# Had you heard of Charlie Kirk before he was killed? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 13, 2025, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-you-heard-of-charlie-kirk-before-he-was-killed/1023003 "2025-09-13T02:33:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2025, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-you-heard-of-charlie-kirk-before-he-was-killed/1023003/41 "2025-09-13T14:09:31Z")
I don’t pay attention to right wing wargarble and I don’t make the mistake of letting social media iron idiots (AI) suggest crap for me to consume, so I’ve been blessedly unaware of the existence of this person. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2025, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-you-heard-of-charlie-kirk-before-he-was-killed/1023003/42 "2025-09-13T14:15:43Z")
He was lampooned in a [recent episode](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Got_a_Nut) of South Park. I saw it a couple of weeks ago. The name meant nothing to me then, and when I heard about the shooting I didn’t associate the name with the episode I’d seen. So, I’d heard of him, just barely, and not particularly memorably. ---
**Author:** ![Zoobi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/13edae/32.png) [@Zoobi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoobi)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2025, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-you-heard-of-charlie-kirk-before-he-was-killed/1023003/43 "2025-09-13T14:19:20Z")
100% correct. If you don’t know these prominent figures of the alt-right, you are going to be continually surprised. Ignorance isn’t bliss here. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2025, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-you-heard-of-charlie-kirk-before-he-was-killed/1023003/44 "2025-09-13T14:32:41Z")
I read the name, knew he was some sort of conservative. I never read anything he said or wrote. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2025, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-you-heard-of-charlie-kirk-before-he-was-killed/1023003/45 "2025-09-13T14:41:03Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I think it is finally time to strike “hippest” from the SDMB slogan. At our average age, we’re approaching the “break/broke a hip” slogan No, I never heard of him, or their ilk but then I actively avoid that type of glurg ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2025, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-you-heard-of-charlie-kirk-before-he-was-killed/1023003/46 "2025-09-13T14:48:36Z")
Challenging college kids on their overwrought, underbaked ideas is a time-honored practice. I certainly benefited from it as a callow youth. U Penn professor [Sam Richards](https://m.youtube.com/@SOC119/videos) has been at it for decades. But they don’t respond to their students by flinging flaming rhetorical turds back at them. Charlie Kirk’s manner of speech does not equate with his manner of death. Humane, rational people like ourselves recoil from this sight whether it’s on a college campus or a Ukrainian pasture. But both his speech and his death have one thing in common: a stupid waste. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2025, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-you-heard-of-charlie-kirk-before-he-was-killed/1023003/47 "2025-09-13T15:06:06Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > If you hadn’t heard of Charlie Kirk then you are probably surprised at the results of current elections. If you really want to know what is shaping the country you have to be aware of people like Kirk, Shapiro, Crowder and their ilk. Hadn’t (other than very vague recognition) heard of him before this, comforted to know I am in good company, was _not_ shocked at the election result. I don’t need to know who the individuals are to know they exist. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2025, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-you-heard-of-charlie-kirk-before-he-was-killed/1023003/48 "2025-09-13T15:19:03Z")
Oh, seeing this 60:40 split makes me feel slightly less out of touch than I thought I was on this. Seeing the above post I, too, was not in the least surprised by the elections, and saw the writing on the wall leading up to the election, much to the detriment of my health. I’m 50, so I think on the slightly younger side of the board members. I mean, i know Milo Yiannopoulos, Nick Fuentes, and some of those – Kirk’s never pinged my radar. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2025, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-you-heard-of-charlie-kirk-before-he-was-killed/1023003/49 "2025-09-13T15:47:38Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > > [@Loach](#): > > > > If you hadn’t heard of Charlie Kirk then you are probably surprised at the results of current elections. If you really want to know what is shaping the country you have to be aware of people like Kirk, Shapiro, Crowder and their ilk. > > Hadn’t (other than very vague recognition) heard of him before this, comforted to know I am in good company, was _not_ shocked at the election result. I don’t need to know who the individuals are to know they exist. Ditto. I updated my passport a year early and got real id because i thought Trump was going to win. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2025, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-you-heard-of-charlie-kirk-before-he-was-killed/1023003/50 "2025-09-13T16:09:19Z")
If you were unfamiliar with Charlie Kirk and Turning Point USA, you missed out on quite a few dank memes. TPUSA had memes of their own that followed this format: > **[https://i.redd.it/vnt7o980bmu41.jpg](https://i.redd.it/vnt7o980bmu41.jpg)** But the best memes were the ones parodying them: [![](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/086/676/16c.jpg) ](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/086/676/16c.jpg) [![](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/675/614/449) ](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/675/614/449) [![](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/451/404/713.jpg) ](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/451/404/713.jpg) That’s how I knew of Charlie Kirk from about 2017 until last year, when Unfuck America and his appearance on Newsom’s show made me realize that he wasn’t just a meme, people on the right actually took him _incredibly seriously_. He is maybe the #2 most influential MAGA movement person behind Trump. DEFINITELY in the top 5. ---
**Author:** ![Tabco](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tabco/32/7644_2.png) [@Tabco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabco)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2025, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-you-heard-of-charlie-kirk-before-he-was-killed/1023003/51 "2025-09-13T16:11:31Z")
I hadn’t heard of Charlie Kirk specifically. I have heard of Ben Shapiro and Laura Loomer. Stephen Miller is a name I’ve heard, but I’d be at a lost to say who he is. I _thought_ I knew who Nick Fuentes was, but when I googled to confirm, it turned out I had confused him with Enrique Tarrio of Proud Boys fame. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2025, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-you-heard-of-charlie-kirk-before-he-was-killed/1023003/52 "2025-09-13T16:18:05Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Challenging college kids on their overwrought, underbaked ideas is a time-honored practice. I certainly benefited from it as a callow youth. U Penn professor [Sam Richards](https://m.youtube.com/@SOC119/videos) has been at it for decades. > > But they don’t respond to their students by flinging flaming rhetorical turds back at them. Charlie Kirk’s manner of speech does not equate with his manner of death. Humane, rational people like ourselves recoil from this sight whether it’s on a college campus or a Ukrainian pasture. But both his speech and his death have one thing in common: a stupid waste. So well said. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2025, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-you-heard-of-charlie-kirk-before-he-was-killed/1023003/53 "2025-09-13T16:19:40Z")
Voted “never heard” but really heard the name, but it was just another of multitudes of names heard when the RW noise machine is reported on. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2025, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-you-heard-of-charlie-kirk-before-he-was-killed/1023003/54 "2025-09-13T16:23:05Z")
Nope, but I don’t cruise for those types, nor visit websites they’ve created, nor visit TikTok or other chat forums besides this one. It’s kept me from coming completely unhinged over the years. He does remind me of a time when I was in college in the late 60s, when a John Birch asshole came to campus to give a talk. He was almost immediately challenged by a professor, who shut him down hard. ---
**Author:** ![colinfred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colinfred/32/21338_2.png) [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2025, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-you-heard-of-charlie-kirk-before-he-was-killed/1023003/55 "2025-09-13T16:32:54Z")
Can you explain the Kennedy/AOC one? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2025, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-you-heard-of-charlie-kirk-before-he-was-killed/1023003/56 "2025-09-13T16:34:03Z")
I’d heard his name, and I’d seen memes with his picture; but the memes didn’t have his name, so I didn’t make the connection. I’ll have to go back and watch the ‘master debater’ _South Park_ episode now. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2025, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-you-heard-of-charlie-kirk-before-he-was-killed/1023003/57 "2025-09-13T16:50:06Z")
> [@colinfred](#): > > Can you explain the Kennedy/AOC one? The original would have been something like, a liberal from 1960 would be called a conservative in 2025, and a liberal from 2025 would be a commie or insane or something in 1960. The joke points out that both liberals would be more remarkable for being time travellers than for being particularly liberal or conservative. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2025, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-you-heard-of-charlie-kirk-before-he-was-killed/1023003/58 "2025-09-13T16:51:55Z")
I was trying to work out what the second one would have been. Presumably it starts with a vowel, since it has ‘an’. ETA: I gave up and googled, apparently it was ‘absolute lunatic’. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2025, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-you-heard-of-charlie-kirk-before-he-was-killed/1023003/59 "2025-09-13T16:57:42Z")
I didn’t read all the posts, but it’s dismaying that so many people weren’t aware of someone so prominent (loud) in the right-wing firmament. Read P&E posts and you’ll see names of so-called conservative intellectuals from a different era, but I guess the influencers of today are being ignored. If you don’t know what is happening in the right-wing silo you can’t understand modern politics. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2025, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-you-heard-of-charlie-kirk-before-he-was-killed/1023003/60 "2025-09-13T17:23:20Z")
I first heard the news at my office, when some colleagues were talking about it in the hall, and misheard the name; thought they said it was Kristol that had been shot, and my first thought was “why him? he’s been marginalised.” Then I went online and saw it was Kirke (different K name) and thought, “Yeah, I could see that.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-you-heard-of-charlie-kirk-before-he-was-killed/1023003.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-you-heard-of-charlie-kirk-before-he-was-killed/1023003.md?page=4)