Opinion Did Charlie Kirk have extremist thoughts and opinions?

[Takes Two To Tango]

(Just to let you know your vote won't be shown, it's completely anonymous)​

The reason I made it anonymous, so people can just vote honestly. Without feeling the pressure to vote either yes or no.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/charlie-kirk-controversies-1.7630859

Gun control​

A couple of years ago, Kirk made a comment about some gun deaths in the U.S. being "worth it" to ensure the continued existence of the second amendment to the U.S. constitution, which is the right to keep and bear arms.

"It's worth it 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," he said during an April 5, 2023, appearance at the Salt Lake City campus of Awaken Church. "That is a prudent deal."

Moments before Kirk was shot on Wednesday, numerous livestreams of the event showed an audience member asking him how many mass shooters in the last 10 years have been transgender Americans.

"Too many," Kirk responded.

The person said five was the number, then asked Kirk if he knew how many mass shooters in total America had seen in the last 10 years. "Counting or not counting gang violence?" Kirk replied.

Seconds later, a loud crack that sounded like a gunshot rang out and Kirk was seen briefly moving his hand to his neck before falling from his chair as attendees began to run.

​

Civil rights​

At a December 2023 political conference hosted by his Turning Points USA group, Wired magazine reported that Kirk decried not only Martin Luther King Jr., calling the civil rights leader "awful" and "not a good person," but also the Civil Rights Act of 1965 that outlawed discrimination on the basis of race, colour, religion, sex and national origin, and prohibited segregation.

"I have a very, very radical view on this, but I can defend it, and I've thought about it," Kirk said. "We made a huge mistake when we passed the Civil Rights Act in the 1960s."

Kirk argued the statute had brought about what he said was a "permanent" bureaucracy meant to promote diversity, equity and inclusion.

Abortion​

Last year, for the social media program Surrounded, Kirk faced off against 25 liberal college students to defend his viewpoints, which included the belief that abortion is murder and should be illegal, including in cases of rape.

"It is a growing consensus in the pro-life world that abortion is never medically necessary," he told one female student, who then asked, if someone raped his hypothetical 10-year-old daughter, would he want the child to be born.

"The answer is, yes, the baby would be delivered," he said.

He said having an abortion in that situation would be pandering to evil.

"Wouldn't it be a better story to say something evil happened and we do something good in the face of evil, instead of saying we're going to do evil?"

Women and 'fertility collapse'​

In addition to his views on abortion, Kirk also frequently spoke about what he called a "fertility collapse" in the West.

"Young women, they don't value having children," he told Fox News host Laura Ingraham. "Trump voters, young men, they want family, children and legacy. Young women who voted for Kamala Harris, they want careerism, consumerism and loneliness."

When pop star Taylor Swift and NFL player Travis Kelce announced their engagement on Aug. 26, Kirk was quick to discuss it on his podcast, suggesting that getting married and having "a ton of children" would "stop this kind of liberal endorsing Joe Biden nonsense."

He said he hoped marriage would make Swift more conservative and encouraged her to "Reject feminism. Submit to your husband, Taylor. You're not in charge."

"I can't wait to go to a Taylor Kelce concert," he said. "You've got to change your name. If not, you don't really mean it."
His comments garnered a strong reaction from Swift's fans, many of whom responded to what they said was a misogynistic rant on social media.

"Change her name? The name that made her a billion? Is he for real," asked one Instagram user. Another responded with lyrics from a Swift song: "He needs to calm down, he's being too loud."

"Charlie could learn a thing or two about positive masculinity from Travis," said one fan.

Gaza​

Kirk also garnered backlash for his support to Israel, backing its nearly two-year campaign in Gaza. He was described by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday as a "lion-hearted friend of Israel."

Netanyahu said he spoke to him two weeks ago and invited him to visit Israel.

"[Kirk] fought the lies and stood tall for Judeo-Christian civilization," Netanyahu said. "His boundless pride in America and his valiant belief in free speech will leave a lasting impact."

On July 28, Kirk posted a video on X saying "No, Israel is not starving Gazans," amid calls from humanitarian organizations to avert further starvation and famine in the region.

Conspiracy theories​

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kirk frequently shared conspiracy theories on social media and was briefly banned from the social media platform then known as Twitter for spreading misinformation.

In March 2020, he posted about the "China virus" — a phrase that was quickly adopted by U.S. President Donald Trump, then in his first term. In December that year, the year-end gala for Kirk's Turning Point USA group went ahead in Florida despite the state's COVID-19 mitigation efforts.

He also notably compared pandemic vaccine requirements to apartheid during a 2021 interview with Tucker Carlson.

In a February 2024 Instagram post, Kirk referred to the "great replacement" conspiracy theory (which has been widely debunked), suggesting undocumented immigrants are coming to the U.S. to replace white Americans.

Empathy and debate​

On the Oct. 12, 2022, episode of The Charlie Kirk Show, Kirk discussed how former U.S. president Bill Clinton used empathy and sympathy as a political strategy. In an aside, Kirk went off on the term empathy.

"I can't stand the word empathy, actually. I think empathy is a made up new age term that does a lot of damage."

Admirers have stressed that, for all of Kirk's confrontational rhetoric, he relished debate and the free exchange of ideas.

So it was perhaps not a surprise when he chose to celebrate a recent skewering by Comedy Central's South Park as vindication of "our viral cultural domination."

"We need to have a good spirit about being made fun of," he said on YouTube of the Aug. 6 episode that featured "Prove Me Wrong" style debates with the show's foul-mouthed character Eric Cartman styled as Kirk.

 

[Seano]

Depends on your personal beliefs. To me, not really. To pronoun people who've grown up in a diet of anti depressants, probably.

 

[moosaev]

Of course he did, what kinda question is that. Charlie Kirk is a prime example of how far this country has moved in it's discourse, in the 1990s someone like Kirk would be shunned by polite society. Today he's eulogized by not only the President, but by liberal pundits like Ezra Klein.

 

[syct23]

50/50

 

[moosaev]

Depends on your personal beliefs. To me, not really. To pronoun people who've grown up in a diet of anti depressants, probably.

You don't have to be a pink haired liberal to think saying the civil rights act was a mistake, or saying AAs were better off under Jim Crow, is an extreme position. I realize that white people aren't as triggered by that type of stuff, but if you put yourself in the shoes of someone who's family was in living memory treated like a third class citizen (by law) and you here someone in 2025 say those things, those are extreme positions.

 

[ssBaldy]

Charlie sure had some controversial views. I do not agree with him on many points, especially abortion and views on Israel.
Still, I don't think his opinions are radical enough to call him an extremist. Also I don't see where he is for forcing his beliefs on everyone (I might be uninformed on that topic though, I have only seen a handful of his debates here and there).

If we want freedom of speech, we cannot silence individuals we do not agree with.
Though my honest opinion is that freedom of speech does not exist in today's world.

 

[Seano]

You don't have to be a pink haired liberal to think saying the civil rights act was a mistake, or saying AAs were better off under Jim Crow, is an extreme position. I realize that white people aren't as triggered by that type of stuff, but if you put yourself in the shoes of someone who's family was in living memory treated like a third class citizen (by law) and you here someone in 2025 say those things, those are extreme positions.

I never saw those clips, I can't comment. Why did he say the civil rights act was a mistake?

 

[Trabaho]

Saw a short if him today saying you don't need to be unsucessful and unhappy like your parents. Googled and his mom was a psychotherapist and his dad a architect. Just a case of a rich kid talking too much. Arrogant. But never ever should he have been shot for talking. But this is what he promoted. The right to carry guns.

Problem is he is judging things without empathy. He doesn't put himself in other peoples shoes. He is pointing the finger.

People hated him so much they shot him.

Which is terorism.

All bad. Rest in peace young man. It's unfortunate, very.

 

[Gutter Chris]

Of course he did, what kinda question is that. Charlie Kirk is a prime example of how far this country has moved in it's discourse, in the 1990s someone like Kirk would be shunned by polite society. Today he's eulogized by not only the President, but by liberal pundits like Ezra Klein.

Considering Charlie kirk was republican classic i don't think he would be shunned in the 90s at all .

Maybe you are the one with the extreme views

 

[Gutter Chris]

I never saw those clips, I can't comment. Why did he say the civil rights act was a mistake?

Because the bill of rights already existed and we didn't need to make new laws we just needed to apply the law equally

 

[Last Falconry]

seems like a lot of writing when "yes, obviously" would have done just fine

 

[Trabaho]

Found the video. So did he have jobs or just talking publicly was his occupation ?

 

[Seano]

You don't have to be a pink haired liberal to think saying the civil rights act was a mistake, or saying AAs were better off under Jim Crow, is an extreme position. I realize that white people aren't as triggered by that type of stuff, but if you put yourself in the shoes of someone who's family was in living memory treated like a third class citizen (by law) and you here someone in 2025 say those things, those are extreme positions.

So I just went and watched him debating a kid in a mask who asked him about the civil rights movement and I feel like I see what the issue is and its that your taking a 4 second clip of a 10 minute debate and saying that's all there is to it. All he said in the video I watched was that the civil rights movement left to discriminatory practices (which was recently confirmed by the supreme court) and hasn't done anything to improve black people's station In life.
The way you frame it almost makes him sound pro slavery or something.
Correct me if I watched the wrong video or left something out, no snideness intended. I want to know..

 

[GolovKing]

I think he is about as extreme as your average maga person. So somewhere in between your more classic Bush/Reagan type conservatives and someone like Nick Fuentes. Also he was sort of an agitator and a shit talker trying to get attention like many political influencers on social media

 

[Richmma80]

Yes

 

[Seano]

I will say his abortion stance was a little too far right for me. Definitely not something I felt compelled to murder over though.

 

[PG29 red0 Jr]

Found the video. So did he have jobs or just talking publicly was his occupation ?

CEO of Turning Point USA.

 

[moosaev]

I never saw those clips, I can't comment. Why did he say the civil rights act was a mistake?

His point was that the crime stats with AAs were better pre-civil rights, and marriage rates higher. Just completely superficial reasoning that totally discounted the daily terror and humiliation they lived under.

 

[moosaev]

So I just went and watched him debating a kid in a mask who asked him about the civil rights movement and I feel like I see what the issue is and its that your taking a 4 second clip of a 10 minute debate and saying that's all there is to it. All he said in the video I watched was that the civil rights movement left to discriminatory practices (which was recently confirmed by the supreme court) and hasn't done anything to improve black people's station In life.
The way you frame it almost makes him sound pro slavery or something.
Correct me if I watched the wrong video or left something out, no snideness intended. I want to know..

He's made other comments about it related to crime stats, marriage rates, etc. He discusses race at length and he's said very offensive and extreme things.

 

[Satanical Eve]

He also believed that same-sex marriage was immoral. He argued that marriage should only be between one man and one woman, based on both religious and traditional grounds. He opposed the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, and supported efforts to overturn it. He rejected the idea of civil unions or alternative legal recognitions for same-sex couples as well, saying they undermined the “traditional family.” His broader view tied same-sex marriage to what he called a decline in American cultural and moral values.