Republicans Leverage Charlie Kirk's Death to Declare War on Free Speech [View all]

[Celerity]

https://prospect.org/politics/2025-09-17-republicans-leverage-charlie-kirks-death-declare-war-on-free-speech/



Charlie Kirk is dead, tragically and horrifically shot in front of hundreds of students, and the conservative movement has scented opportunity in the blood. Much like the TikToker present at the assassination whose instant reaction was to whip out his phone and start recording some short-form video slop—and who apparently stole some merch from the table where Kirk had been sitting—Kirk’s corpse wasn’t even cold before the right started frantically scrambling around for the most cynical possible way his death could be exploited and monetized.

Right-wing influencers have produced thousands of posts and videos demanding that anyone who speaks ill of Kirk should have their personal information published and be fired. Dozens of people from all walks of life, including airline employees, doctors, and college professors, have been fired for alleged disrespect of Saint Kirk, blessed be his name. That includes simply repeating some of the things he said, in context, which apparently got Karen Attiah canned from The Washington Post.

The Trump regime, meanwhile, is plotting state persecution. Vice President Vance took over Kirk’s live show for two hours, during which he said: “When you see someone celebrating Charlie’s murder, call them out—and, hell, call their employer.” Vance also used an article in The Nation to make a bank-shot attack on philanthropic groups like Open Society and the Ford Foundation, in an attempt to cut off funds for progressive organizations. Trump’s grand vizier Stephen Miller, who joined Vance on the show, was more menacing. “With God as my witness, we are going to use every resource we have at the Department of Justice, homeland security and throughout this government to identify, disrupt, dismantle and destroy these networks and make America safe again for the American people,” he said. “It will happen, and we will do it in Charlie’s name.”



Attorney General Pam Bondi added her own threats. “There’s free speech and then there’s hate speech, and there is no place, especially now, especially after what happened to Charlie, in our society,” she said in an interview. “We will absolutely target you, go after you if you are targeting anyone with hate speech.” (She later unconvincingly attempted to walk that back, claiming she was only talking about specific death threats.) In short, it’s an all-out attack on free speech rights in this country.

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