Charlie Kirk was shot at a Utah Valley University event in the afternoon of Sept. 10. Most offered prayers. Others, mockery.
“He fought so hard for the guns. Thoughts and prayers,” wrote Pablo Manríquez, an editor at Migrant Insider.
“Do not be bullied, cowed, or shamed by bad-faith right-wing actors and MAGA that are blaming ‘liberals’ and everyone who isn’t MAGA for Charlie Kirk,” wrote writer Wajahat Ali. “Call them out for their hypocrisy. Go on offense. They are fine with political violence and mass shootings when it’s against the rest of us.”
MSNBC aired a segment where Mathew Dowd responds to the shooting by suggesting Kirk may have inspired the violence against him. (RELATED: Tributes, Support Pour In For Charlie Kirk From Across Political Spectrum)
“You can’t stop with these sort of awful thoughts you have, and then saying these awful words, and then not expect awful actions to take place, and that’s the unfortunate environment we’re in.”
MSNBC on Charlie Kirk:
“You can’t stop with these awful thoughts you have and then saying these awful words and then not expect awful actions to take place” pic.twitter.com/UWh6vjG4JT— Catch Up (@CatchUpFeed) September 10, 2025
Dear MSNBC: Refer to the First Amendment. Americans have the liberty to say whatever “awful thoughts” they might have, free from fear of physical retaliation.
CNN offered a transcript of the shooting, complete with a “fact check” on mass shooting statistics.
You’ll be pleased to know CNN are correcting “misinformation” about transgender mass killers in their live coverage of the attack on Charlie Kirk. pic.twitter.com/zz9VWkiYpd
— RAW EGG NATIONALIST (@Babygravy9) September 10, 2025
Other figures took advantage of the moment to advance political narratives.
“America is an insanely violent nation – charlie kirk’s shooting is the 46th school shooting this year thus far,” wrote Hasan Piker, a left-wing streamer and influencer.
“The motivation of the man who shot Charlie Kirk isn’t clear (although he’s probably mentally unstable–duh). What is clear is it was another example of American gun violence,” posted author Stephen King.
“For some reason, I’m recalling the time Charlie Kirk said this,” wrote Deven Green, the Canadian comedian behind the Youtube channel “Mrs. Betty Bowers, America’s Best Christian.” The channel is dedicated to satirizing American Christians.
Green linked to a Newsweek article which quotes Kirk as saying, “I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights.”
Oliver Willis, a reporter for the Daily Kos and former Media Matters employee, posted the same article to Bluesky. As did Zack Zwiezen, a writer for Kotaku, which writes video game reviews.
You really need to understand the environment right now. This is just a few responses from bluesky, and it’s overwhelmingly like this. pic.twitter.com/kYEMPRGlPF
— Ami (@Ami_Marisol) September 10, 2025
“I wish the bullet that hit Charlie Kirk a very pleasant day,” wrote Sheryl Weikal, according to a screenshot. Weikal’s Bluesky bio reads “proudly trans and Jewish pay-whatever-you-can lawyer in [Illinois].”
Trans and far-left extremists on @bluesky are celebrating the shooting of Charlie Kirk.
He had been discussing the trans mass shootings in the U.S. pic.twitter.com/xrMa9bxNcJ
— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) September 10, 2025
Weikal “deleted the Kirk post because frankly twenty death threats from MAGA in an hour is a lot even for me and also harassing my wife is shit,” according to an update.
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, appeared primarily concerned with the political backlash the shooting might inspire.
“Charlie Kirk being assassinated (which seems the likely outcome) is not going to make anyone safer,” Reichlin-Melnick wrote, according to a screenshot. “It’s going to further fan the flames of discord and put a lot of the people he sought to persecute at even greater risk of violent backlash themselves.” (RELATED: ‘I Did See Him Fall’: Jason Chaffetz Provides Eyewitness Account Of Charlie Kirk Shooting)
Reichlin-Melnick deleted the post, claiming “the message of the post” was “political violence is never the answer … I pray the violence stops here and his shooter is quickly prosecuted.”
To steal a bit from the great Norm MacDonald — “What really terrifies me is if a crazed leftie were to assassinate a prominent political figure. Can you imagine the backlash against peaceful lefties?”
Follow Natalie Sandoval on X: @NatSandovalDC