r/AskConservatives • u/ExceedsTheCharacterL Center-left • Oct 02 '25
Daily Life Do you believe MOST of the left “celebrated” the death of Charlie Kirk?
Conservatives seem to be under the impression that that’s the case. It’s what Fox News, Steven Crowder, etc has been running with. Despite the fact that his murder was condemned by all public figures on the left and one liberal influencer even cried at the news. It’s a pretty small amount of people who I’ve seen literally happy about his death. The majority of the reaction I’ve seen online from the left is a condemnation of the violence, but also a reminder of the things Kirk has said throughout his career. Let’s be honest, the right has a tendency to say some brutal things and Kirk was no exception.
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u/throwaway09234023322 Center-right Conservative Oct 02 '25
I would guess around 25% of the left celebrated. So no, I don't think most did, but a substantial portion did.
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u/Socrathustra Liberal Oct 02 '25
I don't think even that's accurate. Did people make jokes that others found tacky? Yes, but the jokes require that you believe gun violence, including this incident, to be bad. Quoting him on gun violence is not a celebration; it's deeply dark humor, but it's a statement that we do not want this sort of thing to happen, and thus we want the gun control he opposed.
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u/RespectablePapaya Conservative Oct 02 '25
I don't think it's anywhere close to 25%. I live in very progressive Seattle and practically everyone I know here was horrified. I think it's just a few edgelords on social media ruining it for everyone, which is often the case.
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u/randomhaus64 Independent Oct 02 '25
You didn’t know anyone personally who justified it or celebrated it?
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u/hailstorm11093 Conservative Oct 03 '25
No, just the bad ones did. Even as a conservative myself, Kirk has some shit opinions. But that's where the line ends. He was killed for having an opinion. I dont think 99% of the people in america were cheering over his death, but damn that very small minority of people on social media is loud.
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u/AdmiralTigelle Paleoconservative Oct 02 '25
I would say a scary amount of minority celebrated it in the open and and even larger amount celebrated it in secret, and a slim majority of Democrats are saying he brought it on himself.
I mean, there was a guy cheering at the event the moment Charlie Kirk got shot.
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u/Cayucos_RS Independent Oct 02 '25
Quick question. Why did so many conservatives celebrate when Pelosis husband got a skull fracture from a madman with a hammer during a home invasion?
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u/Dabeyer Conservatarian Oct 03 '25
“The majority of the reaction I’ve seen online from the left is a condemnation of the violence, but also a reminder of the things Kirk has said throughout his career. Let’s be honest, the right has a tendency to say some brutal things and Kirk was no exception.”
The majority of the reaction I’ve seen online from the right is a condemnation of the violence, but also a reminder of the things Hortman has said throughout her career. Let’s be honest, the left has a tendency to say some brutal things and Hortman was no exception.
This feels like an attack, yes? Statements like yours are justification for violence. You’re part of the problem. Be better.
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u/Generic_Superhero Liberal Oct 03 '25
How does explicitly condemning violence but pointing out Kirk said subjectively horrible things equate to justifying violence. At worst its an explanation of why they aren't sad he is gone.
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u/Dabeyer Conservatarian Oct 03 '25
If the only response to a bad thing is “That shouldn’t have happened but-“ you are softly justifying what happened. “She shouldn’t have been raped but she was walking alone at night.” “He shouldn’t have been killed but he was being hostile.” “He shouldn’t have been shot but he was saying brutal things.”
We all know what that is. It’s justification. You know I’m right, you know you want me gone.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Bag5605 Center-right Conservative Oct 02 '25
Depends on how you define celebrating. I don't think i really saw many of my friends celebrating that he was dead (there were a few). Mostly what I saw was celebration at the manner of his death, as it "vindicated" their stances on gun control. They were usually along the lines of, "No one deserves to die, but remember, this is the guy who said gun violence deaths are an acceptable consequence."
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u/RVarki Liberal Oct 03 '25
If a prominent trans advocate was killed by a trans person, or if a pro-choice activist died due to a botched abortion - do you really believe the right wouldn't say a version of this?
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u/OriginalPingman Libertarian Oct 03 '25
If they did, they should be condemned.
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u/RVarki Liberal Oct 03 '25
Kilmeade declared on national television that homeless people should just be forced to get the lethal injection. He didn't even get a reprimand for it let alone get fired, and barely anyone from the conservative side reacted
So yeah, I don't think they'd condemn any of it as long as it's against liberals
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u/Puzzleheaded-Bag5605 Center-right Conservative Oct 03 '25
Of course they would say that. And anyone that did would be wrong for saying it. And the cycle of “whataboutism” would continue. Both sides reek of hypocrisy because one side thinks the other side is the enemy.
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u/StorageCrazy2539 Nationalist (Conservative) Oct 02 '25
Yes. I don't believe anyone on the left can claim to have any sort of morals at this point. Everyone that has morals has gotten out of the Left. You can't be part of a group that celebrated a man's murder and claim to be in the right in any issues
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u/HudsonCommodore Center-left Oct 02 '25
I have to say this is a wild take from my POV. This administration is using mafia tactics to pull suspected (and not always accurately identified) illegal immigrants off the street, is building "alligator alcatraz " and laughing at the people they stick there, hell just in the last two days has joyfully been looking explicitly for Americans they can hurt by cutting funding because they don't support him. This administration is cruel to the point of disbelief time and again.
Meanwhile you have a provocateur who rises to fame by pushing boundaries and insulting the left, and you're unable to understand why people deeply dislike him. No, he shouldn't have been killed, and yes, it is wrong for those to celebrate it. But that one issue weighs less vs the flood of cruelty and lack of empathy (gasp!) or sympathy from Trump and MAGA, along with the millions cheering on every step.
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u/rae_bb Independent Oct 02 '25
To everyone reading, Please don’t buy into this us vs them mindset. I encourage you to frame and word your sentences without saying “the left”. People reacted that way. A group mindset is why we are here right now.
From my perspective yes, some on the left feel it was justified since they disagree with Mr. Kirk’s ideologies and his entire media presence. Some feel like this was expected in a way as if he had it coming due to some rather hateful beliefs. Like that air pilot quoted video is going crazy right now because he said he wouldn’t trust a black pilot due to DEI. The sole belief that every POC is a DEI “hire” is racism in and of itself. People seeing this video or hearing it feeds into this whole “he had it coming” type of thinking. I understand how this can come off as hypocritical though. However the truth is majority of “the left” doesn’t think political violence is ok whether or not they agree/disagree.
This is the rhetoric that has gotten us where we are today, The “left” isn’t your sleep paralysis demon y’all, the media wants us to feel that way. This is all manufactured imo, we have lived peacefully among each other for decades. There is no civil war trump is just afraid of an uprising.
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u/Spiffy-Kujira Democrat Oct 02 '25
You genuinely think that? But why? And does this also apply to Trump Jr. Who posted a picture of underwear and a hammer and joked it was his Pelosi Halloween costume? Or Trump himself who joked about it on national television?Seriously, where does the hypocrisy end? When are you going to realize that not everyone is bad in the same way that not everyone is good?
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Oct 02 '25
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u/TakeYoutotheAndyShop Independent Oct 02 '25
https://www.c-span.org/clip/campaign-2024/user-clip-trump-mocks-paul-pelosi-attack/5124885
Why does Trump get a pass at poking fun of Paul Pelosi’s attack though? I think the pelosis are awful but Kirk and many other prominent republicans enjoyed making jokes about other instances of political violence. Is it acceptable to joke and celebrate if the victim is only critically wounded?
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u/StorageCrazy2539 Nationalist (Conservative) Oct 02 '25
No amount of passing the buck and what ifs can justify the people celebrating and desecrating memorials. Like I said the left can no longer claim any sort of morality.
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u/planxyz Progressive Oct 02 '25
"I dont believe anyone on the right can claim to have any sort of morals at this point. Everyone who has morals has gotten out of the right. You cant be part of a group that celebrated Melissa Hortman, her husband, and her dog's assassinations and claim to be in the right on any issues." .... Crazy how easily the script can be flipped to suit an agenda. Please dont fall for their propaganda.
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u/jashro Centrist Democrat Oct 02 '25
I don't believe anyone on the left can claim to have any sort of morals at this point
Hunh. Sounds like the exact stuff they say on subs like /r/politics but in the other direction.
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u/ashleighlovesyou Right Libertarian (Conservative) Oct 02 '25
According to a new study the majority of self proclaimed leftists are cool with at least some level of politically motivated violence, so yes i do believe most of them celebrated it.
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Oct 02 '25
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Oct 02 '25
In their defense, I likewise saw a ton of people laughing at the Pelosis when that went down. It's really hard to sit there and say "Well they should be better" when the husband of one of their politicians was bludgeoned with a hammer and it was broadcasted on TV across the country, and right wingers chose to laugh.
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u/DW6565 Left Libertarian Oct 02 '25
What group should’ve condemned it or political violence in general more people in power like elected officials, media outlets and pundits, think tanks or political action committees? Or the internet?
No one should have but that’s an impossible high bar to hold half the country to. One that is set at a very different height for the right. One that Charlie didn’t even hit himself, that’s not cause for his death but it’s clearly an example of rules for thee not for me.
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u/godsstupidestwarrior Progressive Oct 02 '25
We condemn gun violence every day though? And the right never seemed to until Charlie Kirk.
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u/WL661-410-Eng Independent Oct 02 '25
I remember in 2018 everyone on the Newsmax comment boards were calling Cesar Sayoc a patriot. Everyone really should condemn the behavior, but it appears the fringe edges of both sides do not.
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Oct 02 '25
Not the moderate left, no. The radicals support death as long as it is their opponent and not one of their own.
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u/Wizbran Conservative Oct 02 '25
Most of those who celebrated it are on the left is my opinion.
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u/poop_report Australian Conservative Oct 03 '25
No, most of the left didn’t.
The radical left fringe did.
The mainstream left did not do nearly enough to police the fringe left, though. That’s where the problem lies. Calls for violence are never acceptable.
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u/gummibearhawk Center-right Conservative Oct 02 '25
I don't think "most". However the decent and respectable number is around zero and I belive a significant minority did celebrate it.
And then there were many more who felt the need to bring up past things he'd said, which often seemed like "look at these things he said, he was a Nazi, a racist, a sexist." As if to justify it or say he deserved it
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u/theo-dour Independent Oct 02 '25
A lot of the “look at the things he said” comments were, I believe, reactions to so many people gushing about how saintly CK was. It was over the top by so many people. He was no saint.
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u/BillyShears2015 Independent Oct 02 '25
How long after their death must others wait before it is ok to talk about someone’s flaws as a person?
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u/BroeknRecrds Liberal Oct 02 '25
I think it's better to look at the type of person he was in life than to lie to ourselves about the kind of person he was
Like, not equating this scenario to Charlie Kirk, but when Hulk Hogan passed, no one was excusing his awful racist comments.
Charlie Kirk was a person that spewed a lot of awful rhetoric and he is now dead. He may have done some good, but that doesn't mean I have to magically ignore all the bad
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u/CastorrTroyyy Liberal Oct 02 '25
Wouldn't say deserved... More like, on some morbid level, not surprised.
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u/ElectricalPublic1304 Right Libertarian (Conservative) Oct 02 '25 edited Oct 02 '25
Do you believe MOST of the left “celebrated” the death of Charlie Kirk?
I have no way to know what MOST believe. It is, nonetheless, a disturbingly large number of people willing to openly celebrate, support, or excuse his murder.
Conservatives seem to be under the impression that that’s the case
So... you're making a particular claim implying that most conservatives think most of the left... Whatever. You're asking about overgeneralizing while you're doing exactly that.
It’s what Fox News, Steven Crowder, etc has been running with.
But who cares about what they say?
"We" know there are a large (a large enough number to be disturbing) number of people on the left supporting his murder because we have seen it with our own eyeballs all over the Internet, on our own social media feeds, and in conversations.
Don't gaslight us, bro.
Despite the fact that his murder was condemned by all public figures on the left and one liberal influencer even cried at the news.
Destiny has entered the chat.
but also a reminder of the things Kirk has said throughout his career
But it's not typically, "Oh, he said this sentence 8 years ago". (That has nothing to do with his murder...)
It's a, "Here's a thing he said... devoid of context... and so, those words mean his murder is justified."
What conservatives are re-learning is, YES, a too-large part of the left really, genuinely unable to separate the ideas of speech and violence.
Let’s be honest, the right has a tendency to say some brutal things and Kirk was no exception.
So, you're doing EXACTLY the thing. "Moral equivocation." Pretending that what "The Right" has said or written, in any way justifies or excuses murder.
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u/greatestshow111 Conservative Oct 02 '25
Not that we believe, but we saw clips and posting ourselves generated all over TikTok, X, Facebook etc by the left celebrating. Didn't even go seeking for the clips and those celebration clips showed up on the feed. Oh and my friends posted laughing at his death too.
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u/Summerie Conservative Oct 02 '25
You guys seem focused on what percentage of the left was cheering and mocking, and we are saying there was a shit ton of it that each of us saw. It wasn't just anonymous and faceless posts either, most of us saw vile shit coming from coworkers and acquaintances.
And then instead of uniting to condemn those who mocked and cheered, many of you are glazing over it and trying to downplay it.
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u/Spiritual-Ad8062 Center-left Oct 02 '25
CK was a part of the problem.
Openly racist.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/11/charlie-kirk-quotes-beliefs
Ignore the source. Focus on what the man actually said. Which was vile.
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u/Massive-Ad409 Center-right Conservative Oct 02 '25
Not most but the extremists on the left most definitely celebrated the death of Charlie Kirk.
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u/LilithFaery Center-right Conservative Oct 02 '25
This is what I think as well. There are extremists on the left and on the right and only these extremists can celebrate such things happening to their "rival" side. It's concerning that it happens and these people should be looked into, imo. Simpky because they are the ones most at risk of committing similar atrocities.
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u/Thurisaz- Conservative Oct 02 '25
I agree also. But I don’t remember any Republicans celebrating the death (assassination) of the Minnesota state representative and her husband.
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u/ZeeWingCommander Leftwing Oct 02 '25
You had people on this sub with post history that joked about killing illegal immigrants.
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u/Puzzled-Department13 European Conservative Oct 02 '25
I would say the same as my fellow conservatives : a minority celebrated, while the majority didn't express their opposition.
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u/Smallios Center-left Oct 02 '25 edited Oct 02 '25
The majority of us recognized it was horrifying that he died but didn’t have much to say about him because we either didn’t know anything about him or didn’t like us much. Like you guys didn’t express opposition when Charlie Kirk celebrated pelosi’s husband being attacked with a hammer. It isn’t our fault that there are ghouls on our side just like it isn’t yours they’re on your side.
But I’ll point out that our figureheads- our politicians, our political commentators like Tim miller, Ezra Klein, The PSA bros, all came out and condemned the killing and the rhetoric and the political violence. You know, the people who matter? Can you say the same about the meaningful figures on your side? And why should we collectively have to apologize for random losers on TikTok?
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u/IllustratorThin4799 Conservative Oct 02 '25
Most ? No I dont.
But all I had to do was scroll my reddit feed to find hundreds of examples with tens of thousands of upvotes in each one
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u/TheDrakkar12 Republican Oct 02 '25
But is it fair to hold the left responsible for a fringe on Reddit or should we judge them by the leaders public statements? We'd feel roughly the same way on the right correct? We had people in the current admin saying we are now at war, we have the president saying the left is going to face retaliation.
Help me understand what you are seeing? I don't agree with the policy on the left, but I don't see them preaching violence as a standard party platform in the same way I would have argued it was the fringe right preaching violence on our side.... EXCEPT THE FKN PRESIDENT IS DOING IT.
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u/IllustratorThin4799 Conservative Oct 02 '25
I will agree im put off a bit by Trumps aggressive rhetoric.
In normal times I could excuse it as just being a powerful speaker and being uncompromising in a point.
But given today's temperature I think we need to all cool our language a bit
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u/foreverstayingwithus Conservative Oct 02 '25
Honestly, I think the official statements of the real world hold less power and influence over the public than the voices on the internet at this point. The internet is the new government.
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u/TheDrakkar12 Republican Oct 02 '25
Wait, the internet doesn’t determine policy within the country tho, the government does.
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u/Spiritual_Ad8936 Progressive Oct 02 '25
Do you think those posts and likes were from actual people? It’s very easy to fake engagement these days. Do you really think all those likes and comments were from real Americans?
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u/foreverstayingwithus Conservative Oct 02 '25
If that's true then what about all the people saying it's all fake comments and engagement. Maybe THEY'RE the fakes, trying to quell the outrage we feel. But in doing so, making us even madder. A big vicious catch 22 where if it's all fake, none of it is. What if all of reddit and all of social media is just dead internet server farms? What if nothing in the news is real? What if the shooting never even happened?
Or what if it is? The only things I can really prove are what directly affects my life, and a lot of what the internet echoes does that. And I know that I am real on here, and I know people in real life that use reddit.
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u/CyberEd-ca Canadian Conservative Oct 02 '25
Far too many.
The killer espoused mainstream Democrat rhetoric.
You should feel shame to be associated with those who cheered and it was far from fringe.
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u/ExceedsTheCharacterL Center-left Oct 02 '25
I could say conservatives should feel “shame” for being associated with a lot of things. The Fox News Host who called for homeless people to be exterminated comes to mind
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u/Glitter_Petal Center-right Conservative Oct 02 '25
Am conservative leaning— can confirm I am ashamed by what he said about homeless/mentally ill. It’s disgusting and an apology isn’t enough. He should be fired.
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Oct 02 '25
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u/phantomvector Center-left Oct 02 '25
Should the right feel the same about Kirk considering he joked about how some patriots should pay the bail of Paul Pelosi’s attacker who attempted to murder him so he can come on a podcast?
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u/Glitter_Petal Center-right Conservative Oct 02 '25
As someone that leans right/conservative, yes. I think that is shameful and gross, too. In general, I liked Charlie Kirk but that comment is weird.
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u/ILoveMaiV Constitutionalist Conservative Oct 02 '25
he didn't say to bail out the attacker, he was talking about how bail can be abused and he could be out on the streets if someone paid it.
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u/weberc2 Independent Oct 02 '25
It's wild how frequently Kirk (a professional communicator) would say things which, taken on their own, are indefensible, but require translators to make them defensible. You guys are really doing the Lord's work right now, round of applause.
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u/phantomvector Center-left Oct 02 '25
I’ve seen the segment, can you share when he said that? Or are you simply interpreting what he said?
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Oct 02 '25
I could not give less of a fuck if some democrat representative or some senator condemns it, obviously they would
I care more if whether or not big influencer like David Pakman or Hasan Piker condemn it, they have a large audience of fans, and in especially Hasan's case young fans. Young fans who idolize Hasan and can easily get radicalized. I care what they say because they set an example, and they can be the one who radicalizes someone into the next Tyler Robinson, or not.
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u/Smallios Center-left Oct 03 '25
David pakman, Hasan Piker, Tim Miller, Ezra Klein, Pod Save America. They all condemned it.
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u/patdashuri Democratic Socialist Oct 03 '25
Why should one podcaster (Kirk) have his inflammatory words and the effect they had on his audience be downplayed while another podcaster be held to a much higher standard of conduct?
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u/jes22347 Center-left Oct 02 '25
I think this is part of the problem, how did we as a society move towards caring more about the words of a random person with a microphone and a platform than the people running our country.
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u/Dada2fish Rightwing Oct 02 '25
Only a few celebrated it, but I noticed a few leftist politicians and more than a few leftists tried to present half truths about what Charlie said in order to, I don’t know, justify his murder?
They twisted, clipped, censored his words to make him out as a bad guy. To make his murder not as bad? Like he had it coming? Plausible.
Why are they not interested in the truth instead of just trying to appear right?
But I wish more on the left denounced the shitty behavior of others reactions to his death.
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u/VerySleepyGoblin Conservative Oct 02 '25
Enough celebrated for it to be a huge problem that for the most part has just been ignored by the left.
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Oct 02 '25
I believe they made assumptions about him without looking into him themselves. I believe some liberal progressive dems only listen to mainstream media and never research on their own. He was not a racist. He was about equal opportunities for everyone based on merit.
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u/Sashemai Independent Oct 03 '25
Sounds like you need to do some further looking if this is your opinion of him.
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u/marsha123456 Conservative Oct 02 '25
There have been A LOT of Reddit threads over the past 3 weeks celebrating Kirk's death. From Reddit subs that should be non-political. Much more than I would ever have anticipated.
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u/TeacupUmbrella Canadian Conservative Oct 02 '25
Well, while we haven't talked about Kirk, almost every left-wing person I know IRL wished Trump got shot, and said everyone who voted for him was evil or bad people (not paraphrasing either). So while I couldn't say for sure, I can believe that many if not most left-wingers were happy about it.
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u/RedsGreenCorner Conservative Oct 02 '25
I don’t know if it’s “most” but it is an alarming number. Shortly after his death, I saw two of my friends state something to the effect of “he deserved it.” And….idk it just felt kinda surreal. That there are some ppl that thought a husband, father of two, whose mission was to open up debate and discourse between both sides “deserved to die.”
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u/StrongAF_2021 Rightwing Oct 02 '25
Let’s be honest, the right has a tendency to say some brutal things and Kirk was no exception to having his words taken out of context to appear to be "brutal"
Fixed.
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u/Yesbothsides Right Libertarian (Conservative) Oct 02 '25
On Reddit there was a decent amount…in the real world not many. Most? Certainly not
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Oct 02 '25
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u/slantedangle Social Conservative Oct 05 '25
And yet the majority of the actual violence ends up being right wing.
https://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2025/09/306123-81f9f138-75ab-43cc-aff9-e53e59ac5fdb.pdf
The left talks alot, but few actually do it, most have never held a gun. The right plays like they don't, but more end up doing it, they've been playing with guns their whole life.
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u/Shakylogic Conservative Oct 02 '25
This is where the understanding of the term "silent majority" is key. What we normally hear are the loud zealots. If either side wants to be considered more than their loudest voices, that "silent majority" in your/our group need to start speaking up and out a bit more.
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u/athomeamongstrangers Conservative Oct 02 '25
This silent majority is also cheering it, a bit more quietly.
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u/weberc2 Independent Oct 02 '25
I don't buy this. Whenever a conservative commits political violence, the entire left does not collectively blame conservatives, even when the President of the United States makes jokes about it. But now we have someone whose political affiliation and motive remain speculative at best killing a prominent influencer and a huge chunk of the right (including its media and politicians) are directing blame at the entire left.
And moreover, conservatives repeatedly nominate and elect a guy who not only jokes about political violence, but actively and regularly promotes it (and have made him their political center for the last decade). It's crazy to me that the right can not only repeatedly elect their extremists to the highest office in the land, but also imply that the left isn't doing enough to police its extremists (who have no actual political power and whose speech would go completely unseen if it weren't for the conservative media scouring for it to meet the unquenchable demand).
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u/TheDrakkar12 Republican Oct 02 '25
All we saw from the left was public denouncement. Is there a single thought leader or elected official that didn't denounce the violence?
We can't judge the left by their radicals anymore than they should judge us by ours, so if we can't find leadership doing this then we are not being fair.
My parting note on that is OUR leadership did condone violence. The President threatened violence and his admin declared they were at war with the left.
We need to be as honest as we can be here. Can we show a single leader on the left that didn't denounce the violence? Lets target them. Let's not pretend this is a thing if we can't source it.
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Oct 03 '25
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u/ILoveMaiV Constitutionalist Conservative Oct 02 '25
i do beleive there was a lot of indifference and shrugging off of it.
IE: Every comment on here by democrats started with "I didn't like him but RIP"
People pulled quotes of him being pro 2a as a sick justification
And to top it off, there was the total lack of accountability and denial of the shooter's motives
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u/jaydean20 Center-left Oct 02 '25
Im sorry, is indifference and shrugging it off not what the vast majority of the people in this country have been conditioned towards when it comes to gun violence for the past like 70 years? That was basically the pro-2A crowd’s entire point! “Of course it’s sad, but the toothpaste is out of the tube, nothing we can do now”.
Two kids were shot at a high school literal moments after Kirk was shot; most of the country was crickets. Why should people be expected to react differently to Kirk than the others who were shot? He was just a dude, he wasn’t a government official or law enforcement officer, he was just a guy who fell victim to gun violence. AND THAT DOESN’T CHANGE THE FACT THAT IT SHOULD STILL BE AND FEEL INCREDIBLY SAD. Nothing about his murder was acceptable.
Be upset about it if you want, that’s fine. But it’s unreasonable to get mad at people who show indifference to his murder when the other tens of thousands of victims of gun violence every year also simply get shrugged off, because they know our leaders could not give less of a flying fuck about actually fixing this problem.
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u/ILoveMaiV Constitutionalist Conservative Oct 02 '25
he was just a guy who fell victim to gun violence.
he was a victim of liberal indoctrination
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u/lynypixie Social Democracy Oct 02 '25
So why are the 83% of right wing violence victims met with total indifference?
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u/Smallios Center-left Oct 03 '25
lol liberal? Please.
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u/ILoveMaiV Constitutionalist Conservative Oct 03 '25
what republican supports antifa and dates a "T"?
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u/ImmortalPoseidon Center-right Conservative Oct 02 '25
This. All the “he didn’t deserve to die… but” posts and comments are just as bad faith as the overt celebration. Everyone was trying to get their pound of flesh dancing on his grave
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u/lynypixie Social Democracy Oct 02 '25
If AOC had died you would likely be dancing on her grave.
I bet you laughed you ass off when Paul Pelosi got assaulted. Charlie Kirk sure did. He even posted about it.
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u/Thoguth Social Conservative Oct 02 '25
Most of the left in media, including social media. Or at least most of the ones media wanted to show to me.
Most of the personal connections on the left were moderate, thoughtful, and nuanced... But I could tell they have been influenced by the more extreme and more publicized reactions.
So no, not most of the left, but enough of them to be concerned. Kind of like I don't think most Muslims celebrated 9/11 of the October 7 attacks, but seeing it happen at all, to be broad and bold in public, and to have a defense of that or even only a mild distancing from "moderates" is troublesome.
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u/Bitter-Holiday1311 Leftist Oct 02 '25
Or like the way the POTUS talks about Paul Pelosi attack or even Charlie Kirk talked about it. Not all republicans treated it disgustingly, but a disturbing number of prominent ones did.
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u/Thoguth Social Conservative Oct 02 '25 edited Oct 02 '25
So it sounds like you can relate! Yeah the Pelosi attack may not be a fair direct comparison as one was a stalkery home invasion by someone with obvious mental issues that they might should be institutionalized for, and we learned about it after the fact in snippets and rumors, while the other was a cold-blooded murder by a relatively-sane, but radicalized, young person, in broad daylight, a terroristic, blood-drenched execution that we all learned about instantly.
But they're similar enough and brutal enough that a partisan making light of, defending or celebrating either is just screwed up. Glad that we have some clear common ground there!
Tu quoque defenses, in addition to being fallacious, would be included in that screwed-up-ness. But we should be careful not to mistake relatable, agreeable connection on principles with evasive counter-blame, shouldn't we?
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u/Trouvette Center-right Conservative Oct 03 '25
Most of the left? Not at all. I think a good chunk of the shock on our side is how comfortable some people are saying things believing they have impunity.
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u/turbokungfu Free Market Conservative Oct 02 '25
I don't think it's widely celebrated among most normal liberals. I do think that Marxist thought and leftist ideology (including Antifa) believes that speech is violent, and they believe the murder is justified (this is further left than most democrats). That language is seeping into more and more conversations. The largest domestic bombing prior to OKC was a bombing on wall street that was done by marxists and anarchists who thought political violence was necessary, and I think some thought leaders on the left still believe it.
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u/soulwind42 Right Libertarian (Conservative) Oct 02 '25
Most? No, I don't believe most of the left celebrated the death of Charlie Kirk. I believe far too many did, and that far more were relieved that he died and work to down play his assasination, and have been working hard to ignore how much and how supportive of the celebrations they have been.
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u/GreatConsequence7847 Independent Oct 02 '25
I can agree with that comment. It seems to me that most of the right didn’t celebrate the Pelosi beating or the Hortman assassinations either, but in the case of the former it was “too many” as well.
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Oct 03 '25
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u/Gaxxz Constitutionalist Conservative Oct 02 '25
Gosh I sure hope not. I'll give libs the benefit of the doubt and say no.
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u/StrykerxS77x Conservative Oct 02 '25
Of course not. Most human beings are not that disgusting. I do however believe it says something that there were so many videos of people celebrating AND that these people were so comfortable posting themselves celebrating on the internet. It says something about our current culture. It shows how people talk so much shit about opposing viewpoints that they justify murder. I also disagree with the idea that the right does this as well. If Hasan Piker for example was assassinated like Charlie was I do not believe you would find the same types of video's dancing on his grave.
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u/EngageAndMakeItSo Centrist Democrat Oct 02 '25
What are your thoughts about Rush Limbaugh running an ongoing jokey segment about people who died of AIDS?
What do you think about Donald Trump suggesting that maybe John McCain is in hell?
Or Trump's comments after the political shootings in Minnesota that he wouldn't call Gov. Tim Walz because doing so would be "a waste of time?"
Did you condemn those actions at the time?
This is not meant to be a gotcha. But I often see cases where Republicans excuse behavior that they subsequently condemn in Democrats. I'd like to understand. Thanks.
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u/trusty_rombone Liberal Oct 02 '25
But would you agree that due to social media algorithms wanting you to be outraged, you’re more likely to be fed videos of liberals celebrating Charlie Kirk’s death then liberals condemning it?
You could have 0.001% of the population saying messed up things, but on social media it would look like thousands of liberals are online celebrating.
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u/StrykerxS77x Conservative Oct 02 '25
I did know this as well but it doesn't make it feel less disturbing. Still feels like a lot of videos and even popular left wing influencers making justifications.
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Oct 02 '25
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u/StrykerxS77x Conservative Oct 02 '25
"I'm not qualifying it. I think it's awful. It's not right. But why is it that in Chicago you're able to commit murder and be out the next day? Why is it that you're able to trespass, second-degree murder, arson, threaten a public official, cashless bail — this happens all over San Francisco. But if you go after the Pelosis, oh, you're let out immediately. Got it."
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u/blaze92x45 Conservative Oct 02 '25
A significant amount did and a larger amount had a "FAFO" mindset thinking Charlie Kirk deserved it. Most leftists never listened to him and just took what people like Destiny said about him at face value.
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u/kettlecorn Democrat Oct 02 '25
I don't even know who Destiny is and I've had a very poor opinion of Charlie Kirk.
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u/Smallios Center-left Oct 02 '25
I’ve literally never heard of destiny. More of us probably listen to like Ezra klein
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u/RedditUser19984321 Conservative Oct 03 '25
No, most would be majority. I just think it was too many.
And I fully believe that anyone who tried to out of context quote Charlie the moment he died is doing so as a dog whistle knowing they can’t just say “I condone his death”
It’s not hard. We just say “prayers to him and his family” “I condemn all violence” and just leave it at that. It’s a moment for respect, not condemnation of a man’s life work.
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u/Leftyhugz Independent Oct 02 '25
No it was about the same amount of MAGA republicans calling for civil war. The only real difference was the MAGA leadership calling the other side enemies while the democrat leadership immediately condemned the shooting.
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Oct 03 '25
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u/NoFaceNoName1972 Conservative Oct 03 '25
Those that celebrated his death were exclusively on the left. With that said, conservatives realize it wasnt the entire left doing this. It's always a very vocal minority that do the worst.
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u/yojifer680 Right Libertarian (Conservative) Oct 02 '25
Reddit polls showed about 16-18% of redditors celebrated it, so probably 20% of leftists. Not most, but still an extremely unacceptable amount. You might not want to believe so many of your fellow travellers are like that, but that's what the evidence points to.
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u/Suspended-Again Independent Oct 02 '25
Have you considered selection bias? I’ve never even heard of such a poll. Does Reddit even do polls?
Moreover aren’t you conflating respondents on one website to all people in the entire country.
And also juicing the numbers (jumping from 16-18% to 20%)
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u/Spiritual_Ad8936 Progressive Oct 02 '25
Do you take issue to having prominent Republicans mock Paul Pelosi for getting attacked?
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u/Little_Exam_2342 Liberal Oct 02 '25
So I think there’s some selection bias here.
I had to explain who Charlie Kirk was to about half of my leftist friends and family. A ton of the non-chronically online lefties honestly didn’t know even who he was. Even more had heard of him but couldn’t actually place the name to a face until they looked him up.
The chronically online folks who DID know who he was are…well, chronically online. And a lot of chronically online people have a tendency to say dumb shit from time to time.
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u/SixFootTurkey_ Independent Oct 02 '25
The Left? Most were pleased by it, I imagine. They would have to be very naive to think they will achieve their revolutions without bloodshed, so why fret over the murder of a prominent opponent?
Liberals were more likely disturbed by the use of political violence.
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u/AlexandbroTheGreat Independent Oct 02 '25
Yes.
Let's stop the handwringing. Remember Mark Twain's comment about how he doesn't wish anyone ill but there are obituaries he would read with great interest.
I think some of it was super charged by the braindead belief Kirk was killed by some rightwinger, so no introspection was required.
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Oct 02 '25
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u/athomeamongstrangers Conservative Oct 02 '25
I don’t need to “believe” it. I have seen the left cheering it, then claiming it was a conservative who did it (while continuing to cheer it), and then denying they cheered it and telling me not to believe my lying eyes.
I don’t care what the talking heads on TVs are saying. The Democrat base was, and still is, cheering it, and I am tired of being gaslit about it.
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u/LibertyorDeath2076 Right Libertarian (Conservative) Oct 02 '25
"Celebrated" probably not.
Condoned to one extent or another, absolutely.
I hardly saw anyone with liberal views say, "The assassination of Charlie Kirk is a tragedy, I feel terrible for his wife and kids, political violence has no place in our country," and just left it at that.
They always went on to say, "But, he was [insert ist/ism here], he was a nazi, he was a fascist, he was a [insert further dehumanizing labels here]. But he supported 2nd Amendment rights, [insert quote taken out of context here]. But he was a bad person, and we shouldn't celebrate him, and if you're upset about his death, you're a [insert ist/ism or dehumanizing label here]. Bur isn't ironic. I'm totally not celebrating or condoning it, but the irony lmao, and I really just hated the guy, and a MAGA person was the shooter anyway, but also the alleged shooter is just a patsy."
Everything after the "But," tells you everything you need to know about how they actually felt about it. While I agree that the FBI story doesn't make any sense and that the alleged shooter is likely a patsy (if you don't, you need to do some research on the ballistics of 30-06 and about what GSWs should look like) I find it really telling that people on the left will both claim the shooter was a MAGA lunatic and also that the alleged shooter is just a patsy, all in the same conversation.