A few of Charlie Kirk's most controversial takes

[ad_1] Charlie Kirk, who died after being shot throughout an look at Utah Valley College Wednesday, had an extended historical past of contentious views and sometimes courted controversy with statements that appeared designed to impress those that disagreed with him.

A right-wing activist and co-founder of Turning Level USA, a conservative youth group, Kirk additionally helped mobilize younger Trump voters and was well-known for his "Show Me Improper" movies, wherein he would face off in opposition to college students on faculty campuses throughout the US to debate varied subjects.

Kirk was additionally a distinguished radio host and podcaster who often used his platforms to rail in opposition to liberal viewpoints on topics as diverse as gun management, local weather change, the civil rights motion and 2SLGBTQ+ points.

Listed here are just a few of his most controversial takes.

Gun management A few years in the past, Kirk made a remark about some gun deaths within the U.S. being "price it" to make sure the continued existence of the second modification to the U.S. structure, which is the best to maintain and bear arms.

"It is price it to have a value of, sadly, some gun deaths each single yr, in order that we are able to have the Second Modification to guard our different God-given rights," he stated throughout an April 5, 2023, look on the Salt Lake Metropolis campus of Awaken Church. "That could be a prudent deal."

WATCH | Breaking down the political affect of Charlie Kirk: The Nationwide’s Eli Glasner breaks down the political affect of Charlie Kirk after the conservative commentator and activist was shot and killed whereas talking at a Utah college. Moments earlier than Kirk was shot on Wednesday, quite a few livestreams of the occasion confirmed an viewers member asking him what number of mass shooters within the final 10 years have been transgender Individuals.

"Too many," Kirk responded.

The particular person stated 5 was the quantity, then requested Kirk if he knew what number of mass shooters in whole America had seen within the final 10 years. "Counting or not counting gang violence?" Kirk replied.

Seconds later, a loud crack that appeared like a gunshot rang out and Kirk was seen briefly transferring his hand to his neck earlier than falling from his chair as attendees started to run.

Civil rights At a December 2023 political convention hosted by his Turning Factors USA group, Wired journal reported that Kirk decried not solely Martin Luther King Jr., calling the civil rights chief "terrible" and "not an excellent particular person," but additionally the Civil Rights Act of 1965 that outlawed discrimination on the premise of race, color, faith, intercourse and nationwide origin, and prohibited segregation.

"I've a really, very radical view on this, however I can defend it, and I've thought of it," Kirk stated. "We made an enormous mistake once we handed the Civil Rights Act within the Sixties."

Kirk argued the statute had led to what he stated was a "everlasting" forms meant to advertise variety, fairness and inclusion.

Abortion Final yr, for the social media program Surrounded, Kirk confronted off in opposition to 25 liberal faculty college students to defend his viewpoints, which included the idea that abortion is homicide and needs to be unlawful, together with in circumstances of rape.

"It's a rising consensus within the pro-life world that abortion is rarely medically vital," he advised one feminine scholar, who then requested, if somebody raped his hypothetical 10-year-old daughter, would he need the kid to be born.

"The reply is, sure, the infant could be delivered," he stated.

He stated having an abortion in that state of affairs could be pandering to evil.

"Would not it's a greater story to say one thing evil occurred and we do one thing good within the face of evil, as an alternative of claiming we'll do evil?"

Girls and 'fertility collapse' Along with his views on abortion, Kirk additionally often spoke about what he referred to as a "fertility collapse" within the West.

"Younger ladies, they do not worth having kids," he advised Fox Information host Laura Ingraham. "Trump voters, younger males, they need household, kids and legacy. Younger ladies who voted for Kamala Harris, they need careerism, consumerism and loneliness."

When pop star Taylor Swift and NFL participant Travis Kelce introduced their engagement on Aug. 26, Kirk was fast to debate it on his podcast, suggesting that getting married and having "a ton of youngsters" would "cease this type of liberal endorsing Joe Biden nonsense."

He stated he hoped marriage would make Swift extra conservative and inspired her to "Reject feminism. Undergo your husband, Taylor. You are not in cost."

"I am unable to wait to go to a Taylor Kelce live performance," he stated. "You have to change your identify. If not, you do not actually imply it."

His feedback garnered a powerful response from Swift's followers, a lot of whom responded to what they stated was a misogynistic rant on social media.

"Change her identify? The identify that made her a billion? Is he for actual," requested one Instagram person. One other responded with lyrics from a Swift tune: "He must settle down, he is being too loud."

"Charlie might study a factor or two about optimistic masculinity from Travis," stated one fan.

Gaza Kirk additionally garnered backlash for his assist to Israel, backing its practically two-year marketing campaign in Gaza. He was described by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday as a "lion-hearted buddy of Israel."

Netanyahu stated he spoke to him two weeks in the past and invited him to go to Israel.

"[Kirk] fought the lies and stood tall for Judeo-Christian civilization," Netanyahu stated. "His boundless pleasure in America and his valiant perception in free speech will go away an enduring impression."

On July 28, Kirk posted a video on X saying "No, Israel shouldn't be ravenous Gazans," amid calls from humanitarian organizations to avert additional hunger and famine within the area.

Conspiracy theories Throughout the top of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kirk often shared conspiracy theories on social media and was briefly banned from the social media platform then referred to as Twitter for spreading misinformation.

In March 2020, he posted in regards to the "China virus" — a phrase that was rapidly adopted by U.S. President Donald Trump, then in his first time period. In December that yr, the year-end gala for Kirk's Turning Level USA group went forward in Florida regardless of the state's COVID-19 mitigation efforts.

He additionally notably in contrast pandemic vaccine necessities to apartheid throughout a 2021 interview with Tucker Carlson.

In a February 2024 Instagram put up, Kirk referred to the "nice alternative" conspiracy principle (which has been extensively debunked), suggesting undocumented immigrants are coming to the U.S. to interchange white Individuals.

Empathy and debate On the Oct. 12, 2022, episode of The Charlie Kirk Present, Kirk mentioned how former U.S. president Invoice Clinton used empathy and sympathy as a political technique. In an apart, Kirk went off on the time period empathy.

"I am unable to stand the phrase empathy, truly. I feel empathy is a made up new age time period that does numerous harm."

Admirers have harassed that, for all of Kirk's confrontational rhetoric, he relished debate and the free change of concepts.

So it was maybe not a shock when he selected to have a good time a latest skewering by Comedy Central's South Park as vindication of "our viral cultural domination."

"We have to have an excellent spirit about being made enjoyable of," he stated on YouTube of the Aug. 6 episode that featured "Show Me Improper" fashion debates with the present's foul-mouthed character Eric Cartman styled as Kirk.

WATCH | Kirk's response to South Park episode:

"That is all a hit, that is all a win," Kirk stated on his in style YouTube channel. "We as conservatives, we have now thick pores and skin, not skinny pores and skin. And you can also make enjoyable of us, it does not matter."