On July 15, 2024, the first day of the Republican National Convention (RNC) at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and the creator of Turning Point USA, spoke to a packed audience. Kirk had been coming to big GOP events for a long time because he was the leader of one of the most important conservative youth groups in the US. Being at the RNC with other Republican leaders made a lot of people think that he was becoming more popular with younger party members. The convention, which ended with Donald Trump accepting the party’s nomination for president, started the campaign cycle for 2024.
But the atmosphere in the country would change a lot in just over a year. Charlie Kirk was shot and died on September 10, 2025, while giving a speech at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, as part of his “American Comeback Tour.” The meeting was supposed to get young conservatives excited and talk about how he thinks America is different from other countries and how the government should be limited. Instead, it developed into a tragic tragedy that shocked the political world and got a lot of media attention, some of which rapidly became contentious on its own.
Someone shot at Kirk while he was talking to a group of students and supporters. Witnesses said that the gunman walked up to the stage and shot Kirk in the neck at close range before police could stop him. A short time later, a nearby hospital said that Kirk had died. The police have arrested the gunman, but they haven’t said why yet because they are still looking into it.
The murder of a well-known conservative on a college campus sparked a national discussion about political violence and how the media affects the political climate that leads to these kinds of tragedies. They were shocked, angry, and offended at first. Republican leaders and critics on the right said that it was a political attack. Turning Point USA chapters and other groups conducted vigils all throughout the country.
Others, however, thought that not all of the comments were polite or suitable. A few hours after the shooting, numerous news organizations were attacked for how they covered it live. TMZ was one of the first news sites to show videos and news of Kirk’s shooting. In the past, they have written a lot about famous people. But everyone who was watching the live event noticed others laughing in the background right away. People on social media soon thought the source was making fun of Kirk’s death.
TMZ later reported that the laughter was because of a movie that was being shown off-air, but by then it was too late. The site said they were sorry and that the timing of the event was “very unfortunate.” They also said that it didn’t demonstrate how serious they were about the problem. A lot of people still thought the explanation wasn’t good enough and said that TMZ was tone-deaf during a national tragedy.
On the other hand, MSNBC’s coverage of the event was more popular. Matthew Dowd, a political analyst, said statements on a live broadcast about the bigger effects of political violence in the US that many people believed were rude and hurtful. When questioned what kind of environment would allow for such violent behavior, Dowd said that Kirk’s own words might be making things worse by making people angry.
“He’s been one of the most divisive, especially divisive younger figures in this, who is always pushing this kind of hate speech or hate speech aimed at certain groups,” Dowd added. And I always think that angry thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions. You can’t keep saying and thinking bad things and expect positive things to happen. That’s how things are right now, and it’s too bad.
A lot of people promptly shared Dowd’s comments, saying that he was blaming the victim just after a murder that had to do with politics. Criticism came fast and from both sides of the aisle. Some opponents on the left even called the statements “tone-deaf” and “reckless.” “I’m sorry for what I said and how I said it,” Dowd wrote on the social media site Bluesky to try to make his argument clearer. When I said what I said, I didn’t mean to blame Kirk for this terrible act. Let’s all agree that violence is horrible.
But the anger didn’t go away even after they said they were sorry. MSNBC put out a statement from network president Rebecca Kutler because they were getting a lot of criticism and pressure from inside the company. “Matthew Dowd stated things that were disrespectful, mean, and wrong when we were covering the breaking news about Charlie Kirk’s shooting. He said he was sorry for what he said, and we were too. No matter what, there is no place for violence in the US.
MSNBC declared soon after that Dowd was no longer an analyst. The firing started another round of debate, this time over free speech and whether journalists should be punished for saying provocative things while covering breaking events under a lot of stress. Some people said that Dowd had the right to speak out against language that divides people, but others thought it was wrong to talk about it, especially so soon after Kirk’s death.
People from all throughout the conservative movement also sent their condolences at the same moment. Kirk started Turning Point USA when he was 18 years old. He made the group a national powerhouse by getting tens of millions of people to follow them on social media, being well-known on college campuses, and having close relationships to GOP leaders. He often talked about how to stop what he called the radicalization of America’s youth, promote capitalism, and fight against communist ideas.
Many people who didn’t like Kirk thought he used inflammatory language, but his supporters felt he was a brave truth-teller who inspired young conservatives and talked about things that other people were too scared to talk about. People either loved or hated Kirk, but he had become one of the most important voices in modern conservative politics.
His death has started a bigger national discourse about more than just political violence. It’s also about what famous people say, how they say it, and what they do. As the country continues to mourn and reflect about what happened, there are still worries about how divided political rhetoric may lead to further violence in the future and what the media’s role should be in such tales.
One thing is for sure: Charlie Kirk’s death has changed American politics for good. We don’t know if that will bring people closer together or push them apart even more.
