Liberals have been accused of ‘celebrating’ the assassination of American conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Mr Kirk, a married father of two, was struck in the neck by a single bullet while speaking about mass shootings at a university campus in Utah yesterday, with US President Donald Trump hailing him as ‘legendary’ in a tribute.
While his assassination has sparked an outpouring of tributes, it has also led to accusations that the Left are using his death to score political points because of his strong opinions.
for airing them so soon after the killing.
One user was quick to slam the commentator, saying: ‘Shame on you, you evil being!
‘I think that millions around the world disagree with your take. He was loved, celebrated, educated, gifted. Charlie is dead. Don’t celebrate that. Don’t laugh at that.’
Another user shared the outrage, saying: ‘Couldn’t believe it when I heard this on the BBC. Why did they even have this Democrat, Joi Chaney, on the programme? She was laughing at the death of Charlie Kirk. Pure evil.’
A third questioned why the broadcaster would allow this moment on the show, saying it was ‘absolutely sick’ and ‘completely immoral and insensitive’.
One councillor claimed Mr Kirk ‘made himself a target and brought this upon himself’, while left-wing writer Nels Abbey sparked outrage after comparing the activist to David Duke, the former leader of the Ku Klux Klan.
During a debate on Good Morning Britain, fellow guest Michael Gove described Mr Kirk as ‘a sort of Cicero for the TikTok age’, adding that it was ‘the latest political assassination to afflict America’.
But Mr Abbey intervened to say: ‘Can I just say something? I don’t believe he was a Cicero for the TikTok age, I believe he was a David Duke for the TikTok age.’
When host Kate Garraway asked him to clarify who Duke was, he replied: ‘He was the former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.
‘Now, this is by no means trying to justify his murder. Political violence is wrong at home; it’s wrong abroad. Political violence must be condemned, as must the propagandising for political violence and the dehumanisation of people.
‘Charlie Kirk was somebody who… I shiver, particularly for conservatives when he’s described as conservative, because he wasn’t. He was quite clearly and comfortably a supremacist.’
Reacting furiously, one X user said: ‘Nels Abbey on Good Morning Britain just compared Charlie Kirk to a KKK leader and called him a white supremacist… whilst pretending to show some sympathy for the murder. Shameful, considering it is less than 24 hours since the event. R.I.P.’
Another said: ‘@GMB Allowing Nels Abbey airtime to smear Charlie Kirk as some kind of KKK leader and claim it’s ‘his own fault’ is an absolute disgrace.’
Elsewhere, Fiona Wild, an independent councillor in Burnley, is facing calls to resign after posting: ‘I don’t condone violence, but I do think he made himself a target and brought this on himself so good riddance to not a very nice man! America needs to get rid of the other t*t now.’
Tory leader Jamie McGowan branded her remarks, which she has since deleted, as ‘vile’ and called for her to step down immediately.
Reacting to the response from liberals online, Brendan Cox – whose Labour MP wife Jo Cox was murdered in 2016 – told the Mail that America must use this moment to ‘tone down the temperature, rather than turn it up even further’.
The BBC has also come under fire over its ‘distasteful’ coverage of the killing after inviting Democratic strategist Joi Chaney onto the panel, who stunned audiences when she said Mr Kirk ‘wasn’t admired and loved by all’.
While speaking about the killing, Ms Chaney was accused of laughing and mockingly remarked: ‘I’ve never shared a Trump post in my life. I will contemplate sharing this one. But what I will say with a caveat: he wasn’t admired and loved by all, so that’s an exaggeration.’
The presenter and another panellist were left visibly shocked, with an audible gasp heard before Ms Chaney was allowed to continue.
She added: ‘The truth is it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter whether he was loved, I understand why President Trump said it. I’m not critiquing it.
‘But what I’m saying is we don’t have to like and admire someone to want to believe that they get to go out and speak and share their views in front of people who support them and who don’t support them.’
The BBC clip was swiftly shared across social media, sparking outrage at both Ms Chaney’s comments and the BBC
for airing them so soon after the killing.
One user was quick to slam the commentator, saying: ‘Shame on you, you evil being!
‘I think that millions around the world disagree with your take. He was loved, celebrated, educated, gifted. Charlie is dead. Don’t celebrate that. Don’t laugh at that.’
Another user shared the outrage, saying: ‘Couldn’t believe it when I heard this on the BBC. Why did they even have this Democrat, Joi Chaney, on the programme? She was laughing at the death of Charlie Kirk. Pure evil.’
A third questioned why the broadcaster would allow this moment on the show, saying it was ‘absolutely sick’ and ‘completely immoral and insensitive’.