Bill Maher spars with Ben Shapiro over jumping to conclusions about Kirk assassin

A debate with Ben Shapiro over the suspected assassin of Charlie Kirk found HBO’s Bill Maher attempting to cast doubt on reports of radical leftist views.

“We don’t know sh*t, Ben!”

Hours before a report came out that the man believed to be responsible for the political assassination of the 31-year-old Christian, husband and father, was living with a “partner,” said to be a man who believed himself to be a woman, HBO’s “Real Time” got heated over the suspect’s ideology.

Given room to opine on the matter, Daily Wire co-founder Shapiro made his case from personal experience as to the potential views of someone who would have wanted to kill the Turning Point USA founder.

“The reality is that as someone who receives an inordinate amount of death threats — and I know the kind of death threats Charlie was getting — and you can break down the death threats and where they are coming from,” said the guest. “If we are not politically correct, then we understand if there’s a shooting at a synagogue, it’s very likely to be either a white supremacist or a radical Muslim. If it’s the shooting of a Republican politician, then it’s very likely to be a trans, Antifa, Marxist shooting.”

“That is just not true! We don’t know what this kid is,” contended the host before Shapiro added, “We do know this kid … was of the political left. That is according to contemporaneous reporting from The Guardian, as well as Tabloid Magazine today.”

“It’s two days out. We don’t know sh*t, Ben! We don’t know sh*t. They never do. The Internet is undefeated in getting it wrong to begin with,” argued the comedian.

Shapiro: We know he was of the left.

Maher: We don’t know shit Ben… I’m hearing he’s in group that think Kirk wasn’t right wing enough— the groypers. You’re sure he’s not that?

Shapiro: I’m not sure he’s not that.

Maher: A few seconds ago you were. pic.twitter.com/ba4mzhBbmJ

— Maine (@TheMaineWonk) September 13, 2025

“It’s not about the internet. That’s about the actual reporting by mainstream — except The Guardian is not right-wing media,” furthered Shapiro before Maher aimed to support his point by rattling off a number of initial claims that had been proven false, including that the suspect was a registered Republican who donated to President Donald Trump and was the son of an employee of the sheriff’s office.

“We don’t know what he is. How are you so sure he’s of the left? Now, I agree when you write on a bullet-”

“‘Catch this, fascist,’” interjected Shapiro, paraphrasing one of the messages investigators had discovered engraved on the suspect’s bullet casings, “which is also a gamer thing.”

“Alright, now I’m hearing he may have been part of that group for whom Charlie Kirk was not right-wing enough,” added Maher as Shapiro made note of a group of Nick Fuentes fans known as “groypers,” prompting the host to ask, “But you’re sure he’s not that?”

“I’m not sure that he’s not that,” responded the guest before an attempt was made to claim victory in the debate, “Oh, a minute ago you were sure what he was. You were.”

The conservative commentator went on to contrast alleged remarks by the suspect that Kirk was too hateful compared to groypers who may have seen Kirk as not hateful enough before criticizing “permission structures” crafted for the radical extremists on either end of the spectrum.

“The thing that all these groups have in common is a structure, a philosophical structure, that says there is a system that is targeting me. That system is a system of power, and it is deadly to me. Therefore, I am excused in using violence against that system,” he said before he gave an example that saying “a man is not a woman” does not qualify as a “genocidal threat” to someone who believes otherwise

To that, Maher suggested his guest was projecting his “own intellectual, rational world onto people that are not living in that universe.”

Staff Writer

Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn’t researching current events and their impacts, you’ll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.

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