Charlie Kirk and America's History With Political Violence

Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch discuss the murder of Charlie Kirk and how political violence is reshaping the national climate.

1x 1.1x 1.25x 1.5x 2x 3x

:15 :15

Download

Charlie Kirk and America's History With Political Violence

In this episode of The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie, editors at large Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch reflect on the shocking murder of Charlie Kirk and the broader implications it carries for American politics. They discuss how his killing fits into rising concerns about political violence and what it signals about the nation's increasingly volatile climate.

This was originally recorded live on September 11, 2025. 

• Producer: Paul Alexander
• Audio Mixer: Ian Keyser

Comments

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Did Welch just scream red wedding the entire time?

[Chumby]

A legitimate time Reason could cite one of their own - discussing people that call for violence against peaceful people not politically alaigned with them.

[MasterThief]

Reason writers are all women. They assert they're always right and take zero accountability.

[SCOTUS gave JeffSarc a big sad]

Yes, Welch is a girly man.

[Gaear Grimsrud]

You think Nick's comb over is kinda gay? Because I think Nick's comb over is kinda gay.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Most importantly his akita thinks it looks gay.

[GOD OF PENGUIN ISLAND]

I wonder what effect this had on the "climate"?

Now would be a good time to throw a big cocktail party in New York or Washington, and invite every single conservative writer you know. #RedWedding2

https://x.com/mattwelch/status/1102654202545913857?s=12

[MasterThief]

Quite possibly the worst person at this rag to have on for this talk considering the optics on the specific issue. They never address how wrong they are about issues or take accountability for shitty takes. Dishonest evil fucks.

[Mickey Rat]

Does this include a mea culpa from Welch?

[Rick James]

Is this the 'cultural message' of podcasts?

[Rick James]

How do you do my fellow kids? Biden and Trump are BOTH old!

[chemjeff radical individualist]

The entire reaction to Charlie Kirk's murder has been just dumb. He was a political operative. He worked to get Team Red elected. That's fine, he had every right to do that, and no he shouldn't have been murdered. But it also means he wasn't some saint or martyr. Flying flags at half-staff is just dumb. It would be like if some left-wing youtuber was murdered. It would also be sad, but also not some national tragedy.

I understand why Team Red wants to milk this event, because they get much more mileage out of it. They have a perpetual victimhood complex, and in this case even when it is crystal clear they are the victims, it is still not enough - they must cast themselves to be EVEN MORE victims. It is not enough to condemn the murder of a political operative, as any sane person should do, including myself. We must extol Kirk's virtues, pretend that he was murdered MERELY for debating college students (as opposed to a long list of other potential reasons), cast him as a martyr to the cause of Free Speech. It is all bullshit.

It's sad that he died, and I feel sorry for his family. There. That's it.

[Sam Bankman-Fried]

Did we lower flags for the Minnesota politicians murdered by the anti-abortion nut?? Because if we didn’t I agree with you.

[chemjeff radical individualist]

Trump Orders Flags Lowered for Kirk, but Didn’t for Melissa Hortman

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/trump-orders-flags-half-mast-161910544.html

[Minadin]

She wasn't a national figure, but it always sucks when the left commits political violence against anyone.

[chemjeff radical individualist]

She became one once she was murdered.

Trump also didn't say anything like "I will root out those murderers and the organizations funding them" when it was Melissa Hortman who was murdered.

Isn't it obvious to you that the only reason the flags are flying at half-staff is because Charlie Kirk was Trump's friend?

[GOD OF PENGUIN ISLAND]

This is evil. Study it.

And understand, there are millions of Demon Jeffys out there.

[Minadin]

Was she murdered by a right-winger, or one on her own political side?

[Sam Bankman-Fried]

The nut was a Christian anti-abortion terrorist.

[Rick James]

She became one once she was murdered.

Like that girl from Ukraine who was a victim of social conditions.

[chemjeff radical individualist]

My favorite (and by favorite, I mean most nausea-inducing) was a picture I saw of Kirk's family, with the caption along the lines of "THEY KILLED HIM BECAUSE THIS IS WHAT THEY HATE". No, dummy, it is extraordinarily unlikely that Charlie Kirk was murdered because the murderer hated his family. But here we go with the lies and the narratives and the victimhood complex again. They MUST use every single opportunity to cast their opponents as even more demonic and evil than before. It cannot possibly be the case that Charlie Kirk was murdered just because he was a political operative. That's too blase'! It won't bring enough mileage! They MUST invent stupid reasons, like "hating his kids", to drag their enemies into the sewer even further.

[GOD OF PENGUIN ISLAND]

You are witnessing evil on display here.

[chemjeff radical individualist]

And no. There is not going to be a civil war.

The right-wing cranks and edgelords who have been agitating for civil war have been doing so for 10 years now. If they haven't built up the courage to start the shooting by now, it's not going to happen.

What MIGHT happen, though, is right-wing death squads. That actually has a modern-day parallel. It won't happen under Trump, because he is stupid and it would make him look bad. (Not because it would mean innocent people die - he doesn't give a shit about that. Only because it would hurt his precious image.) But a President Vance? He is like Trump, only smarter, less interested in image and ego and more of a true believer. I can see a President Vance engaging in the right-wing fever dreams of 'martial law' or 'canceling elections' or 'soldiers patrolling the cities' (oh wait, that's happening now, isn't it?!). And if any of that would happen, there would be unrest. And President Vance would be more than happy to use force to put them down.

That is far more likely than some 19th-century-style Civil War battle.

[GOD OF PENGUIN ISLAND]

https://x.com/Slate/status/1966241759500902680

[Minadin]

You best hope not.

I also hope not.