Dem
47
GOP
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Republicans are noticing that the murder of Charlie Kirk may have consequences for them. They have lost a talented leader but now young conservatives are being galvanized. They are contributing money and signing up to volunteer. New chapters of Turning Point USA are being formed. Kirk's wife, Erika, is taking over the leadership of the group. Of course, whether the enthusiasm lasts until Nov. 3, 2026, is an open question.
Also unknown is Erika's leadership ability. Kirk amassed millions of followers based on his charisma and personality. Although Erika shares her husband's devotion to Christianity and the conservative cause, she may or may not have the charisma to lead. Also, much of his following was young men attracted to the idea that women's place is in the home, not in the workplace. It remains to be seen if the followers of a movement whose defining feature was urging women to marry young, have lots of kids, and then stay home tending to them will accept a woman as leader of their movement. To us, it would seem, er, odd for a woman to be leading an organization one of whose main goals is to get women out of leadership roles in organizations. If Erika drops the bit about how men should run the world and women are there to serve the men, she may lose many of the men who got on board to support that message. Of course, the MAGA world is full of contradictions. And it is also worth noting that, for many decades, Phyllis Schlafly ran a movement (eventually formalized as the "Eagle Forum") devoted to rolling back feminism and putting women back in the home. So, it's not impossible.
Republican strategists are going to do everything they can to keep Kirk's followers active and try to turn them into partisan Republicans. Many of them were attracted to Kirk and Trump personally, but not necessarily to MAGA "principles," like Making America White Again, cutting taxes for millionaires, and dismantling the federal government. Keeping them inspired may not be so easy. Trump won 50% of the vote of white voters 18 to 29 in 2024. The danger is not that they will become Democrats, but rather that they will become nonvoters.
Kirk's death has also put some Republicans in a bind. Back during Trump v1.0, some social media companies were blocking Trump and other conservatives for lying constantly and spewing hate in all directions. Then Republicans were demanding "free speech," meaning the companies must allow all speech, no matter how hateful. They opposed all forms of censorship. Now that it appears that Tyler Robinson, Kirk's killer, was radicalized in dark corners of the Internet, the same Republicans who used to be wildly opposed to any form of censorship, even for hate speech, are now demanding that social media companies block hate speech. That is, they are calling for censorship of content they don't like (e.g., people celebrating Kirk's death and saying he had it coming). The bottom line is that they like censorship when it bans content they don't like but hate censorship when it bans content they do like.
The funeral service was held Sunday in Glendale, AZ. It had been given a Special Event Assessment Rating Level 1, which is unusual for the funeral of a private citizen. This rating unlocks major federal security resources. That was needed because the event was expected to—and did—draw thousands of spectators. The scale of the event was what happens at the funeral of a former president. And remember, Kirk wasn't even a city councilman. He was just a private citizen and political activist. Clearly, Trump is trying to get every bit of publicity he can out of the funeral.
Some of the warm-up speakers made Kirk out as a religious leader. Far-right activist Jack Posobiec held up a rosary and said: "Well, I say to you that a century from now, when they write of the two or three pivotal moments that led to the saving of Western civilization, they will write that the sacrifice of Charles James Kirk was the turning point." The equally far right Benny Johnson went down the same road: "The Apostle Paul describes how God establishes the rulers of the nations in the audience. Right now, there are rulers of our land represented. Their godly mission is wielding the sword against evil."
Trump was the main speaker. Most of the eulogists were generally positive, and said that they would try to honor Kirk's legacy by reaching across the aisle and endeavoring to dialogue with those who hold differing beliefs. Erika Kirk even went so far as to say that, as an observant Christian, she forgives her husband's killer. Trump (and, along with him, Stephen Miller) did not take this tack. Instead, the President decreed: "[Charlie] did not hate his opponents. He wanted the best for them. That's where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponent and I don't want the best for them. I'm sorry. I am sorry Erika." That Trump feels this way is not a secret, but here you have it straight from the horse's mouth. He's not even trying to hide it, even though, in that particular forum, it would have been more appropriate for him to keep such thoughts to himself, or to even play nice for once.
In the end, strongmen gotta strongman. No matter the circumstances, if Donald Trump gets up on stage before a crowd of people, it WILL be a stump speech. Eulogies are not exempted, nor are Boy Scout Jamborees, college graduations, or any other occasion where any other politician would leave the politics at home. Trump ultimately spoke for about 45 minutes, failing to read the room (like at the RNC), such that there were people who were obviously worn out after 5 hours of speechifying, and who had presumably heard Trump's shtick many times before. So, quite a few of those folks very noticeably got up and left while Trump was speaking. Better to keep it brief and leave them wanting more, Mr. President, as opposed to them longing for, well, less. Much less.
If you would like to watch some or all of Trump's remarks, you can click here. For someone who has attacked opponents for being low-energy, Trump was pretty... low-energy. Roughly speaking, roughly half of the speech was specific to Kirk. The other half was Trump's standard stuff, and could have been heard at any of his rallies, or State of the Union addresses, or Boy Scout Jamboree appearances. Trump did compare the event to a revival, which would thus make him the preacher, the man of God. That's certainly a thought to chew on.
A funeral/memorial marks a pretty key signpost in the memorialization of the dead. We will see if MAGA Nation moves on from the anger and the finger-pointing and the censorship this week. And then, in upcoming months and years, we will see how long Kirk's influence over the Republican Party lingers. (V & Z)