The assassination of Charlie Kirk must be unreservedly condemned, and I would like to do this herewith. What followed this terrible event is, however, pathetic, to put it mildly.
I am sure that, before the fatal shooting, most people – I included – did not know much about Charlie. I had to look up what he stood for and what his agenda and opinions were. I was not impressed. Specifically on health related matters, I asked AI to provide me with a list of some of his key quotes. Here it is:
| Quote | Date / Event | Full Text / Context | Notes / Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| “Children are being treated like ‘lab rats’ for the COVID-19 vaccine.” | Oct. 27, 2021, The Charlie Kirk Show | “This is a guy who’s voting to approve the vaccine to be used on your children. ‘We’re never going to be able to learn about how safe the vaccine is until we start giving it. That’s the way it goes.’ So this is the equivalent … to treating your children like lab rats … Your children are going to be experimented on.” | Kirk argues that vaccine safety is unproven for children and implies children are being used in experiments. Media Matters |
| “Take the red pill on the vaccine.” | June 24, 2021, The Charlie Kirk Show | “We have gone right into the fray about whether or not vaccines should be mandatory. The answer is no. But why is it that our leaders are so intent on pushing vaccines towards young people … If you go down the rabbit hole and you take the red pill on the vaccine, you will have your eyes opened.” | He uses “red pill” metaphor to suggest uncovering truth, often conspiratorial framing. Media Matters |
| Against vaccine mandates / passports / medical apartheid | mid-2021 | “At Turning Point USA we are going to give everything we have to make sure that students are not going to have to live in a medical apartheid because they don’t want to get the vaccine.” Also: “It’s almost this apartheid-style open-air hostage situation, like oh you can have your freedom back if you get the jab.” | He equates mandates / requiring vaccination with segregation or coercion. Media Matters |
| On masking and vaccine mandates leading to loss of other freedoms | July 16, 2021, The Charlie Kirk Show | “If they can make you put a mask on, they’ll take your guns. They can make you take a vaccine, they control your children.” | This links mask mandates, vaccine mandates, and perceived overreach in authority. Media Matters |
| “You will never live in a society … and you won’t have a single gun death … it’s worth it.” | April 2023, after a mass shooting (Christian Covenant School in Nashville) | “You will never live in a society when you have an armed citizenry and you won’t have a single gun death,” … “I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment … That is a prudent deal.” | Although this is more about gun violence / rights than vaccines, it’s often grouped in health-related because of mortality implications. Firstpost+3mint+3Newsweek+3 |
| On being unvaccinated as the “natural state.” | Sept. 13, 2021, TPUSA Live Now | “By the way, you know you’re born unvaccinated. It’s kind of like the natural state.” | He frames unvaccinated status as a baseline or normative condition. Media Matters |
| On immune health / supplements etc. | In a transcript of “My Conversation with Dr. Pierre Kory and Dr. Chris Martenson” | “…the way you get past an infectious disease is you get plenty of rest. You make sure you’re not stressed out … your vitamin D levels are adequate. … Also want to make sure you have appropriate levels of serum, zinc and selenium … What we now know … these work really, really well.” | He’s endorsing non-vaccine measures (nutrition, immune health) as important. Charlie Kirk |
| Questioning booster pushes / vaccine pushes “despite data” | 2023, interview with Florida’s Surgeon General (Ladapo) | Kirk: “What is driving them to push the boosters despite data and shows that they can actually be harmful?” | Here he’s giving voice to concerns about booster vaccine safety/effectiveness. Human Events |
[From what I can see, his opinions on many other issues that are outside my area of expertise were even worse.]
To turn Charlie Kirk into a hero, icon, visionary etc. is just ridiculous, in my view. Yes, for a range of reasons, I am sorry that he got shot – just as sorry as for the numerous further violent death in the US. Gun violence has to stop; but so should the absurd theatre around this man’s death.
12 Responses to Charlie Kirk on health-related matters: I regret his death, but am not impressed with his wisdom
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Charlie Kirk Gives His BEST Advice To 13-Year-Old Student:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6uMjQmZkiI
The text is not easy readable and chaotic as a result of the make up. I would be served well with a improved version. You did a very good job in reseaching his opinons and statements. Thanks!
He was an enthusiastic member of the Church of Latter Day Saints, so al least their god was (and presumably, still is) on Mr Kirk’s side.
Actually, he was not a Moron…. Excuse me, latter-day Saint —-Mormon.
He was an evangelical nut job.
Believing the United States was founded on Christian values and Christianity and its perpetuation was a vital necessity to secure the country’s future (and Trump’s legacy perhaps?).
Odd how Jesus saved Trump from an assassin’s bullet But was unable to save Charlie Kirk. Perhaps he was busy giving children brain tumors or creating a new strain of anti-biotic resistant bacteria at the time??
telling people the only truth in the world is the Bible and Jesus Is always an excellent way to make people like and respect you and your intellectual powers!
I believe the notion he was most interested in spirited debate and encouraging discussions was a ruse.
He wanted to proselytize young people and shut down debate by invoking the dead-Jew into every possible argument. Sanctimonious, Self-aggrandizing and hopelessly deluded are adjectives that come to mind…..that being said murder is NEVER to be condoned and I hope they execute the lowlife bastard who shot him very quickly.
I think the death penalty is morally wrong and has no place in a civilized society. Sadly the US is still one of those places.
@Jay Kennedy
I share Zebra’s view of the death penalty – not just for general moral reasons, but also because it is inevitable that innocent people are executed as well. It is estimated that about 4% of US death row inmates are wrongfully convicted. Not all these people are exonerated before their execution.
I would find this an unbearable thought if I were in any way responsible for or part of such a justice system.
Also, I understand that a death sentence poses a far greater burden on the judicial system in terms of cost and work than even a true lifetime sentence.
Sadly I think we can call his death a peverse irony given his comments and beliefs on firearms.
@Dave
Gun-related deaths are also the leading cause of death among US children and teens.
For some strange reason, this isn’t mentioned in any of Kennedy’s MAHA reports and initiatives.
@richardrasker
Indeed very true. I also believe Charlie said ‘policy decisions should not be based on emotions’ or words to this effect. This was following a school shooting no less.
Hideous in my opinion.
It’s worth looking at the full context in which he said that:
His complete response is here: Fact Check: Charlie Kirk once said some gun deaths ‘worth it’ in order to have Second Amendment
A masterpiece in false equivalence from Charlie there. He was good at it.
Most countries have strict controls on gun ownership.
No country has such controls on car ownership.
@Lenny
Also note that Kirk does not address the utility question: cars are useful. For many people, they are even indispensable for doing their job and living a normal life.
Guns are not useful. They are tools explicitly designed to hurt and kill people, and no ordinary citizen needs a gun to do their job and/or live a free life. I also understand that gun ownership is firmly associated with an increased risk of injury and death. Even people who only have a gun for ‘protection’ are better off doing away with it.