A portrait of Charlie Kirk shaded in red with white and yellow outlines.

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Charlie Kirk has a history of violent and bigoted rhetoric. He was the first guest on California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s podcast.

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Written by Vesper Henry

Research contributions from Alyssa Tirrell

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom has launched a self-titled podcast billed as “real talk about what impacts listeners most” with “no spin” and “no script.” His first guest was one of right-wing media’s most incendiary talking heads – Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. Kirk, who has attacked Newsom and his policies on his own show several times, has a history of espousing violent and bigoted rhetoric.

  • Kirk has an extensive history of using anti-LGBTQ rhetoric

  • Kirk has used an anti-transgender slur on several occasions. During ThoughtCrime, a show Kirk co-hosts with fellow extremist Jack Posobiec, Kirk celebrated being able to say the slur on Rumble, though he had also uttered it months prior on YouTube when describing trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney. Kirk did the same even before that in a late 2022 episode of his self-titled show. [Real America’s Voice, The Charlie Kirk Show, 12/9/22; YouTube, The Charlie Kirk Show, 4/10/23; Rumble, ThoughtCrime, 6/15/23]
     

  • The TPUSA founder encouraged Donald Trump to campaign on banning gender-affirming care and called for providers to be given a “Nuremberg-style trial.” His comments fit into a broader right-wing media trend of calling for gender-affirming care providers to be imprisoned — an effort which has resulted in legislation before. [Rumble, The Charlie Kirk Show, 4/1/24, 4/1/24; Media Matters, 11/22/22; Them, 8/22/22]

  • Kirk was among pundits to celebrate the 303 Creative v. Elenis ruling allowing anti-LGBTQ discrimination. Like the Masterpiece Cakeshop case, 303 Creative v. Elenis confronted the Supreme Court with the question of whether private business owners could turn away LGBTQ people in accordance with their religious beliefs, flouting anti-discrimination ordinances — to which the court ruled they could. After the ruling, Kirk was among members of right-wing media celebrating the decision for propelling the effort to roll back LGBTQ protections. “The ability to say no is what actually keeps our society orderly,” Kirk said. Now, Iowa has pushed those efforts even further, striking protections for trans people from civil rights law. [Media Matters, 7/10/23; CBS News, 2/28/25]
     

  • Kirk has branded trans people as “groomers” but has reportedly collaborated with sex offenders. On X (formerly Twitter), Kirk said, “A groomer is a person who pushes grossly inappropriate sexual topics onto young children for the purpose of normalizing sexual behavior, exposing them to abuse, or implanting the notion they should mutilate their bodies to cure 'dysphoria.' Turning Point does none of those things.” Just a year prior, a former TPUSA staffer pleaded guilty to and was sentenced for possession of child pornography. And one of TPUSA’s Pastors Summit sponsors was founded by a man who served time in federal prison for the “coercion and enticement” of a minor. TPUSA said it was not aware of the “incident” but that the founder was not speaking at or organizing the event. [Twitter/X, 7/15/23; The Young Turks, 9/29/22; Rolling Stone, 5/27/23]

  • Kirk has invoked the great replacement theory, attacked Haitians, and complained about “Black crime”

  • Kirk has repeatedly invoked the great replacement theory. Kirk has invoked the great replacement theory — which claims white people will be demographically replaced by nonwhite people — several times while fearmongering about immigration primarily through the U.S.-Mexico border. Kirk has gone so far as to claim that the left “won't stop until you and your children and your children's children are eliminated” and that “illegals” could steal your home. [Rumble, The Charlie Kirk Show, 1/8/24, 3/1/24, 3/20/24]

  • Kirk claimed Haiti is “legitimately infested with demonic voodoo” and Haitian migrants would “become your masters” if Trump lost the election. Kirk also amplified the claim that Haitian migrants were eating people’s pets in Springfield, Ohio. That claim was famously repeated by Donald Trump at one of the 2024 presidential debates. [Rumble, ThoughtCrime, 3/21/24; Rumble, The Charlie Kirk Show, 9/9/24, 9/27/24; NBC News, 9/10/24]

  • Kirk claimed that “Black crime is a major issue in our country” and that “prowling Blacks go around for fun to go target white people.” He also claimed that calling white women “Karen” is a “slur.” [Salem Radio Network, The Charlie Kirk Show, 11/28/23; Real America’s Voice, The Charlie Kirk Show, 5/19/23]

  • Kirk has endorsed violent confrontations against migrants and trans people, claimed the left is trying to provoke the right into violence, and called for the death penalty for Biden

  • Kirk supported shooting near and whipping migrants at the southern border. “You can start with firing next to them. Say, hey. We have weapons. We're willing to use them,” Kirk said. He later added, “Of course you should be able to use whips against foreigners that are coming into your country. Why is that controversial?” [Rumble, The Charlie Kirk Show, 3/21/24]

  • Kirk called for then-President Joe Biden to either go to prison or face the death penalty for “crimes against America.” [Salem Radio Network, The Charlie Kirk Show, 7/24/23]

  • Kirk called for men to physically confront transgender athletes. Kirk said he “would’ve loved” if transgender swimmer Lia Thomas tried to compete in 1950s America and “the fathers of every other competitor would've come out of the stands and formed a line in front of Thomas and saying, ‘Hey tough guy, you want to get in a pool? 'Cause you're going to have to come through us.’” [YouTube, Saving America Tour with Charlie Kirk, 3/29/22]