The Charlie Kirk news is almost too awful to write about. He had a wife and two beautiful young kids. I’ve just seen footage of his daughter giving him a hug a few days back. My own daughter is a similar age. It’s almost unbearable to watch.
Charlie spoke his mind bravely, always peacefully, often very eloquently, and yet he was demonised for it to a staggering and frankly completely unacceptable extent. I am hesitant to politicise this nightmarish act so early on. But I’ll say this: If this crime isn’t a watershed moment—one where the shrill, illiberal bullying of anyone with the ‘wrong’ (yet often correct) opinions is finally rejected as the intolerant, authoritarian shite that it is—then nothing ever will be. This wasn’t just an attack on one young guy, it was an assault on the core principles of liberal democracy, and America itself. Enough.
My thoughts go out to his family.