The exploitation of the death of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk by MAGA Republican President Donald Trump, members of his administration, and the MAGAsphere has turned a right-wing commentator often criticized for his rhetoric into a martyr above reproach.
Media personalities and ordinary people are being censured and censored for just quoting Kirk's own less palatable words or for criticizing how the real Charlie Kirk has been obliterated by those conservatives sanitizing his life while seeking to gain from his death.
Anything less than worship is being attacked as celebrating his death and promoting violence by unhinged MAGA minions and political opportunists.
Actor Amanda Seyfried found herself in the crosshairs of those who adhere to the Kirk martyrdom narrative over a three word comment she made on Instagram in reference to an actual quote from Kirk.
In July, Kirk wrote on X:
"Zero people from Gaza should be allowed to come to America. Period."
In response to Kirk's post pushing for children and other noncombatants forced to live in a war zone being targeted for exclusion as refugees, Seyfried—who uses the user name "mingey"—commented:
"He was hateful"
In the pre-martyr period, many agreed that targeting children and other noncombatants fleeing a war zone because of their race, religion, or ethnicity was hateful. But the MAGA martyrdom movement requires ignoring everything that was said or done by Kirk that doesn't fit their new narrative.
After facing backlash from those retconning Kirk for their own purposes, Seyfried spoke out.
On her Instagram, the Mamma Mia movies star wrote:
"We’re forgetting the nuance of humanity. I can get angry about misogyny and racist rhetoric and ALSO very much agree that Charlie Kirk’s murder was absolutely disturbing and deplorable in every way imaginable."
"No one should have to experience this level of violence. This country is grieving too many senseless and violent deaths and shootings."
"Can we agree on that at least?"
The post was captioned:
"I don’t want to add fuel to a fire. I just want to be able to give clarity to something so irresponsibly (but understandably) taken out of context. Spirited discourse- isn’t that what we should be having?"
People on Reddit appreciated Seyfried's honest commentary.
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People reached out on Instagram as well.
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Kirk's army of apologists have tried to explain away his own well documented views, claiming every direct quote is taken out of context and people need to view all of his online content to understand why his posts on X weren't racist, misogynistic, or hateful.
Mourning that another person was killed in another act of senseless gun violence is something everyone should do.
Now if even a fraction of the energy put toward trying to defend Kirk's image from his own words was put towards ending gun violence in the United States, maybe fewer people would end up sharing his violent end.
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