ABC slideshow memorializing notable people who died in 2025 leaves out Charlie Kirk

ABC News excluded Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk from a slideshow memorializing notable people who died in 2025.

The slideshow included 44 notable people who had died in 2025, including Pope Francis, Hollywood actress Diane Keaton and The Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson. Despite being publicly assassinated and posthumously receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Kirk did not make the cut.

Several liberals and professionals, particularly in the education field, either downplayed or openly celebrated Kirk’s assassination. The celebrations led to several firings nationwide, including former MSNBC political analyst Matthew Dowd, who stated that Kirk brought his own assassination onto himself through his so-called divisive rhetoric.

WOW @ABC did NOT INCLUDE Charlie Kirk into their slideshow of notable people who have died this year, despite him being publicly assassinated and receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom. https://t.co/3S5J0RCg6e@DailyCaller pic.twitter.com/WeO1rDjw3R

— Nicole Silverio (@NicoleMSilverio) October 17, 2025

The Washington Post fired columnist Karen Attiah after she misquoted Kirk’s comments about former first lady Michelle Obama and Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson benefitting from affirmative action. After her firing, she complained in a Substack post that society is compassionate to “white men who commit and espouse political violence.”

Several faculty members at colleges also celebrated the assassination. University of Michigan assistant professor Charles H.F. Davis stated on Sep.11 that the assassination was a “solution” to so-called “violent rhetoric spewed by empowered people.” Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) fired its assistant dean, Laura Sosh-Lightsy, for writing on Facebook that she had “zero sympathy” for Kirk.

ABC did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment as to why Kirk was not included in the slideshow.

During Kirk’s award ceremony on Tuesday, his widow, Erika, read a message that their daughter had for her late father on his birthday. Kirk’s 3-year-old daughter said, “Happy birthday, daddy. I want to give you a stuffed animal. I want you to eat a cupcake with ice cream. And I want you to go have a birthday surprise. I love you.”

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