Martyr Manipulation

By JAZMIN GOMEZ

“A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it.” – Oscar Wilde

“[Charlie Kirk] is a martyr for truth and freedom,” President Donald Trump said in an Oval Office address on Sept. 10.

The public must deal with the repercussions of arguably the most influential person in America claiming a highly controversial man to represent two of the most important powers a person can hold — truth and freedom. Along with Trump, the conservative right on X calls Kirk a religious martyr or a martyr for free speech. 

Where is the harm in this? The issue lies with the man, Kirk, and his political and ideological views. On Sept. 10 on Utah Valley University campus, Kirk was publicly assassinated during his first event on his “American Comeback Tour” presented by Turning Point USA, which was founded in 2012 by Kirk. 

According to their mission statement, “Turning Point USA is organized and operated exclusively for educational and charitable purposes to empower informed civic and cultural engagement grounded in American exceptionalism.” Beliefs of the non-profit include highlighting the United States as the best country in the history of the world, and emphasizing capitalism as the “most moral and proven economic system ever discovered.” 

TPUSA Faith, a faction of TPUSA founded in 2021 by Kirk, “exists to unite the Church around primary doctrine and to eliminate wokeism from the the American pulpit.” Yes, the error is evident on the organization’s website. 

A few of Kirk’s personal statements are listed below, courtesy of The Guardian. 

“If I see a Black pilot, I’m going to be like, boy, I hope he’s qualified.”

– The Charlie Kirk Show, 23 January 2024

“Happening all the time in urban America, prowling Blacks go around for fun to go target white people, that’s a fact. It’s happening more and more.”

– The Charlie Kirk Show, 19 May 2023

“If we would have said that Joy Reid and Michelle Obama and Sheila Jackson Lee and Ketanji Brown Jackson were affirmative action picks, we would have been called racists. Now they’re coming out and they’re saying it for us … You do not have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously. You had to go steal a white person’s slot to go be taken somewhat seriously.”

– The Charlie Kirk Show, 13 July 2023

“Reject feminism. Submit to your husband, Taylor. You’re not in charge.”

– Discussing news of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s engagement on The Charlie Kirk Show, 26 August 2025

“The answer is yes, the baby would be delivered.”

– Responding to a question about whether he would support his 10-year-old daughter aborting a pregnancy conceived because of rape on the debate show Surrounded, published on 8 September 2024

“I think it’s worth it 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. That is a prudent deal. It is rational.”

– Event organized by TPUSA Faith, the religious arm of Kirk’s conservative group Turning Point USA, on 5 April 2023

“The American Democrat party hates this country. They wanna see it collapse. They love it when America becomes less white.”

– The Charlie Kirk Show, 20 March 2024

“Islam is the sword the left is using to slit the throat of America.”

– Charlie Kirk social media post, 8 September 2025

The word martyr invokes a sense of freedom, a feeling of intense pride, because one who is willing to die or suffer for a cause must mean something great. Right? Unfortunately, modern martyrs cannot actually exist, at least in America.

Due to our polarized political climate and intense emotional animosity the public contains for the opposing side, if someone dies, their death will only represent the obviously sad cessation of life. Sometimes. Americans cannot even agree on the celebration of life without debating when conception begins or the mourning of death without arguing if it was deserved or not. How can we grieve while also commemorating the death of a supposed martyr without dissecting the minutiae?

How can Charlie Kirk be a martyr with his obviously racist and sexist views? How can everyone celebrate him if he did not celebrate everyone? Condemn assassinations. Mourn the deceased. Condemn the bigoted. Mourn actual martyrs.

Featured image: Boulder Daily Camera