of the founding, foundational institutions of history and humanity and civilization, and that its primary, principal role during those millennia has been the raising and socializing of children for the society into which they are to become adults.”

This was basically Kirk’s view on the subject as well, defining traditional marriage in civilizational terms. Clinton didn’t clearly come out in support of same-sex marriage until 2015.

Kirk opposed Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) efforts in government, companies and schools that put an emphasis on race over skill or experience. As President Donald Trump began to dismantle some DEI programs early in his second term, an NBC News poll in March showed that 49 percent of Americans also wanted them gone.

So half the country.

Critical Race Theory (CRT) is a framework that interprets American history through a racial lens and has influenced many U.S. school curricula. Many conservatives like Kirk have been opposed to this. A March 2024 Center Square poll found that, “The vast majority of people think schools should focus on traditional subjects like math, reading and science, and a majority also say critical race theory should not be taught.” Kirk had a lot of company on this subject.

These are but a few issues, but they are some of the more controversial ones. Yet, on each, Kirk is well within the mainstream of American political discourse.

Donald Trump won the popular and electoral presidential vote in 2024 with more than 77 million people supporting him. It is likely that millions within that group probably line up comfortably with where Kirk was politically.

So this raises the question: Do those on the left celebrating Kirk’s murder want the countless Americans of like mind to perish with him? Perhaps even in the same way as him?

Is this where we’re at now? It’s a serious question, not a rhetorical one. Because that’s where this ghoulish thread of leftist logic now leads. It’s the kind of mass hate and death wish some might even associate with, well, the actual Nazis.

Kirk was a moderate, mainstream conservative who was popular with millions of other Americans who thought like him. There was little extreme or fringe about him or his political philosophy.

Charlie was even better than most in his willingness to venture out and have civil debates with people who didn’t think like him. That’s what he was known for.

That’s what got him killed.

If Charlie Kirk was the extremist many on the left now portray, and that dark but seemingly large sect now genuinely believe moderate conservatives are extremists worthy of death, that’s a bigger problem for America’s health than anything else in recent history (including January 6, 2021).

A civilized nation roundly condemns the out-and-out killing of an innocent, no matter his beliefs. A conservative precedent to this does not immediately come to mind, if at all. An overall American precedent to this doesn’t come to mind either—perhaps racists who were glad when Martin Luther King Jr. was shot, or anti-Catholics who weren’t happy with John F. Kennedy being president. Something along those lines.

But no, this unfortunately feels new. And it is scary. These people, in their current mania, are worrying.

Pray for Charlie Kirk and his family. Pray for America too.