Right Messiah: How Charlie Kirk Was Raised to the Banner

On September 10, 2025, American conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot during a speech at a university in Utah. After this, the Internet was flooded with dozens, if not hundreds of fakes related to his name. 

Who is Mr Kirk?

Although news about Charlie Kirk appeared infrequently in the Russian-language segment of the Internet before his murder, he was very widely known in the United States. Kirk began getting involved in politics in his youth and even dropped out of college for this. Instead of higher education, he concentrated on the political agitation of those who received this very education. In 2012, Kirk founded a non-profit organization Turning Point USA, now present on more than 3,000 American campuses, specializes in engaging youth in politics to “promote freedom.” The activist himself promoted conservative values ​​and ideas of the movement Make America Great Again (MAGA), which united Donald Trump's supporters and contributed to his victories in the presidential elections in 2016 and 2024. By opinion many American politicians, it was Kirk who provided Trump more support among young people than his Republican predecessors. Apparently, the founder of Turning Point USA, who never held public office, had a direct influence on the Trump cabinet - for example, US Vice President J.D. Vance claimed, that it was Kirk who largely shaped his political views and convinced him to run for this post.

In his campaigning, Kirk consistently championed ideas that, even by Republican standards, could be considered radical. He spoke out for full abortion ban (even if conception occurred as a result of rape) and against same-sex marriage, spoke out against both illegal and legal immigration in the USA, and also (in a cruel irony of fate) claimed that several deaths per year from firearms - a low price to pay for maintaining the right to wear it in America. While promoting “traditional” values, Kirk himself was in many ways their personification: white, cisgender male, religious, married to his ex. Miss Arizona, who shares his beliefs, is the father of two children. Such a person had every chance to gather an entire army of devoted supporters and an entire army of ardent opponents. 

Commenting on the news of Kirk's death in the hospital where the activist was taken after the assassination attempt, Trump on his social network Truth Social wrote: “The great and even legendary Charlie Kirk has died. No one understood or empathized with the youth of the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by EVERYONE, especially me, and now he is no longer with us.” In a video message, the President of the United States stated: "The monster that attacked Kirk attacked the entire country." And he described the deceased activist as “a martyr killed for truth and freedom.” This narrative picked up and some internet users who compared Kirk to Lincoln, Kennedy and even Jesus. 

But judging by the volume of misinformation and the social media harassment that followed Kirk's death, it is clear that love for him was not as universal as the American president claimed. Therefore, partly it had to be invented. 

His legacy

After Kirk's death, many American politicians spoke out about him with great warmth: they thanked him for his help and for the way he inspired American youth. But for a wider audience, the activist’s political achievements and his personal services provided to like-minded people, apparently, were not enough. Therefore, fakes began to appear on the Internet about the noble deeds of the murdered man, which did not exist in reality. For example, it got infected video with Africans holding a sign that reads "RIP Charlie Kirk." God bless you." The comments under the video claimed that Kirk and the organization he created, Turning Point USA, were engaged in missionary work in Africa, so local residents decided to honor his memory in this way. However, as the project’s fact checkers found out Lead Stories, the video was commissioned from a company that makes congratulatory videos, and there is no evidence that Kirk or his NGO has ever been involved in missionary work in African countries. 

There were also reverse fakes. Yes, writer Stephen King caused a storm of indignation, when he circulated in X a call attributed to Kirk to stone homosexuals. In fact, the activist in his podcast criticized those who believe that the biblical “Love thy neighbor” applies to gays, citing as a counter-argument another quotation from the Holy Scripture: “If you lie with another man, you will be stoned to death.” Kirk then pointed out that this was an excerpt from chapter 18 of the book of Leviticus, but he was mistaken in both the chapter and the wording. IN Chapter 18 It is only mentioned that the Lord commanded Moses: “Do not lie with a man as with a woman: this is an abomination.” However, in chapter 20 a similar line is: “If anyone lies with a man as with a woman, then both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death, their blood be on them.” However, none of the translation versions mention stoning. King later deleted his post and made it public apologies, saying that Kirk did not call for stoning gays, but only demonstrated a selective approach to the interpretation of biblical texts. Also writer promised no longer take information from social network X on faith. 

Blessed are those who mourn

After Kirk’s murder, condolences to his relatives were expressed not only by the activist’s political associates - the actor and politician published posts in memory of him Arnold Schwarzenegger, actors Chris Pratt, Rob Schneider And Josh Duhamel, TV presenter Jimmy Kimmel (which, however, did not protect him in the future) and other stars. However, real posts with words of grief were obviously not enough for some. Numerous news stories about celebrities allegedly desperately (and publicly) mourning Charlie Kirk began to spread on the Internet, and they appeared not only in the United States, but also in other countries, in particular very widely in Italy.

So, a message went viral that musicians Eminem and Kid Rock put aside their differences to found charitable foundation "Charlie Kirk: From Controversy to Greatness." Musicians Paul McCartney, Stevie Nicks and Mick Jagger allegedly took part in funeral ceremony according to Kirk. Some posts claimed that the stars National Football League donated $300,000 to the activist’s family, and the billionaire Elon Musk promised to cover all their living and education expenses. A clip allegedly released by a musician in memory of Kirk has gone viral on the Internet. Ed Sheeran. None of these messages were true - fact checkers from AFP, Lead Stories and other projects spent a whole week refusing such fakes.

Witch hunt

Murder suspect Charlie Kirk detained On September 12, he was identified as 22-year-old Tyler Robinson. In addition to the murder charge imputed a few more articles, and prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty for Robinson, which is allowed in the state of Utah.

Even before Robinson's arrest, Trump assigned responsibility for Kirk's death lies with their mutual political opponents: "Left-wing political violence has harmed too many innocent people and taken too many lives." In his speech, the American leader recalled assassination attempt, which he himself experienced last year, attacks on ICE immigration officials, murder head of the insurance company UnitedHealthcare and attack at Congressman Steve Scalise in 2017. However, Melissa Hortman, a Democratic member of the Minnesota House of Representatives who was shot and killed with her husband outside her home just three months ago, he chose not to mention. Naturally, following the president, the theory of an internal enemy in the person of those same left-wing radicals was picked up by Internet users who support the MAGA movement.

ABOUT motivesWhat prompted Robinson to commit murder is still unknown. Authorities published his correspondence with his neighbor. Explaining his action, the young man said that he had had enough of the hatred that Kirk was spreading. “Some hate cannot be overcome with words,” he wrote. Based on published messages, Robinson can hardly be called a person of radical left views, although he complained to his interlocutor that with Trump's return to the White House, his father had become an ardent supporter of MAGA. In turn, the shooter's mother told, that her son recently “began to lean to the left” and entered into a romantic relationship with a man who had begun the process of transgender transition - the same neighbor from the correspondence. This probably explains Robinson's dislike of Kirk, who has consistently and quite harshly spoken out against LGBT+ people, but does not automatically make him a left-wing radical. 

However, in support of the narrative proposed by Trump, fake news immediately appeared on the Internet, indicating that Robinson killed Kirk precisely in the name of the radical left agenda. For example, a screenshot went viral on the Internet fake correspondence shooter with his neighbor - in which Robinson allegedly claimed that he shot Kirk for the sake of his transgender partner, and also inquired about joining Hamas. It was not confirmed informationthat the young man allegedly acted as a speaker at an event organized by American Social Democrats - a completely different person was present there. Even before the shooter was detained, Internet users declared Kirk's killer to be no one Michael Mallinson, supporting the Democratic Party. As a result, it turned out that the man whose portrait began to be distributed as a photograph of a murder suspect not only had nothing to do with this crime, but actually lives in Canada.

However, we must pay tribute to Kirk’s political opponents: fake photographs of Robinson in T-shirt with the Trump slogan “Make America Great Again” and disinformation that he identified himself in the election voting form republican.

Amendment for amendment

Stephen King, who inadvertently spread misinformation about Kirk, was not the only person caught in the cancel culture rollercoaster for carelessly speaking out about the activist's death. Despite police claims that Robinson acted alone, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller has already called for the destruction of "left-wing terrorist networks" allegedly responsible for Kirk's murder. It is not clear who exactly he meant and how these networks will be calculated, but on September 18, Trump announced terrorist organization, the Antifa movement (as a single organization it doesn't exist). In turn, Vance called on employers to pay attention if their employees posted posts on social networks with statements about Kirk's murder in a positive manner. According to Media, some Americans have already been fired for such publications. 

US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau wrote in X, that sanctions could also be imposed on foreigners legally living in the United States who “praise, justify, or downplay” Kirk’s death, and called for such cases to be reported to him so that action can be taken against such people. In the comments under Landau’s post there are already dozens of screenshots that readers thought were worthy of a response. “Verified” has not yet been able to find reports of cases where someone was deprived of a green card or deported from the country for comments about the death of an activist, but it is obvious that Landau was hinting at precisely such measures.

Jimmy Kimmel, who publicly condemned Kirk's murder and expressed condolences to his family, days later criticized the rhetoric of Trump and his supporters on his (very popular) evening show. The TV presenter said that they are trying to earn political points from the death of a comrade and that an adult does not mourn for a dead friend “the way a four-year-old child mourns a goldfish from an aquarium.” In the same episode, Kimmel hinted that although the right sees a left-wing radical trace in the murder, in fact Robinson supported the Republicans (we repeat, there is no reliable evidence of this either, and the shooter’s correspondence became known only the next day).

These words outraged the powers that be - the head of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, explicitly hintedthat either ABC, where the show airs, will take action, or his department will do so. The channel's owner, Disney, chose to remove Kimmel from his job and suspend production of his program, which had been airing since 2003. Trump named The decision is great news, praising ABC and calling on its rivals NBC to shut down other popular late-night shows hosted by "total losers" Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers.

Attempts to control what Americans write and say about Kirk were condemned not only by Kimmel, but also, oddly enough, by conservative political commentator and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. He noted that Kirk himself would never approve of being persecuted for his words and an attempt to honor his memory in this way only desecrates it. Moreover, stated Carlson, if hate speech laws or any other form of similar censorship are introduced in the United States, “this will be the most opportune moment for civil disobedience. And there will never be a more suitable one. Because if they can tell you what to say, what to think, there’s nothing they can’t do to you, because they don’t consider you human.” Another cruel irony of fate: Kirk paid with his life for the Second Amendment (the right to guns), and now his death is being used to take away the First Amendment from Americans (it guarantees US citizens have freedom of speech.

Be that as it may, Charlie Kirk died, and the debate that arose after his death no longer has anything to do with him or his beliefs. Despite his radical views in places, he positioned himself as a person who was ready to talk to everyone. But after the activist's death, both his opponents and his supporters began to be guided by his killer's credo: "Some hatred cannot be defeated with words." In the media field, the place of the person who advocated the discussion was taken by the idea that public expression of a position can be punished - so far only by cancellation, dismissal or deportation. In life, an influential activist, a talented speaker and an exemplary family man, Kirk would have become a symbol for conservatives after his assassination. But he is raised to the banner, under which a crusade against political opponents begins live. Any means are used, and fakes are hardly the most dangerous of them. 

Cover photo: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Read on the topic:

1. Politico. 10 Political Violence Experts on What Comes Next for America: Can America escape the spiral of political violence after Charlie Kirk’s killing?
2. The Guardian. How the EU’s far right has seized on Charlie Kirk’s killing
3. The New Yorker. How Donald Trump's Culture-Wars Playbook Felled Jimmy Kimmel
4. Defocus What fakes about Trump are being spread in the USA (and why haven’t you seen them in Russian)
5. Shooting from different types of weapons and confessions of a sniper. Five fakes about the assassination attempt on Trump