Hate the Crime, Maybe the Victim, too.
Dear Leading Ladies,
Responding to the murder of Charlie Kirk is tricky business. Political assassination is never justified. And Charlie Kirk was killed while exercising his absolute right of free speech – his right to express his opinions in a public forum.
But none of that means we all will miss him. Charlie Kirk was an activist and an influencer who expressed views that were heinous and frightening to many of us. He was committed to convincing people to share his beliefs. Among them were that Martin Luther King Jr. was an “awful” person; that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a mistake; that even legal immigrants should be repatriated to the countries they came from; and that all gun rights should be protected. He actually said that gun violence could be reduced by putting more guns in the hands of more Americans.
He also embraced the “replacement theory,” which claims Jews are trying to replace white Americans with nonwhite immigrants. His antisemitic comments run from “The philosophical foundations of anti-whiteness has been largely financed by Jewish donors in the country,” to accusing Jews of controlling “not just the colleges — it’s the nonprofits, it’s the movies, it’s Hollywood, it’s all of it.”
Concerning the climate, Kirk accepted no scientific basis for alarm, no existential threat to humanity. He instead described climate science as complete “gibberish, nonsense, and balderdash.”
He believed women should prioritize getting married and having children over careers. He said that young women who voted for Kamala Harris “don’t value having children and this is one of the reasons why we are seeing a fertility collapse in the West.”
Kirk was adamantly against abortion and a woman’s right to choose, comparing legal termination of pregnancy to mass murder and the Holocaust. He said the fight against abortion was the fight for good against evil in our country.
We could go on, but you get the picture. For many of us, Charlie Kirk was a hard man to love and is a hard man to mourn.
But that doesn’t mean we condone or applaud his or any assassinations. Besides just being wrong, assassinations will not bring us the change we so badly need.
It also doesn’t mean we have to pretend that political violence is not the American way. Political violence is as American as apple pie. Our nation was forged in violence. Violence against the Native Americans when the British and Spanish settlers first arrived and wrested the land from the original inhabitants. Violence against the African slaves who were forced to work the land and build the structures for the new economy. Violence against the British as the colonies fought to create a new country. And, yes, violence by individuals who assassinated leaders like Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr, John F. Kennedy, and Robert F. Kennedy.
So, let’s not pretend political violence is something new on our shores. Far from it. Politicians and pundits like to spread that myth, but it doesn’t hold true. Better to admit that we have always struggled with factions and varying opinions, with radicalized individuals and groups sometimes resorting to violence. The task is to do our best to seek the truth, to elect leaders who value all Americans and who seek to bring us together not tear us apart. And some gun control laws sure could help.
Charlie Kirk was a young charismatic leader with views that were divisive, racist, bigoted, antisemitic, misogynistic, hateful, and white supremacist. Though his assassination was wrong, Kirk was no savior.
As for his killer, it turns out he was a withdrawn gamer from a family of enthusiastic Trump supporters. He had never voted and was unregistered as a voter in any party. So far, there doesn’t seem to be any firm evidence of strong leftist ideology motivating him. Who knows if we’ll truly ever understand why Tyler Robinson picked his victim.
What we know for sure is that the lives of two young men and their families are ruined. Wouldn’t it be nice if something good and unifying could come of it?
Therese (she/her/hers)
Judy (she/her/hers)
Didi (she/her/hers)
Leading Ladies Executive Team
Leadingladiesvote.org
ladies@leadingladiesvote.org