The Charlie Kirk Assassination and The Gaslighting of Americans
- Terri Kern
- Sep 11
- 13 min read
Updated: Oct 9
I want to start this article by recognizing all of the Americans who lost their lives on September 11, 2001.
I had a flight scheduled that morning to travel from Atlanta to Chicago with a connecting flight at Reagan International Airport for early that morning. I canceled my flight because my daughter was ill. Commence the chaos.
Eleven of my NY coworkers died in the Twin Towers that day; many others made it down the daunting stairs.
Forever lost. Forever scarred. Forever with us.
Back to the Kirk assassination and a young life wasted. UPDATE: 22-year-old Tyler Robinson from Washington, Utah has been arrested for murdering Kirk. Now we have TWO young lives wasted.
My schedule lit up right after President Trump announced the assassination of Charlie Kirk. The gruesome, morbid, obscenely violent video of a hole being blown out of his neck was beyond comprehension.
Weirdly, Wednesday morning before this horrific event, I found a loaded gun on my front lawn. Someone wrapped it up in a shirt and threw it on the lawn. Such an odd and very unsettling occurrence. Of course, the police were called. I was already on edge!
I attempted to check social media to see if they caught the perpetrator who shot Kirk and was sick to my stomach reading the atrocious comments. They were brutal, angry, and ugly—how much Kirk "deserved it." I also read praise and the martyring of Kirk. What a horror show.
Top billing in this nightmare reality show comes from our President, Donald Trump. It's not lost on me that Trump has turned our lives into a reality show that has Americans playing Squid Games with each other.
How reckless to immediately place "blame" on the "radical left." WORDS MATTER.
Who Charlie Kirk Was
Charlie Kirk was one of the most recognizable names in conservative activism. As the founder of Turning Point USA, a powerful conservative nonprofit organization, he built a platform that shaped political conversations on high school and college campuses across the country.
Kirk positioned himself among the top conservative commentators in America—alongside well-known media personalities—using charisma, quick wit, and an ability to connect with younger audiences hungry for political identity.
But Kirk’s rise to prominence was not just about organizing rallies or building conservative groups. He tapped into the culture war issues that divide America, focusing on extremist views on education, freedom of speech, and attacks on “woke” culture.
Listen, nobody can argue that he was intelligent, charismatic, and very successful. His supporters admired his intelligence and strategic thinking, seeing him as a defender of traditional values, convincing young people that the "radical left" has taken over our schools and public life.
A side note: Traditional values do not include sacrificing human life for a mentally impaired person's right to legally buy the assault rifle and the ammo that blew a hole in Charlie's neck, ending his life in a hail of irony.
Kirk made comments connected to antisemitism, misinformation, and inflammatory rhetoric. While his defenders often brushed these aside, his influence normalized toxic narratives that fuel division.
These contradictions—between his charisma and his controversies—help explain both the reach of his influence and the dangers of the ideas he amplified.
Kirk was a polarizing political figure, one who thrived on amplifying conflict and shaping the next generation of right-wing politics. His legacy will be complex: intelligence and charisma that mobilized millions, but also rhetoric that threw gasoline on the pyre of hatred in America; the very emotion that caused someone to end his life.
The Dangerous Rhetoric Kirk Spread
Charlie Kirk’s influence wasn’t just about building conservative organizations or leading Turning Point USA—it was about the rhetoric he spread every single day. His platform allowed him to present himself as one of the famous conservative commentators, but much of his messaging went far beyond traditional conservatism.
At rallies, podcasts, and on social media, Kirk frequently stoked fear around conservatism in education, claiming schools were indoctrinating children with leftist ideology; what us old school conservatives call truth, trust, and science.
He positioned himself as a defender of Christian and conservative values, but in practice, his speeches often blurred the line between passionate advocacy and inflammatory misinformation, otherwise known as LIES.
Kirk was repeatedly criticized for statements linked to antisemitism and anti-democratic views. For example, Kirk questioned U.S. support for Israel during the Biden Administration, spread election lies, claimed the election was rigged, and attacked LGBTQ+ youth. His words carried weight because of his charisma and his ability to frame himself as a truth-teller against so-called “mainstream lies.”
In doing so, Kirk normalized narratives that painted Democrats, progressives, and sometimes entire communities as enemies of America. This kind of rhetoric is dangerous because it invites conflict.
Evidenced by the gigantic hole someone blew into Charlie's neck with a high-powered rifle. The most gruesome, horrific, violent, soul-changing thing I've seen since I watched a micro-second of the video of the beheading of Daniel Pearl back in 2002.
Human-on-human violence makes part of my soul die. I watched a fight one time in high school and immediately threw up. I can never unsee what I saw on Wednesday. Ever.
Describing politics as a battle between patriots and traitors helped set the stage for a culture where political violence no longer seemed unthinkable. This is exactly the stuff Kirk talked about, and that's what took him out. Because of that, it's unreasonable to demonize thoughts like—Is that karma? Did he deserve to die for spreading hate? Is there something wrong with me that I'm "glad" that happened to him?—all questions I've been asked since it happened.
I want to help you make sense of your emotional response to this horrific event.
Why?
Because you'll realize that most Americans—you and me—agree on more things than what divides us. I want to help you find this in your world so we can lock arms and stop this madness.
Charlie Kirk wasn’t alone; many popular right-wing political activists used the same playbook. But Kirk’s sharp intelligence and youth made him uniquely effective at packaging hostility as strategy.
The tragic irony is that the very divisive narratives Kirk amplified throughout his career created the kind of unstable political climate that put him at risk.
Words matter.
When public figures continually frame opponents as evil or illegitimate, they prime unstable followers to act violently. In this way, Kirk’s assassination highlights not only the dangers of political violence but also the cost of spreading rhetoric that encourages endless conflict.
Political Violence Against Melissa Hortman and John Hoffman
On June 14, 2025, Minnesota witnessed a devastating act of political violence that shook the state and reverberated nationally. Melissa Hortman, former Speaker of the Minnesota House and leader of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party caucus, was assassinated in her Brooklyn Park home, alongside her husband, Mark. And their dog.
This attack was not random. It was carried out by an assailant who impersonated a police officer and targeted Hortman and others based on their political positions and values.
The same night, State Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette were also shot in their Champlin home; both survived after intensive medical treatment. Investigators later discovered that the shooter, Vance Luther Boelter, had compiled a “hit list” of dozens of public officials, particularly those associated with protecting abortion rights and progressive causes.
Their names were among those marked for violence. The killings were also politically motivated assassinations and equally heinous.
The Republican Party failed to properly acknowledge and denounce this act of violence against them because of their party affiliation.
Trump said he wouldn't ‘waste time’ calling Minnesota Governor and former Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz after that horrendous act of violence. He didn't order American flags to fly at half-mast. He didn't decry the outrage that matches how he's responding to Kirk. The President of the United States of America should be calming us all down, not inflaming us.
What he did do was blame Walz and the Democrats.
People are upset that the Republican party doesn't ever address children being murdered in schools other than "thoughts and prayers" to their families.
This is REAL, and we all have to deal with it.
The Gaslighting of Americans
In the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, the immediate reaction from Trump and his Republican allies followed a familiar script: blame Democrats.
This was not an honest search for truth, nor an attempt to calm a shaken nation. It was a deliberate act of gaslighting—a strategy designed to manipulate reality, confuse the public, and shield themselves from accountability.
As of this writing, there is no motive on why Robinson took Kirk out.
Gaslighting is the psychological tactic of making people question what they know to be true. In politics, it works by flipping blame onto opponents and portraying victims as aggressors. In death, it's the pressure of society to demand we feel something when someone dies; if we don't, somehow we're "bad."
By claiming that Democrats are somehow responsible for Kirk’s death, Trump and his allies are not simply deflecting—they are weaponizing a tragedy to deepen division.
This strategy has been Trump’s playbook for years. From the false claim of a “rigged election” to pushing fake electors to calling for the seizure of voting machines, he has consistently used misinformation to avoid accountability and preserve his own power.
Now, facing legal jeopardy and the possibility of prison constantly looming over his head, Trump is doubling down, turning every crisis into a stepping stone toward his ultimate goal: survival at the expense of democracy itself.
Kirk’s death has become another “paver” on Trump’s road to chaos. Rather than acknowledging the role of hateful rhetoric in fueling violence, Republicans are framing themselves as the true victims.
WE THE PEOPLE ARE THE VICTIMS. Charlie Kirk is a casualty of the culture war; his assassin is too. So are the Minnesota State officials and their spouses and their dog, for fuck's sake. Trump himself has been a target of his own political psychopathology.
Blaming is not leadership!
And it risks paving the way to something even darker: a climate where violence feels normalized, where democracy erodes under the weight of lies, and where truth itself becomes impossible to recognize.
The irony is painful. Charlie Kirk spent years amplifying messages of conflict, portraying politics as a battlefield rather than a place of debate and compromise. Now, his death is being twisted into a weapon by those who share that worldview. What we are witnessing is not just hypocrisy—it is the clearest example yet of how gaslighting poisons democracy.
The Charlie Kirk Assassination and Sympathy Ambivalence
Many Americans are experiencing a kind of sympathy ambivalence about Kirk's assassination.
On one hand, there is no question: political assassination is illegal violence, and it must be condemned. The act of ending a life with a high-powered weapon is horrific, destabilizing, and deeply un-American. Most people, regardless of party, want political violence to stop.
On the other hand, Kirk was not a neutral figure. He built his career spreading hateful and divisive rhetoric, often targeting vulnerable groups, including children, educators, and survivors of school shootings. His words were not abstract; they shaped real-world attitudes that fueled hostility and fear.
A Sample of Charlie Kirk’s Inflammatory Statements
From: The Guardian. (2025, September 11). Charlie Kirk: His quotes, beliefs and controversies. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/11/charlie-kirk-quotes-beliefs
On race
If I see a Black pilot, I’m going to be like, boy, I hope he’s qualified.– The Charlie Kirk Show, 23 January 2024
If you’re a WNBA, pot-smoking, Black lesbian, do you get treated better than a United States marine?– The Charlie Kirk Show, 8 December 2022
Happening all the time in urban America, prowling Blacks go around for fun to go target white people, that’s a fact. It’s happening more and more.– The Charlie Kirk Show, 19 May 2023
If I’m dealing with somebody in customer service who’s a moronic Black woman, I wonder is she there because of her excellence, or is she there because affirmative action?– The Charlie Kirk Show, 3 January 2024
On debate
We record all of it so that we put [it] on the internet so people can see these ideas collide. When people stop talking, that’s when you get violence. That’s when civil war happens, because you start to think the other side is so evil, and they lose their humanity.– Kirk discussing his work in an undated clip that circulated on X after his killing.
Prove me wrong.– Kirk’s challenge to students to publicly debate him during the tour of colleges he was on when he was assassinated.
On gender, feminism and reproductive rights
Reject feminism. Submit to your husband, Taylor. You’re not in charge.– Discussing news of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s engagement on The Charlie Kirk Show, 26 August 2025
The answer is yes, the baby would be delivered.– Responding to a question about whether he would support his 10-year-old daughter aborting a pregnancy conceived because of rape on the debate show Surrounded, published on 8 September 2024
We need to have a Nuremberg-style trial for every gender-affirming clinic doctor. We need it immediately.– The Charlie Kirk Show, 1 April 2024
On gun violence
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. That is a prudent deal. It is rational.– Event organized by TPUSA Faith, the religious arm of Kirk’s conservative group Turning Point USA, on 5 April 2023
On immigration
America was at its peak when we halted immigration for 40 years and we dropped our foreign-born percentage to its lowest level ever. We should be unafraid to do that.– The Charlie Kirk Show, 22 August 2025
The American Democrat party hates this country. They wanna see it collapse. They love it when America becomes less white.– The Charlie Kirk Show, 20 March 2024
The great replacement strategy, which is well underway every single day in our southern border, is a strategy to replace white rural America with something different.– The Charlie Kirk Show, 1 March 2024
On Islam
America has freedom of religion, of course, but we should be frank: large dedicated Islamic areas are a threat to America.– The Charlie Kirk Show, 30 April 2025
We’ve been warning about the rise of Islam on the show, to great amount of backlash. We don’t care, that’s what we do here. And we said that Islam is not compatible with western civilization.– The Charlie Kirk Show, 24 June 2025
On religion
There is no separation of church and state. It’s a fabrication, it’s a fiction, it’s not in the constitution. It’s made up by secular humanists.– The Charlie Kirk Show, 6 July 2022
For some, acknowledging that he “reaped what he sowed” feels like an uncomfortable but honest recognition of cause and effect.
Gaslit for Feeling Sympathy Ambivalence
Most of the people I've talked to since this horrible event who are experiencing sympathy ambivalence are horrified by the brutal act of political violence and believe no one should have their life ended by a bullet.
Yet, these folks also mentioned the hateful rhetoric Kirk spread daily, rhetoric that endangered children, mocked survivors of school shootings, and painted political opponents as enemies of the state.
Charlie Kirk's rhetoric put him at high risk of political violence. We know this from our history. JFK, Malcolm X, MLK, RFK, Evers—all political casualties because other Americans hated what they stood for.
Because of our leaders' poor handling of tragedies like this, Americans are now trying to gaslight other Americans into believing that even acknowledging all of Kirk's rhetorical contradictions is somehow un-American or inhumane; more evil.
Feeling conflicted does not mean anyone is condoning violence; it means recognizing reality: People are allowed to grieve the illegal violence of an assassination while also admitting that Kirk’s own words helped cultivate the toxic climate that made him a target.
This cartoon depicts one of the reasons people express sympathy ambivalence.
WARNING: POTENTIALLY OFFENSIVE CONTENT THAT DEPICTS KIRK FACING CHILDREN KILLED BY GUNS IN HEAVEN.
It’s important to name this ambivalence because pretending it doesn’t exist only deepens the divide. But here’s the truth: condemning Kirk’s rhetoric does not justify his murder.
Both can be true: Charlie Kirk's words were destructive, and his violent death is unacceptable.
Understanding that complexity allows us to stay grounded in reality rather than being swept into the kind of black-and-white thinking that fuels authoritarian movements.
What We Must Do Now
The path forward cannot be one of silence or apathy.
If we truly want to stop this slide toward violence and protect American democracy at risk, WE THE PEOPLE must take meaningful but non-violent action.
We must start by acknowledging these truths:
Charlie Kirk did not deserve to be assassinated
Nobody deserves that. NOBODY.
Kirk put himself at high risk of political violence, and that's tragic. Some unstable dude took the worst kind of action against Charlie. A much better way to have handled one's dislike of Charlie Kirk's rhetoric would have been to debate him.
Shooting him was the coward's way out.
Stop judging how others FEEL about it
Unless someone is in your inner circle and their feelings directly affect you, just stop. Our feelings are never WRONG; where we get in trouble is how we behave because of how we feel.
If someone is deeply sad that a young man—a human being—was murdered in cold blood, let them be. If they're angry, confused, disgusted, or afraid—those feelings aren't wrong. If they start saying WE'RE AT WAR and other ridiculous claims, call them on the BEHAVIOR and not the FEELINGS.
"Hey, you seem really pissed off about the Kirk assassination. Rage-baiting isn't helpful; talk to me and tell me what's going on?" and then JUST BE A GREAT LISTENER.
A great way to diffuse rage is just listening—"uh huh, I'm so sorry you're so angry." "This is definitely a horrible situation." "I totally understand why you're so upset by this."
You don't have to AGREE one iota! Just LISTEN. Shake your head up and down; forget the subject and remember that Charlie was a young man who didn't have enough life under his belt to put all the pieces together. He said really awful things and, unfortunately, that turned a lot of people off to his support of liberty for all. You may be one of them, and that's ok.
If you're a Kirk fan and you're angry about this, you're having a normal response to a horrific situation. What's NOT normal is to talk of meeting violence with violence. Plotting to "clean out the trash" on Decatur Road (a Gone With The Wind reference) is radical in 2025; get professional help to work through your well-earned rage.
It's worth repeating: our feelings are never wrong. We all have control over our behavior.
Americans are traumatized
WE THE PEOPLE are still in charge, the last I checked. Our elected officials must be pressured to end their hateful behavior towards one another.
That means writing to elected officials, demanding accountability from leaders who traffic in lies, and rejecting Trump’s gaslighting that blames Democrats for everything while excusing the dangerous consequences of his own words.
How To Contact Your Elected Officials:
Things are likely to get worse before they get better. The sooner you take care of YOU, the sooner you'll be able to take meaningful action and bring this to an end.
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