Charlie Kirk, Jesse Welles, and the Freedom of Speech

“Life is too short to not say exactly what you mean all the time.”
This is what Jesse Welles said at the conclusion of his short speech accepting the Freedom of Speech Award at the Americana Music Awards held at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on Wednesday night, September 10th. He then walked off stage to thunderous applause from the gallery of the Mother Church of Country Music, leaving them with a sentiment that couldn’t have been more poignant.
Unless you’re really dialed into the doings in independent country and Americana, you probably didn’t even know the Americana Music Awards were happening Wednesday night. It was the assassination of Charlie Kirk that dominated headlines and news feeds, as it probably should have. If you were immersed in the doings of Americanafest like many in the independent country/roots industry were Wednesday, you might not have known about Kirk’s death until you got home and caught up with the rest of the world.
There were a lot of sideways glances when the Americana Music Association announced that Jesse Welles would be receiving what was officially a “Lifetime Achievement Award.” Didn’t Jesse Welles really just appear on the scene recently? Sure, he was a roots rock artist previously, but it’s really been the last year when he’s come to prominence. In fact, Welles was also nominated for Emerging Act of the Year, illustrating the rather weird and juxtaposed accolade.
But along with releasing a lifetime’s worth of work compared to most other songwriters over the last year or so, elevating Jesse Welles for his staunch and outspoken use of music as a way to speak truth to power, empower individuals, and put current events into a greater context couldn’t have been more timely and prescient.
The Americana Free Speech Awards is given out in coordination with the First Amendment Center founded by Nashville native John Seigenthaler, and located at Nashville’s Vanderbilt University. It certainly wouldn’t be a radical pronouncement to say that the Americana music world veers left when it comes to American politics. But who was the first to ever receive Americana’s Free Speech Award? That would be conservative firebrand Charlie Daniels.
Many have tried to code Jesse Welles left as well, but that’s an insult to the reputation of the political binary Jesse Welles works within. He’s more anti-war, anti-bigotry, anti-corporations, and anti dumping whatever said corporations are dumping into the food supply and environment, poisoning the population. On many occasions, Welles has made folks on the left squirm with his pronouncements, just as he has people on the right. He’s also appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience, and is a fan of folks like comedian Tim Dillon, who also uses his artistic forum to speak truth to power.
But most importantly, Jesse Welles is sharing his perspective in often forceful and direct ways that are intended to make us all feel uncomfortable about the current state of affairs in our nation and world.
For Charlie Kirk, the assessment of political alignment was much more simple. Conservative and doggedly principled, he became famous for his back and forth with college students on campuses about political issues. But within the clearly politically-slanted forum that he worked in, there was the underlying maxim that everyone should be allowed to speak—and perhaps most importantly—people from across the political divide should speak to each other.
Jesse Welles and Charlie Kirk didn’t really have a lot in common politically—though there was probably more overlap than one might glean from the surface. But the one fundamental thing that undergirded both of their approaches was “Life is too short to not say exactly what you mean all the time.” This isn’t just our right as Americans. This is our responsibility, to ourselves, and each other.
It’s pretty simple. We have entered a late-stage era of American life where political violence, corruption, and a severe level of oligarchy has metastasized throughout society. Those presenting this as an unprecedented moment should recall the 1960s and the Kennedy assassinations, the killing of Martin Luther King, and all the political upheaval and violence of that era. But that was 60 years ago now. The level of political violence is certainly unprecedented in many of our lifetimes.
It was John Fogerty who made the trek to the Country Music Mother Church to give Jesse Welles his Freedom of Speech Award on Wednesday. The two had actually taken the stage at Nashville’s famed Exit/In the evening before to perform together. Wednesday night’s Americana Music Awards concluded with John Fogerty singing a few of the songs from the Credence Clearwater Revival catalog, including capping off the awards with a big singalong on “Proud Mary” that incorporated many of the performers from the evening, including Jesse Welles.

For years, Fogerty wasn’t even able to sing his own songs due to legal restrictions. It wasn’t until a deal was struck with Concord Records in 2023 that Fogerty was finally given that right. He recently re-recorded many of his top songs Taylor Swift-style, and re-released them in an album called Legacy: the Credence Clearwater Revival years.
So yes, John Fogerty doesn’t just know a thing or two about Freedom of Speech via the protest songs he wrote and sang back in the ’60s when he lived through and helped chronicle that period in American history like Jesse Welles is doing today. His whole life John Fogerty has been told what he could and could not sing, legally.

Some love to wax about how all music, and all speech is political in nature. But those that know the true power of music, they know that music’s power ranges much beyond the political. It was former American President Jimmie Carter who once admitted that Bob Dylan had done more to reshape American culture than he ever could. Music has that power because it has the capability of uniting as opposed to dividing.
It’s hard to paint a rosy picture about what the future might hold for the United States. The death of Charlie Kirk could result in reprisal violence. It could be used as a precursor to stifle speech in America, whether it’s through direct action of the government, or the cooling action an assassination has on all of us to think twice before we say what we believe.
But whether your Freedom of Speech hero is Charlie Kirk or Jesse Welles, it should be for all of us to protect our neighbor’s right to “say exactly what [they] mean all the time.” After all, it might be that First inalienable American right—and that First right only—that will help us rise out of this moment, and get the American project back on track before it unravels forever like a ragged old flag.
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September 11, 2025 @ 10:01 am
Hey Folks,
Going to be out in the field covering AmericanaFest all day. If this comments section descends into flame wars, I’m just going to shut it off due to my limited time to moderate comments, which ironically, would be disrespectful to the idea that everyone should be allowed to speak. So let’s all please be respectful so the discussion can continue. Thank you.
September 11, 2025 @ 1:48 pm
Unfortunately I entered into the comments on the video. Mistake.
September 11, 2025 @ 3:43 pm
Youtube comments are bad enough on a video of a kitten doing something funny. Wandering into the comments on this video, I wouldn’t be surprised if you ended up scarred for life.
September 11, 2025 @ 10:25 pm
How on Earth are you able to combine such obviously disparate people and find similarities. It’s like a middle school essay where you were asked to compare and contrast these people and you just bullshitted your way when describing their similarities.
Of course I know why you did it — for clicks. And it probably worked. You got charlie Kirk clicks for a story about a mostly anonymous musical artist.
I’m willing to bet there’s a way to write a story about the musician that would have garnered attention and would not have cost your soul. That would have been a real triumph of free speech.
September 12, 2025 @ 12:41 am
Weird comment.
First, the whole point of the article is to emphasize that no matter your political affiliation, we should all agree that everyone should have the right to speak without getting killed over it. So yes, there is a similarity there across ideologies.
Second, everything that people label as click bait never is. And the stuff that gets the most clicks is the stuff people would least expect. This article? There are a million articles out there about Charlie Kirk right now. If you post one on a small website like this, it immediately gets eaten in the algorithm by the bigger sites.
Jesse Welles is well beyond “mostly anonymous.” He has a MASSIVE social media following, and is the reigning Saving Country Music Songwriter of the Year. So I have profiled him here, numerous times previous.
September 12, 2025 @ 3:10 am
I’m sure the Saving Country Music will be won or lost on the ~75 comments on this article and the clicks that came with it.
Considering how long this site has been around, the amount of “Charlie Kirk clicks” is a comparative drop in the ocean.
Now put the fries in the bag, Jeff.
September 11, 2025 @ 10:25 pm
So the leader of college students didn’t graduate from community college, much less a real college? I had to Google the guy. What in the hell has happened fo this country? Flags at half mast for this guy? Jesus, we are a clown show.
September 12, 2025 @ 4:33 am
Who said he was the leader of college students? Was he not allowed to talk to college students if he didn’t have a degree? Condescension is not a good look.
September 11, 2025 @ 10:09 am
Just updated with the video Jesse Welles just released about Charlie.
September 11, 2025 @ 10:32 am
He has a way of saying it that utterly lacks the sanctimony and hysterical bad faith I hear from many quarters.
I can’t agree with your opinion on Kirk because his videos were edited to misrepresent his opponents. It was bad faith propaganda and cynical financial opportunism not free speech advocacy. The only good thing I can say about the guy is that he was smart enough to get the joke with South Park and not act like a fool about it.
Jesse is ,of course, right but the irony of all this is that in reality Charlie loved the gun and repeatedly rationalized violence when it was his side doing it or school kids getting shot. To be consistent with his opinion his mourners would have to say that his death was worth it. But they are over the top with violent threats today.
September 11, 2025 @ 10:40 am
I’m no fan of Charlie Kirk’s politics, but plenty of his videos were edited by others to make Charlie look bad or misrepresent him. It went both ways. And that style of video is engrained into this era of quick videos and sound bites. I don’t think his team was doing anything egregious.
And the gun part of your comment feels a bit off. Every 2A supporter believes (vocally or silently) that some gun deaths are inevitable and are a tradeoff to having the 2nd amendment. Charlie at least said it out loud and was honest about it.
September 11, 2025 @ 11:35 am
Oh come on. I wasn’t a fan of his politics but this is ridiculous.
The “bad faith” part is just so lazy and disingenuous. He was famous for showing up to college campuses and having open forum discussions….sitting at a table and inviting anyone to talk to him is the very opposite of “bad faith.”
You can disagree with his views, I disagreed with them a lot, too. The question isn’t whether his views were right or wrong, it’s more about did he genuinely believe them and did he argue for them honestly.
September 11, 2025 @ 12:16 pm
The left has become the speech police and hate. Everyone know this.
September 11, 2025 @ 1:43 pm
The irony of typing this out, while right wing influencers on X/Twitter get MSNBC pundits fired and an NFL PR guy fired for posting insensitive comments about Kirk’s death is hilarious.
My man, both extremes (and yes, Kirk was on the extreme on most issues) play the cancel culture game now. It may have started with far-left liberals on social media, but you are just living on Mars if you think the extreme right wing isn’t happy to partake in “cancel culture” as well.
September 11, 2025 @ 1:51 pm
Good
September 11, 2025 @ 4:29 pm
My brother, if you think Charlie Kirk was on the extremes, I fear you are really in the dark about what is going to come next as a result of this in short order. Charlie Kirk was a moderate Republican normie.
September 11, 2025 @ 5:50 pm
Cancel culture and murder are not even close my man.
September 11, 2025 @ 6:10 pm
Matthew Dowd got himself fired (or cancelled, if you will). He is 64 years old, and he couldn’t temper his remarks when the subject of conversation was in a life-and-death situation. The NFL guy should have the sense to not pile on in a situation like this, as he represents a multi-billion-dollar enterprise that is one our most culturally dominant entities. Apparently, he didn’t have someone like that teacher in his life, or he simply didn’t listen to whoever was. Stupid is as stupid posts…
Politics aside, a mature, thinking person has the sense to keep the heat dialed down at such a moment. I was in a vocational school when social media was starting to take root – Myspace was actually the big dog at that time! The teacher who was instructing the (mostly younger than myself) students told everyone not to have anything in public view on social media that you wouldn’t want a potential employer to see. It’s common sense, but that commodity is not so common, and it seems to be eroding as time passes, and life is lived with a digital screen in front of our faces evermore.
September 11, 2025 @ 7:04 pm
Thinking Charlie was an extremist is hilarious. And this is coming from someone who didn’t agree with him.
September 11, 2025 @ 7:37 pm
You are correct, Mike. Knowing that Communists are losing their jobs for running their rodent mouths goes straight into my veins man. It’s euphoric.
September 11, 2025 @ 1:19 pm
Fake news.
You are taking his comment out of context. Intellectually dishonest.
He didn’t love guns; he loved the Second Amendment and the freedoms it has provided for us.
September 11, 2025 @ 12:03 pm
an american treasure. thank you, jesse welles.
September 11, 2025 @ 10:27 am
That song from Welles was touching. Thank you for posting it.
September 11, 2025 @ 10:31 am
Good article. I hope the comments section stays away from vitriol, and for that hope, I’ll just say for now that I don’t agree with everything you said but I think you did a good job with this article and I agree with the sentiments in the song you posted.
September 11, 2025 @ 10:32 am
The only thing I can say is this: rest in peace, Charley. You were a great man.
I don’t see Charley so much as a champion of “freedom of speech” as I do a champion of freedom of dialogue. What so many on the left despised about him was exactly what made him so powerful—his ability to speak to young people on college campuses in their own language, and to challenge even the most hardline progressive activists to rethink their positions.
It’s easy sing or preach to the choir. It’s another thing entirely to change hearts, minds, and culture. That’s what Charley did. Congratulations to Jesse Welles on his award as well.
September 11, 2025 @ 11:32 am
Just speaking for myself as someone on the left because I think you are mispresenting some of us: I do NOT despise his ability to speak to young people, challenge ideas or engage in debate.
I do despise many (but not all) of his political positions. However, I applaud Charlie for those qualities above and wish the left had someone who had the same talent as Charlie did in that regard.
September 11, 2025 @ 12:54 pm
That’s why I said “so many on the left,” not “all people on the left.” I did hear someone comment today that there are essentially two kinds of Democrats right now: those celebrating loudly, and those celebrating quietly. I don’t personally believe that’s entirely accurate, but I will say this—the sheer number of people who rushed to social media to cheer and gloat is deeply unsettling.
September 11, 2025 @ 1:11 pm
Leftists cheering this hate democrats because they view democrats as controlled opposition that only exist to give power to right wingers. The leftists cheering this are people who use liberal as a slur.
Actual elected democrats have done nothing but be decent and say how sad this is. As opposed to elected republicans who said why should I care about murdered democratic legislatures.
Anyway we need to focus on what matters like another lame ass Jesse Welles song
September 11, 2025 @ 5:26 pm
America as a whole doesn’t seem aware that Liberal does not equal Left. Liberal is traditionally center-right in most of the Western world. What we’re all witnessing is the breakdown of the Left-Liberal alliance. This is why it’s so ridiculous when Biden or Harris are labelled far Left radicals or Marxists by the Right, who have much more in common with the Democrats ideologically than the far Left does. To the true far Left, even a Democratic Socialist like Bernie is considered a compromising sellout, and nowhere near radical enough, and this isn’t something new.
September 11, 2025 @ 6:09 pm
JBird, I am really pleased that you have made this point, well known to anyone versed in post-World War II democratic politics, as opposed to those whose ignorance of the relevant historical reality renders them easily bamboozled into an imagined counter-reality in which “timid liberalism” translates inexplicably into “radical left.”
There used to be a joke well known to us who majored in political science. The premise was that one Brit is explaining American politics to a countryman. “There is the Republican Party,” he says, “and that equates to our Conservative Party. And then there is the Democratic Party, which equates to our Conservative Party.”
Probably no longer true, though, since Republicans in this century have moved far to the right of Britain’s still largely center-right Conservatives.
September 11, 2025 @ 1:47 pm
I mean, there were folks on the opposite side of the political spectrum cheering Hortman’s murder.
Shit, we had a sitting US Senator make jokes about it (Mike Lee).
We are just going to continue to circle the drain as a country and a society if we do not call out this b.s. happening on both sides of the aisle. The “silent majority” of Americans that do not believe in posting repugnant crap on Twitter and Bluesky need to step up and call that crap out on both sides of the aisle.
Otherwise, well, we ain’t going to have much of a country left for you, me, and the generations to come. The purple-haired leftists and the “guy who follows Laura Loomer a bit too much” are going to be the death of this country. Along with corporate greed.
September 11, 2025 @ 10:33 am
Jesse Welles just showed why he won this award.
Bravo, Jesse.
Godspeed, Charlie.
September 11, 2025 @ 10:35 am
Pretty horrific day in 21st century America. And in the middle of all the news, there was a school shooting in Denver.
Charlie’s entire schtick was having debates and talking face-to-face with people he disagreed with. And unlike many political firebrands on TV and in office, he always came across as extremely respectful, polite and even-kneeled.
I count myself as someone who disagrees with so much of his politics. And yet, I am extremely envious of the career Charlie built and wish the Democrat side of the aisle had someone as likeable and engageable as Charlie was. I’ve yet to even mention the young family he leaves behind.
It feels like a fool’s wish, but I hope the temperature of this country calms down, and I hope those who are misguided find help instead of seeking violence.
September 11, 2025 @ 1:55 pm
Sadly, I don’t see it “calming down” until we have massive societal reform. And that ain’t gonna happen easy.
You can’t have a society that is getting blasted with “black box” algorithms on social media every minute of the day that do nothing but promote strong feelings in individuals to maintain engagement, a society where the majority of citizens are 1 missed paycheck away from financial hardship, and a society that values “me” over “us” and not have it crumble.
I see no path forward for things to get better. Even if you support Trump, he is loathed by half the country. If he changed his tone tomorrow, 50% of the nation would still loathe him. Replace Trump with Newsom and you have the same story.
I legit don’t know what the path forward is for things to get better, but I can’t even find the starting point from where we are today.
September 11, 2025 @ 3:15 pm
It won’t calm down until there is a massive event such as the power grid or internet infrastructure going down and there is only one party to ‘save society. People’s personal connections and relationships are on a much wider scale now than the local level – it’s internet wide. Most people have strong political beliefs despite not being political analysts or well-read from either side. The Democrats in media HATED Reagan in the 80’s but he won reelection with 49 states. The political rhetoric from the elites then hasn’t changed much thru today – it’s just that EVERYONE has strong beliefs and allegiance to their side.
The Charlie Kirk shooting was orchestrated to stir up more hatred between both sides. Only if people realize their true enemy is the Blackrock’s, Palintir’s, Rockefellers, Bill Gate’s, all the big-tech elites, big pharma and military and international weapon’s manufactures, etc then this division won’t go away.
September 11, 2025 @ 4:21 pm
I think there’s a bunch of stuff keeping the temperature high. You’ve got 24×7 news channels that need to fill time, and having talking heads argue is the easy version of if it bleeds it leads. You’ve got gerrymandering getting worse, which means that instead of politicians having to appeal to a wide variety of people, they only have to appeal to a narrow slice, which leads to more extreme politicians. You’ve got social media doing all sorts of devious crap to keep you engaged, and making you angry is an easy way to do that. Worst of all, you’ve got so many people who are just so sick of the shouting that they disengage altogether, which means only the most passionate people are voting and engaging in political conversations.
There’s way more of us who just want to live in a nice place, get along with each other, and if we disagree, be adults about it. I mean look at SCM – there are probably all kinds of ways that I might disagree with any one of you, but like Sunny Sweeny and Brennen Leigh sing, if you like country music then I guess you’re not so bad.
September 11, 2025 @ 11:57 am
Pretty funny considering Jesse Welles doesn’t say anything. Nothing but platitudes. “Politics sure is crazy huh” is the extent of the insight he’s ever expressed in his music. I’ve tried but I find the praise he gets baffling other than some people just love the complexities of the world reduced to boring cliches
September 11, 2025 @ 12:01 pm
Thank you Trigger. Thank you Jesse. Thank you Charlie.
September 11, 2025 @ 12:15 pm
I posted here two weeks ago warning your readership about the sudden spate of ANTIFA active shooting threats on conservative college campuses. And you chose to censor me.
And now you sit there pontificating about free speech.
Still want accuse me of “culture war” while your side is committing political assassinations on college campuses?
.
I
September 11, 2025 @ 12:43 pm
What is my side? Advocating for traditional country music and independent artists?
September 11, 2025 @ 12:57 pm
You tell me.
How many left wing views do you censor?
How many liberals do you accuse of “culture war” due to the speech they post on your blog?
September 11, 2025 @ 1:09 pm
This comes up all the time.
You can’t see the comments deleted on the left because they’re deleted. Both sides think the other side is being favored. I’m simply trying to run a country music website where folks from across the political spectrum can come and discuss the music.
And trust me. I get accused of being on the right way more than being on the left.
September 11, 2025 @ 2:40 pm
@Trig–I’m sure you’re telling the truth there.
When you step away from the people who normally frequent this site and into the wide world of the Internet and people who get sent here by other sites, I imagine this site is known among millennials (if at all) mostly as “the old raysist white dude who hates on Beyonce.”
September 11, 2025 @ 1:37 pm
Trigger censors left wing comments often. When someone with left/liberal views responds to a ridiculous right wing comment, trigger often comes in and threatens to shut down the comments, responding to the left’s response but rarely the original comment that sparked the response. That’s censorship of left wing views.
September 11, 2025 @ 3:34 pm
It’s not censorship and it’s trigger’s site he can do whatever he wants. But yes the pattern is right winger says outrageous thing, left winger responds, trigger says stop talking about politics
September 11, 2025 @ 3:40 pm
I have never seen a leftist complain of being censored on here.
September 11, 2025 @ 7:18 pm
You’re such a crybaby. Trig has been censoring the s**t out of me for over a decade. He should let me speak freely and ban you.
September 11, 2025 @ 11:08 pm
That’s quite reactionary to some, it seems.
September 11, 2025 @ 12:57 pm
Thank god Hank 33 is here to anonymously warn the readers of a music blog about Antifa shootings on college campuses. Call the FBI next time you have a hot tip.
September 11, 2025 @ 1:49 pm
You can always spot the folks who spend too much time on X. God, the brain rot in society from social media alone…
September 11, 2025 @ 11:11 pm
Isn’t that the point with it all, from X to Bluesky and beyond?
Make the peasants chasing unicorns and shadows to keep them in their place?
September 11, 2025 @ 1:56 pm
In my state, Minnesota, earlier this summer, a far-right, conspiracy-theorizing maniac murdered a leading Democratic state legislator and her husband in their home late one night. Around the same time he also sought out a male Democratic legislator and his wife and attempted to kill them, succeeding only in seriously wounding them and sending them to the hospital for an extended stay.
Curious how this episode has already been forgotten by the Hank 33s to whom lives of people who don’t agree with him don’t seem to be a matter of consequence.
I never liked Charlie Kirk or agreed with his ideological views, but he was a fellow human being who I’m sure had his virtues. And he was a husband and father. He and I have that in common and that alone is a profound connection. Whoever shot him to death, whatever his political affiliation (if any), is a monster. We’ll learn more, but that’s all we need to know for now. We are not required to hate each other.
No one deserves to be murdered — does that actually need to be stated? — nor does anyone deserve to be the recipient of false and malicious charges such as Hank 33 routinely dumps on innocent people whose true crime, apparently, is not having the intelligence level or the personal compassion of a barstool ranter. No evidence exists that “our side” (also criticized for opposing guns and the mass violence they perpetrate, by the way) is conspiring to commit killings on college campus. No evidence, however feeble, is even offered. None of those making the charge even pretend it exists. That doesn’t stop them, of course, and the hate goes on. When will it stop?
September 11, 2025 @ 7:42 pm
I remember this. That Minnesota state legislator was killed shortly after breaking rank with Democrats and voting against a bill to provide free healthcare to illegal immigrants. It makes zero sense that a Republican would kill her and her husband for that.
September 12, 2025 @ 5:37 am
How do you jump to the conclusion that all 4 of these people were shot because of this? That’s wild man. You’re not thinking straight…strait.
September 11, 2025 @ 4:12 pm
Sorry, but get out of here. I actually have no idea of what Trigger’s politics are, but I pay close attention from an academic standpoint and his journalistic integrity is just too much for him to do what you suggest.
September 11, 2025 @ 12:32 pm
Jesse is so freaking prolific. It’s one thing to be able to spit out poetry with the snap of a finger. It’s another thing to spit out a new melody with the snap of a finger. Now he’s got more complex cord structure going into these songs and they just get better and better.
The Charlie Kirk thing is really disturbing. I know it is nothing new in this world, but some scumbag just completely removed a father from a family. He rationalized many things that likely should not have been rationalized because his brain was so huge and driven by logic, but he sure did touch a lot of lives in a positive way. Shame on all the hate in this country. SHAME!!!!
September 11, 2025 @ 1:12 pm
It’s in our American DNA to be able to say what’s on our minds without having to self censor. The details of the assassination don’t pass the smell test for me. I don’t believe for a second that this was an organic left-wing shooter. A 200 yard shot like that are only done by skilled marksman. I fully expect that the shooter will have zero social media footprint besides communications directly with the Feds.
Yesterday Senate Republicans won in a slim majority to not release Epstein files. Netanyahu was one of the first to tweet prayers for Charlie.
September 11, 2025 @ 1:18 pm
I recommend folks not watch Kirk’s death video. I saw it by accident and the whole incident is immensely chilling. One moment he sits there dealing truth and the next second a splash of red from a slumping body.
“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”
September 11, 2025 @ 3:48 pm
Was Chuck a patriot or a tyrant?
September 11, 2025 @ 5:28 pm
His name is Charlie, asshole.
“Say His Name.”
He just got assassinated and you nick name him.
Show some respect.
September 11, 2025 @ 6:19 pm
Charles James Kirk was, above all, a Christian, American man who didn’t gratuitously denigrate people who didn’t agree with him or wasn’t as articulate and informed as he was. That’s who I believe he was…
September 11, 2025 @ 3:36 pm
I just got to say with an overload of extreme views from both sides yesterday and today, this comment section has had some of the most rational responses and dialogue back and forth between people I’ve seen. End of the day the country needs more people willing to listen to each other and realize we got a lot more in common than we don’t. Hold your families tight and make sure to tell people you love them. This was a tragedy and I’m optimistically hoping in the end cooler heads prevail not just for us, but for the future generations we are leaving this to.
September 11, 2025 @ 7:42 pm
Do you consciously comprehend that the Communists just murdered the guy who wanted to listen?
Furthermore, do you understand that the Communists murdered the guy who wanted to listen because people were listening?
And do you also understand the ramifications of these things?
September 11, 2025 @ 6:06 pm
Charlie Kirk is a hate mongering bigot, and I am sick of people trying to normalize hate. Kirk said gay people should be stoned to death, that the civil rights act was a mistake. He celebrated when a Muslim child got shot at. I am sorry for his family. But hate is not A DIFFERENCE OF AN OPINION.
I lost a trans friend to suicide last year, because of the constant bullying and harassment from people like Charlie Kirk.
Kirk said women need to get married at a younger age, that’s statutory rape, he called transgender people sick and a middle finger to god.
This is not a normal difference of opinion, this is far right wing hate. and I am getting tired of people trying to normalize hate.
So I will not laugh and celebrate over his death, and I feel for his family, but I will not shed one tear, over that bigoted monster. Good riddance charlie Kirk, I will not miss you one bit.
September 11, 2025 @ 6:18 pm
Liar.
Charlie Kirk never said any of those things.
Gender dysphoria, a defined mental illness, itself causes suicide ideation.
No one bullied your “friend.”
September 11, 2025 @ 6:36 pm
Sorry friend, he did say those things. I can send you the videos if you want. You can stick up for hate I will not. And my friend was driven to suicide by hate. You have no clue what my friend went through. So you can go to hell. Live in your hate filled delusional lies. People like you are the reasons these types of shootings happen. I am not going back and forth with bigots, I said my peace. So deal with it. None of the right wings delusional banter cannot change facts. If you can’t handle facts, that is your problem not mine FRIEND.
September 11, 2025 @ 6:44 pm
Yeah, post the links here to the alleged quotes.
You won’t, though, because you made them up.
September 11, 2025 @ 8:52 pm
Ask your ass licker, trigger won’t let me respond. Freedom of speech, can’t post video. Don’t have anything to prove to a Nazi anyway
September 12, 2025 @ 12:34 am
Whose ass am I licking? If you can’t respond, it’s probably because the comments have hit the 5 tier max. You cannot embed video here, but you can post links.
September 12, 2025 @ 6:26 am
Your slurs and unhinged behavior are kind of scary. Legit scary. This is making this forum unnecessarily ugly. You really need to dial this back.
September 11, 2025 @ 7:15 pm
Free speech sort of sounds like a good idea, until you start thinking about where it leads logically. Speech should only be allowed if it aligns with eternal truth. The Constitution only works in a society where everyone has the similar values.
Communists shouldn’t be allowed to speak freely. Their ideas should be criminalized.
If anything positive comes out of this tragedy, it will be the complete obliteration of leftwing ideology in the United States, a generational cleansing. Either denounce your beliefs, or rot in a cell.
September 11, 2025 @ 8:59 pm
Only free speech for Nazi lovers like you? Right cracker ass?
September 11, 2025 @ 8:05 pm
Interesting article. I also agree that life is too short not to say how you feel. Charlies death is just stupid but when you put yourself out in the publics eye, you have to expect stuff like this. Still very sad though. Far as facts go, ones facts are anothers bullcrap. Charlie wasnt far right at least based on the world i grew up in. I never really paid attention to him much other than seeing his videos on tik tok But i did admire his welcoming people to talk about issues regardless of his beliefs. He did it in face to face situations which is great in an age of people hiding behind screens. Invariably he died because of it, partly so anyway. But people should speak their mind far as what they believe, thats the lesson to be learned from him. Also the art of listening is gained from him. Problem is that some people think listening means agreeing, otherwise you arent listening. But that isnt so.
September 11, 2025 @ 8:51 pm
All Charlie Kirk did was try to open communication and conversation. He allowed anyone to stand up and say what they believed, often nothing more than attempts to vilify Charlie himself. He then politely, calmly, and respectfully debated their ideas with those of his own. To those who interacted with him, both those who agreed or disagreed, he was known as a kind and gracious man. He used his influence and money generated to better the lives of children with scholarships and opportunity. He was a man of faith, a husband and father.
You don’t have to agree with Charlie Kirk, and you could have in fact said it to him face to face, engaged him in debate. But to murder him, and then try to paint him as deserving of what he got is despicable and vile. There is no excuse for executing a man for having the courage to exercise his constitutional rights.
The left hated Charlie Kirk not based on his qualities as a man, but because he was intelligent, kind, and most importantly, he was convincing.
September 11, 2025 @ 8:58 pm
This is a Country blog.I KNOW leftists such as I are viewed far more unfavourably than rightists.
Didn’t know John Fogerty didn’t own his music until 2023,but I’m glad he’s back. (At 72,I lived through the 60’s,which began so promisingly yet ended up in the Altamont and Manson murders,to say nothing of the 1963 and 1968 JFK,Sr.,MLK,Jr. and RFK,Sr. assassinations.It was Dr. King,anticipating this Second Gilded Age in which a commercial re. homelessness can run directly following one about the SIXTY-SIX TRILLION DOLLARS controlled by the Forbes 400,including World’s Richest Chap Elon Musk’s FOUR HUNDRED THIRTY BILLION SMACKERS,said a couple of years before his slaying that America has rugged individualism for the non-wealthy and socialism for the fortunate sons and daughters.Thanks,CCR,for that timeless 1968 hit.)
Finally, though I’m as far from a fan of his reactionary stances as can be imagined,hopefully Charlie Kirk’s slayer(s) will be found and brought to justice.
September 11, 2025 @ 9:01 pm
Kirk lost his life defending the right of Americans to hate and menace each other with 400,000,000+ guns. Think of the irony,righties…
September 11, 2025 @ 9:42 pm
Actions like this is always wrong, no matter the cause.
Left or right; physically attacking someone because of something as banal as political disagreement never solves a thing.
Charlie didn’t deserve this, neither does anyone else flagging their political views.
We got these violent, murderous freaks on both sides, and it’s a very bad sign for our future that these attacks are about to be normalized.
As a nation we’re knee deep in faeces, and no political party can offer a sustainable solution; the problems runs too deep in both parties.
September 12, 2025 @ 2:19 am
When the bullet struck him, Charlie Kirk was having a public conversation with a man who vehemently disagreed with him, at an event Kirk put together to foster such conversations. Kirk specifically invited people such as this man to these events and encouraged them to engage in discussion.
Kirk clearly believed in freedom of expression and discourse and died a violent death, forever silenced, while participating in a debate with someone who had different opinions. THAT”S irony.
He also believed and stated many times his belief in the right of a people to defend themselves not only from criminal attacks on their person but from a tyrannical government, if necessary by the use of arms.
His death by firearm is now being celebrated and he is being mocked by people who claim to hate firearms and use terms like “gun violence”. THAT”S irony.
September 12, 2025 @ 6:14 am
Found the dumbest comment on here. There was no hate in what Kirk was doing. He wanted an open and honest dialog and that should be welcome by all Americans. Just because you disagree with him, doesn’t mean he hated you. He welcomed all opinions and argued against all that he disagreed with. This is the American way. As far as the guns go, the 2nd Amendment was created so the public could defend itself against an oppressive government and those that try to unjustly infringe on you or your property.
September 11, 2025 @ 9:12 pm
Regardless of one’s political affiliation, or whether one means right or left, there is no excuse for assassinating someone for speaking on what they believe. We all have the capability to research and form our own opinions as to whether or not we agree with what is being said. If we, as citizens of this country, lose freedom of speech, we are doomed.
September 11, 2025 @ 9:13 pm
Regardless of one’s political affiliation, or whether one leans right or left, there is no excuse for assassinating someone for speaking on what they believe. We all have the capability to research and form our own opinions as to whether or not we agree with what is being said. If we, as citizens of this country, lose freedom of speech, we are doomed.
September 11, 2025 @ 11:21 pm
Our freedom shrinks by the hour here in the western societies. Every single mayor party in every single nation serves a power, and it’s not the power of the people.
In the end, it’s all about money. They’re bought and sold, from left to right.
September 11, 2025 @ 11:24 pm
I’m not convinced freedom of speech really exists. Don’t believe me? Start talking about bombs next time you step foot on a plane.
That being said, one is free to spread hate, though why anyone would want to spend their life doing so is beyond me.
Ultimately when you make a conscious decision to make your life’s work insulting huge numbers of people, and you do so in a country where the access to firearms is absolutely crazy to every outsider, there may well be repercussions like we saw this week.
September 12, 2025 @ 4:36 am
Interesting thought. Talking about bombs on a plane is akin to going to a school function and talking about shooting up places for fun, kind of stupid. Freedom is as much a respibsibility as a right. Far as the second part, lots of times you can use hate like you use facts. Ones facts are anothers bullcrap. Ones hate can be anothers beliefs.