The Father, the Kirk and the Holy Spirit: The mystification of Charlie Kirk as a martyr for God’s voice

Charlie Kirk, an American podcaster, political activist and influencer, was shot dead on September 10th 2025 on a college campus in Utah. Known as a man of faith, he gained popularity through viral videos, where he was seen outspeakingly debating on sensitive questions such as abortion or gun violence. Although his alleged killer was identified as a white christian supremacist man, many people –led by president Donald Trump himself– are framing this event as an Antifascist conspiracy. Thus, Charlie Kirk’s image is being mystified as a martyr, remembered as a hero who sought to spread God’s word.

Screenshot of Charlie Kirk in Jubilee’s video: “1 Conservative vs 25 Liberal College Students”

Who Really was Charlie Kirk and what was he standing for ?

“It’s worth to have a cost of some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other god given rights. It is rational”. “If you had a daughter, she was ten and she got raped. And she would have to give birth and have to live, would you want her to go through that ? [...] – Yes the baby would be delivered”. Those quotes were said by Charlie Kirk himself during his many heated debates with college students about fundamental rights. In order to be able to share such words and reach so many people, one could think that Charlie Kirk had a long path of political studies before him. Which he doesn’t.

Researching Charlie Kirk’s education reveals his four years in high-school and his meager one year spent in college. Although he then founded Turning Point USA (a non-profit political association) and became a member of the conservative think tank ‘Council for National Policy’, his little to no education on political matters questions his liability to speak on such controversial topics in front of thousands of people –as his appearances on YouTube channels where he organized debates with students– have accumulated around 40 to 45 million views.

  Screenshot from Charlie Kirk’s instagram page (charliekirk1776)

 Why is Charlie Kirk being elevated to the status of a martyr ?

    "Counting or not counting gang violence?" were Charlie Kirk’s final words before being shot at Utah Valley University while answering a question about mass shootings. As morbid as it is, the moment is also deeply ironic for someone who spent his life defending the Second Amendment, which states: “The right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed”. This creates what could be called the ‘Gun Paradox’, how dying by gunfire strengthens Charlie Kirk’s symbolic weight in debates about the Second Amendment.

Moreover right-wing media such as Fox News highlight his identity as a ‘man of God’, a father and a husband, framing his death as a sacrifice for faith, as if he had died as a vessel spreading God’s word. Yet, this echoes the school shooting at a Catholic school in Minneapolis in August 2025, during a mass marking the first week of classes. Were those children not Children of God as well ? If so, why was their tragedy given so little media coverage? Framing Charlie Kirk as a martyr fuels the emotional mobilization school shootings should meet, as his public funeral became a stage for collective grief, identity and anger within conservative communities.

Screenshot from Donald Trump’s instagram page of him and Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk

What consequences will this mystification lead to, in Trump's witch hunt against left-wing activists?

    As Donald Trump and his office were originally trying to suppress opposition in strategic places, this murder is used to justify surveillance, harassment, or legal actions against progressive groups under the pretext of ‘antifa threats’. Indeed, the president of the United States signed on September 22nd 2025 an order claiming that Antifa is a “militarist, anarchist enterprise that explicitly calls for the overthrow of the United States Government”. The administration’s aim is to foster a culture of fear around activism, making it easier to delegitimize those who want to exercise their rights and defend their visions.

Therefore, this mystification of martyrdom is being weaponized as a propaganda tool to recruit followers, using Charlie Kirk’s family image with his widow and daughters. His story is distorted to radicalize supporters against the ‘dangers’ of left-wing enemies, as Donald Trump and his allies have already begun their witch hunt. This instrumentalization of Kirk’s death can be seen as ABC late night show host Jimmy Kimmel was suspended from his channel at the request of the FCC’s president (Federal Communications Commission). Jimmy Kimmel drew criticism by linking Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer to president Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ movement. He eventually returned on air one week later, admitting that his comments about Kirk’s death had been “ill-chosen or ambiguous”, and nearly broke down in tears.

As former President Barack Obama pointed out, “After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like.” By weaponizing Charlie Kirk’s image as a martyr, Trump’s administration not only silences opposing voices but also exploits grief to strengthen its power on public opinion.

Manon Madamour