Death divides US: What social media reactions to Charlie Kirk assassination tell us

Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old founder of the conservative political group Turning Point USA and staunch supporter of Donald Trump, was fatally shot at a public event before hundreds of people at Utah Valley University, in Orem, Utah. 

News organizations like Euronews have been cautious with the coverage of Kirk’s assassination, electing to not show the moment he was shot. However, in the era of social media, it didn’t matter much. 

The gory video of the shooting was available almost instantly online – gaining thousands of views on X, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube - even on Truth Social, where President Donald Trump posted official word of the conservative activist's death.

Trump wrote online: "The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!" 

Social media feeds were flooded with posts calling for the typical thoughts and prayers, as well as heartfelt messages for Kirk’s wife and his children, from both the right and the left.

Even celebrities – on both sides of the political spectrum – condemned the act of violence.  

The Guardians of the Galaxy star Chris Pratt said that he was "praying for Charlie Kirk right now, for his wife and young children, for our country. We need God’s grace. God help us," while actor James Woods spoke about his connection to Kirk.  

"I enjoyed dinners with Charlie, but worried for his safety," he wrote on social media. "The left says they want 'national conversations.' Charlie Kirk actually did just that. In the lion’s den, no less, at left leaning venues, hoping facts and common sense would prevail." 

As for celebs who have been openly critical of Trump and his administration, they also offered their sympathies. Terminator star and former Gov. of California Arnold Schwarzenegger described Kirk’s death as a "horrible tragedy" and hoped that it may "also be a moment for everyone to rediscover their humanity." He added that this was the cure to diseased politics.

As for comedian and TV host Rosie O'Donnell, whose bitter rivalry with Trump is well-documented and ongoing, especially after Trump threatened to revoke her US citizenship, she condemned the act of violence. She shared a photo of Kirk speaking onstage before the attack and wrote: "No just no - do not become the murderer - this is wrong on every level." 

But it became quickly and predictably apparent that the divisions at the heart of Trump’s America were only going to be galvanized by Kirk’s death.  

Speculation, conspiracy theories, partisan takes and misinformation about the shooter being a “liberal nut case” quickly followed - all before authorities named a suspect. 

Trump quickly started blaming the “radical left” for Kirk’s killing, while Laura Loomer, a MAGA loyalist, called for "cracking down on the Left with the full force of the government.” 

“Every single Left wing group that funds violent protests needs to be shut down and prosecuted. No mercy," she added.

Her sentiment was echoed by Elon Musk, who added further fuel to the fire by bluntly writing on X: “The Left is the party of murder.” 

Early opposition reactions felt more tempered.  

"We don’t yet know what motivated the person who shot and killed Charlie Kirk, but this kind of despicable violence has no place in our democracy,” former President Barack Obama said in a statement.

Former President Joe Biden said: "There is no place in our country for this kind of violence. It must end now. Jill and I are praying for Charlie Kirk’s family and loved ones." 

Even some of Trump’s opponents like Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, who has been using his online presence to mock Trump, posted online: “The attack on Charlie Kirk is disgusting, vile, and reprehensible. In the United States of America, we must reject political violence in EVERY form.” 

Rapidly, some messages began referring to Kirk’s longstanding support for gun rights.  

“It’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights,” Kirk said in a 2023 interview.  

Many conservatives condemned such commentary, while placing blame for the killing, as evidenced by a post from the Utah Republican Party: “Schools and social media have become breeding grounds for liberal hate. Enough!”

Democrats called for stronger gun laws, citing the most recent data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which reveals that 46,728 people died from gun violence in the US in 2023, the third-highest figure ever recorded. 

Maybe celebrity author and vocal Trump critic Stephen King may have the last word on this, bypassing petty finger wagging by stating that at the end of the day – or should that be at the beginning? – this tragedy does stem from a gun control problem. 

Then came the bleak jokes, Nazi comparisons and even gloating over Kirk’s death, meaning that scrolling through your social media of choice led to a potent sense of whiplash. Or a feeling of despair leading to the question: “How did we get here as a species?”  

One call for calm and reflection was countered by calls for a civil war; dark humour that didn’t fail to remind the reader that Kirk was no stranger to stoking division and controversy was met with finger-pointing and even death threats.

While none of this is surprising, considering social media has matured from a tool to connect into a vile megaphone that routinely reflects the darkest facets of humanity’s worst tendencies, the reactions to Kirk’s death beg the question: Are we beyond repair? And is Arnold is right: have politics “become a disease in this country”?

Whatever side of the political spectrum you are on, whatever your personal take on Kirk’s death may be, and even if a dark joke made you chuckle in the moment and maybe left you wrestling with a moral conundrum afterwards, what is certain is that the activist’s death does not just hold a mirror up to America’s polarization. It amplifies it further.  

It reveals once more that online culture can serve as a barometer but also function as a dangerous tool; that the sense of anxiety and anguish over the sad reality of political violence, as well as the scourge of gun violence in the US, will only be deepened.  

We are at a time when calls for unity against political violence are deafened by partisan rhetoric, and while US Representative and Colorado Republican Lauren Boebert may be right when she said that “silent prayers get silent answers”, the reactions to Kirk’s death remain a sad illustration of a nation that now feels irrevocably divided.  

The sane option in the moment may be to avoid social media altogether, because it only reminds us that every time a tragedy like this happens, we seem to be incapable of putting aside our differences. Too many opportunistically choose to make things worse by blaming the other side, as opposed to nourishing the art of civil conversion.

Let's hope that Arnold is right when he says that there is a cure.