Kirk's Assassination and What It Says About America
Tom Watkins, Cianan Sheekey, Connor Summerell, and Coby Saxby
15/09/25
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KIRK SPEAKS AT THE 2025 STUDENT ACTION SUMMIT, IMAGE: GAGE SKIDMORE
Charlie Kirk Was Unique – He Made Conservatism Cool
Contributor
Charlie Kirk was the future of American Conservatism.
“No one understood young Americans better”, said Trump in his video tribute. He was the bridge between the old and the new. He was not part of the tired neocon wing or the conspiracy cranks but something different.
Smart, articulate, and possessing a ferocious willingness to engage with the youth. His desire to hold debates, through his Turning Point Movement, became invaluable to the wider Trump movement. They became the perfect cypher for “deranged, liberal, leftists” to be seen, as Kirk routinely dismantled their attacks. His ability to debate was striking, with Kirk appearing at Oxford and Cambridge unions, emblematic of the place the movement now played in the zeitgeist.
To applaud his rhetorical abilities does not diminish the views he espoused. Kirk was a man with a deep devotion to Christianity, to such an extent that it warped his worldview. LGBT, abortion, Trans rights, electoral fraud. As much as he did not want to be affiliated with the online conspirators, he still purported many of their views.
His death is tragic. A public assassination. A dark day for America, provoking moral outrage from the conservative wing. What comes next cannot be the entrenchment of views but the toning down of rhetoric, remaining level-headed in the face of potential civil unrest around the corner. “When people stop talking, that’s when you get violence”.
Welcome to Post-Empathy Politics
Managing Editor
It is extremely frustrating that this article even needs to exist. America is a world-leading society, despite its undeniable flaws. If the USA cannot come together to condemn the assassination of a political activist, what chance is there for less developed democracies?
Partisanship is an inevitable phenomenon in politics, but there have always been moments when universal morality has superseded it. Not that it requires saints to achieve this, but instead a shred of basic compassion. We are all humans, and that ought to stimulate enough empathy to unite against murder.
Even at a grassroots level, there were no celebrations for the assassinations of Lincoln, the Kennedys, or King. Politics aside, these were people with families, dreams, desires, good days and, like all of us, bad ones. America knew that once, but it seems to have all but forgotten that some things are more important than ideology.
We are entering a new political era, one in which tribalism is far more powerful than integrity. Net gain sits atop ethics, and it will take a conscious bipartisan effort to reverse this sorry state of affairs. It is unsettling to have to call for proactive initiative to restore common decency, but this is where we find ourselves, in the midst of a predicament befitting of a Billy Joel lyric.
A SUN-KISSED US FLAG, IMAGE: AARON BURDEN
Why Is Condemning Political Violence Deemed Controversial?
Contributor
Political violence is completely unacceptable. The assassination of Kirk was completely unacceptable. These statements should not be controversial; however, given the reaction of many since this attack, it would seem they are just that.
This attack, and the wider public’s reaction, represent the current state of American politics perfectly. There is no nuance, no empathy, only hatred and division.
Almost all Democrats in elected office have indeed condemned this attack (as should be the bare minimum), yet on the ground, there have been disgusting acts of celebration at this news. On the other side, you have Republican politicians expressing outrage at this attack when no such expressions were forthcoming when state senator Melissa Hortman was shot mere months ago. On top of this, the current occupant of the White House has also failed to use this moment to unite the country, but instead will likely use it to further his own political aims.
This event exposes America as a tinderbox waiting to be lit. The question is how many more sons, daughters, mothers, and fathers have to die before something is done about the divisive rot embedded in the soul of the USA?
The US Must Deradicalise Its Politics Before the Rift Becomes Too Deep
Contributor
The assassination of Kirk adds yet another name to an alarmingly long list of victims of American political violence.
American law enforcement agencies have warned of rising political violence in recent years as political radicals (rightist and leftist alike) attempt to conduct arson attacks, bombings, and assassinations against a growing list of targets.
American society has grown far too accustomed to this violence, and the reaction to Kirk’s assassination suggests no reversal. Even before an assailant was identified, both sides of the political spectrum took to social media to aggravate and blame one another.
America finds itself teetering on the edge as political polarisation turns increasingly violent. If the American people fail to engage with their neighbours and treat democracy with the maturity, moderation, and respect it requires, they risk inflicting a great scar on their country, which will linger deep in the psyche of generations to come.
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