Charlie Kirk shooting is ‘the death of free – Business News
Former “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno mentioned the homicide of conservative media star Charlie Kirk marked “the death of free speech” — warning that America has reached a level the place arguments are being settled with bullets as an alternative of phrases.
Leno, 75, phoned into “The Tim Conway Jr. Show” on KFI 640 in Los Angeles on Wednesday night time, hours after Kirk was fatally shot during a talking occasion at Utah Valley University.
“It’s not a random shooting,” Leno advised Conway.
Jay Leno mentioned Charlie Kirk’s killing marked “the death of free speech” during a radio look. BACKGRID
“I mean, it’s the death of free speech, to think that you are so illiterate and so stupid you can’t answer verbally, and you have to shoot somebody with a gun to win the argument.”
Leno’s interview was first reported by the information website Mediaite.
Authorities mentioned Kirk, 31, the co-founder of conservative nonprofit Turning Point USA, was shot and killed during his look on the Orem, Utah, campus. The suspected gunman was recognized as 22-year-old Tyler Robinson.
Conway lamented that Kirk’s two younger kids could possibly be uncovered to video clips of their father being assassinated which have gone viral on social media.
“His young kids … they’re going to be watching the internet forever and accidentally running across that footage,” Conway mentioned.
“Because their last name is Kirk, and 20 years from now they’ll be putting their name in and that Charlie Kirk video will come up. That’s what they have to look forward to their whole lives. It’s horrible. It’s the worst.”
Charlie Kirk addresses a school viewers moments earlier than being shot lifeless at Utah Valley University. AP
Leno mentioned the killing underscored how far the nation had drifted from an earlier period of civil political arguments. He recalled his time at Emerson College within the early Seventies, when debates between public intellectuals like James Baldwin and William F. Buckley drew packed halls.
“Those days are gone,” Leno mentioned.
“This is a political assassination of a man who I didn’t necessarily agree with, but I certainly enjoyed listening to. Because, ‘Oh, I didn’t know that, okay’ — and I didn’t have to agree on everything [with Kirk]. I mean, we’re at a point in this country where, if you don’t agree with everybody on everything, you take out a gun and you shoot them?”
Charlie Kirk supporters wave flags and provides speeches in Palm Harbor, Fla., on Sunday. Dave Decker/Zuma / SplashNews.com
Kirk, a conservative firebrand who turned Turning Point USA into one of the precise’s most influential youth teams, was a frequent presence on school campuses and in media circles. He constructed his group into a main participant in Republican politics and was recognized for his combative fashion.
Conway predicted that Kirk’s voice wouldn’t be silenced by the violence.
“I think this is going to have the exact opposite effect that the shooter wanted,” Conway mentioned.
“I think this movement of Charlie Kirk’s is going to explode.”
