Mourn Charlie Kirk but don’t let Trump, MAGA turn him into a martyr

The assassination of Charlie Kirk last week was a sad reminder of how broken and dysfunctional society has become and how far away we are from being “one nation, under God.” However, even as people mourn his death, Donald Trump and MAGA (Kirk was a proud member) are using the tragedy to turn him into a “martyr for truth and freedom” (Trump’s words).

Let’s put aside the fact that the “truth” Donald Trump refers to typically consists only of those words spoken by people who worship his magnanimousness and that his version of “freedom” is a far cry from God’s gift of liberty. The reason we can’t allow Trump or MAGA to turn Kirk into a martyr is this: they are only doing so to spread Trump’s authoritarian reign over America.

Even before there was a suspect, Trump used the tragedy to his personal advantage (via Lincoln Square Media):

His Oval Office response to the assassination was pure authoritarian theater. With not a shred of evidence, Trump blamed his political opposition. He did not pause for facts, for law enforcement, for mourning. He reached immediately for the strongman’s first tool: scapegoating. By blaming his enemies, he seeks to mobilize his followers, discredit his critics, and justify repression. This is not a new tactic. It is the well-worn script of Stalin, Mao, Hitler, Franco, Mussolini, Pinochet — and now, unmistakably, Trump.

We are now living through the very scenario many of us warned about. Trump has returned to power, and in his second term, he is showing us precisely what authoritarian rule looks like in America. The contempt for constitutional limits, the eagerness to turn federal power against political rivals – and the American people, the open celebration of violence as a political weapon — these are not theoretical dangers. They are the governing reality. His Praetorian Guard of congressional enablers, media propagandists, political henchmen, and state-level allies ensures there are no internal checks. The abuses of his first term look quaint and, in hindsight, like rehearsals. (Emphasis mine)

When I shared a link to the article above on my Facebook page, I was immediately attacked by one follower who clearly missed the point I was making by sharing it. Even though Donald Trump saw Kirk’s murder as an opportunity to reignite his base — a base that has been increasingly dissatisfied with his job performance as of late — I was called out for lacking the proper amount of “humility” and for not showing any sympathy for the victim and his family:

Kirk’s murder was tragic and sad, but my calling is to be a voice in the wilderness against those who are a threat to our shared Christian constitutional conservative values. If Jeff sees it differently, this is America, and he has the right to think what he wants.

I didn’t celebrate the tragedy; and anyone who has done so is despicable. To quote Rick Wilson, “In a republic worth saving, power is contested at the ballot box, not through bullets. We resolve our disputes with words, not weapons. Not soft words, not whispered disputes, but big, loud, passionate arguments. If violence becomes the coin of our politics, America is finished.”

However, I refuse to stand idly by without pointing out how Donald Trump and MAGA are turning Charlie Kirk into a martyr for the purpose of spreading tyrannical agenda and waging open warfare against liberty.

In an appearance on Hannity (of course) to discuss the Charlie Kirk murder, Trump advisor Stephen Miller declared that law enforcement under Trump will openly go after the rights of his political enemies to ensure their destruction:

“The power of law enforcement under President Trump’s leadership will be used to find you, will be used to take away your money, take away your power and if you have broken the law, take away your freedom.”

Sen. Mike Lee — a “conservative” who has made being a Trump sycophant a full-time occupation — appeared on another pro-Trump FOX News program (what are the odds?) to warn “the other side” that a multi-million Charlie Kirk army is about to rise:

“They just created a million, 10 million, 100 million Charlie Kirks. They haven’t seen anything yet.”

Outside of Washington, Trump influencers, “Christians”, MAGA, and others are turning Kirk into a martyr and using that as a rallying cry to go to war against the political enemies of Trump and MAGA (via ABCNews.com):

“The best way President Trump can reinforce Charlie’s legacy is by cracking down on the Left with the full force of the government,” said Laura Loomer in a post on X after Kirk’s death was announced. “No mercy. Jail every single Leftist who makes a threat of political violence,” Loomer added.

In an earlier post, she wrote that “We must shut these lunatic leftists down. Once and for all. The Left is a national security threat.”

Meanwhile, Tesla CEO Elon Musk … posted that “the Left is the party of murder” and added “if they won’t leave us in peace, then our choice is fight or die.”

Conservative activist Christopher Rufo called for a J. Edgar Hoover–style campaign to target the “radical left. The last time the radical Left orchestrated a wave of violence and terror, J. Edgar Hoover shut it all down within a few years. It is time, within the confines of the law, to infiltrate, disrupt, arrest, and incarcerate all of those who are responsible for this chaos,” he wrote on X.

Pro-Trump influencer Joey Mannarino, who has over 600,000 followers on X, urged Trump to take an El Salvador–style approach — a reference to the country’s controversial campaign of mass arrests and suspended civil liberties, which drew accusations of authoritarianism and human rights abuses. “Trump has to go full Bukele. Now. Fill the jails up with these terrorists,” Mannarino said.

On Steve Bannon’s podcast, MAGA figure Jack Posobiec called for retribution. “There’s never going to be another Charlie Kirk, but there’s never going to be another assassin to take out someone like the way they did because of what comes next will be swift, quick and it will be retribution,” Posobiec said.

In [his] conversation with Posobiec, Bannon said that his friend Kirk was a “casualty” whose life was taken in cold blood. “Charlie Kirk is a casualty of the political war,” Bannon said. He also said, “We are at war in this country, and you have to have steely resolve.” (Emphasis mine)

For those who hate it when Nazi comparisons are made to describe Trump’s authoritarian/dictatorial behavior, be prepared to be offended because here’s another one.

Ever hear of Horst Wessel?

He was a member of the Sturmabteilung (SA), the paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party, who became a propaganda symbol in Nazi Germany following his murder in 1930 by two members of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). After his death, Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels elevated him into a martyr for the Nazi Party.

Wessel’s funeral was given wide attention in Berlin, with many of the Nazi elite in attendance. After his death, he became a propaganda symbol in Nazi Germany. A march for which he had written the lyrics was renamed the “Horst-Wessel-Lied” (“Horst Wessel Song”) and became the official anthem of the Nazi Party. (Emphasis mine)

For the Trumpists and followers of Charlie Kirk, save me your outrage. I’m not calling Charlie Kirk a Nazi. I’m not even calling Donald Trump a Nazi. I’m simply pointing out the similarities between an incident that gave rise to Hitler and how Trump (a man possessing many of the same traits as the Nazi dictator) and MAGA are weaponizing American politics via Kirk’s assassination in much the same way.

It is one thing to mourn the brutal murder of Charlie Kirk. It’s quite another to let Donald Trump and MAGA turn him into martyr and use his death to launch an authoritarian takeover of our great republic.

 

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David Leach is the owner of the Strident Conservative and the author of The New Axis of Evil: Exposing the Bipartisan War on Liberty. He holds people of every political stripe accountable for their failure to uphold conservative values, and he promotes those values instead of political parties.

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