On September 11, Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt’s wife, Tavia Hunt, took to her Instagram Stories to share her tribute for political activist Charlie Kirk. Kirk was shot dead on September 10 and passed away a few hours later, after being taken to the hospital.
Hunt shared a Twitter screenshot from dr.raymondnichols on her Stories that read,
“This has nothing to do with politics. Nothing to do with left or right or red or blue. This is about humanity. And the fact that we’re losing it. We’re watching life lose value right in front of our eyes and barely blinking. We’ve made evil look casual. We’ve made pain entertaining. And the scary part? Most people don’t even feel it anymore.”
Chiefs Owner’s Wife Tavia Hunt | Instagram
While Tavia Hunt backs the notion that Kirk’s shooting had “nothing to do with politics,” many fans on social media feel quite the opposite.
NFL fans rip Charlie Kirk for his record on Black rights
Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, smiles during a press conference on the pending lawsuit against the Scottsdale Unified School District announced outside the Arizona Superior Court building in Phoenix on May 5, 2022. © Monica D. Spencer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Reactions from football fans were anything but sympathetic after news broke of Charlie Kirk’s death. One comment summed up the mood bluntly: This isn’t a case of disagreeing with someone’s opinions. Kirk openly argued that the Civil Rights Act was a mistake and claimed Black people were better off in the 1940s. One fan shared,
“This isn’t a “disagree with your opinions” type deal, the guy was straight up an evil person.”
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Others listed out his rhetoric to make the point. From advocating public executions for kids, to saying Black women have lower IQs, questioning Black pilots, and calling on his followers to arm themselves, fans argued these weren’t “different views” but the same kind of hate speech once spouted by men in hoods.
“Advocating that 12 year olds watch “holy” public executions. Saying that black women have lower IQ’s than anyone else. Questioning the competency of black pilots. Calling for his followers to buy weapons, ammo, and carry in public. These aren’t “different views” within the framework of acceptable political speech. These are views that people with pointy hoods used to spew that we’re suddenly okay with when the messenger wears polos and khakis. Violence isn’t the solution. But lionizing someone who turned hundreds of thousands of young people on to racism and antisemitism and misogyny and violence is wrong. Full stop.”
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Another user dropped a full rundown of his most notorious takes, from saying gay people should be stoned, to “Palestine doesn’t exist,” to insisting MLK Jr. was awful, women should be under their husbands’ control, and George Floyd “had it coming.”
“Here are some things that Charlie Kirk said in his life, as cataloged by Sean Fay-Wolfe | Diamond Axe Studios (@seanfaywolfe.bsky.social): The man is dead, and so it only seems fair to share his legacy by cataloguing the values he spread while alive. Gay people should be stoned to death…Muslims only come to America to destabilize Western Civilization…Palestine “doesn’t exist” and those who support it are like the KKK”
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“Too right. I don’t understand what we’re upset about here. The man was a fckn disgrace. I don’t want to see anybody assassinated, in private or public, but this wasn’t some peace-loving philanthropist we’re talking about. This is a guy got famous off the back of being a divisive, regressive (c)unt. I might cry for the state of the world, but I won’t cry for him.”
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Plenty of commenters made it clear they don’t condone violence, but also weren’t about to mourn a man they see as a divisive figure who built a career on racism, antisemitism, misogyny and conspiracies.