September 11, 2025

Charlie Kirk built his career confronting political opponents head-on. Online, on campus, on stage, on TV. He thrived on challenge and disagreement, and even some of his critics now say that's exactly what made him such a powerful voice in the grassroots of the MAGA movement. In the aftermath of his assassination, there's growing concern that the space Kirk occupied—a space of open debate, not violence—may be closing fast.

"He was showing up to campuses and talking with anyone who would talk to him," wrote Ezra Klein, the liberal New York Times columnist, in a piece mourning Kirk's death. "Kirk was practicing politics in exactly the right way." Klein described Kirk as a practitioner of persuasion—a fierce ideological opponent but one who still played by the rules.

"We are all safe, or none of us are," he warned.

Read more:

https://www.newsweek.com/maga-charlie-kirk-was-moderate-what-comes-next-could-more-extreme-2128480