SEPTEMBER 2025 – The aggressive, never-back-down voice of Charlie Kirk was silenced yesterday, as the 31-year-old political commentator was shot dead at a college event in Utah. As is typical these days, the immediacy of the news – and the reactions – gave no time for getting beyond the shock. It’s another senseless killing in our polarized, angry and well-armed society.
But within hours, some public voices emerged to say some things that were surprisingly constructive, that rose above the impulses to spew more vitriol and blame for what happened. Among those voices was The NYT’s Ezra Klein, who in hours hustled up some wise and well -packaged commentary:
“I did not know Kirk and I am not the right person to eulogize him. But I envied what he built. A taste for disagreement is a virtue in a democracy. Liberalism could use more of his moxie and fearlessness. In the inaugural episode of his podcast, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California hosted Kirk, admitting that his son was a huge fan. What a testament to Kirk’s project.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/opinion/charlie-kirk-assassination-fear-politics.html
Many on the NYT’s comment board were critical of Klein – many comments insisted that Kirk, in his tour of college campuses, was peddling hate speech. But Klein deserves credit for recognizing – only hours after Kirk’s death – that Kirk was engaging openly, directly and effectively with young people, and in a way that many on the other side of the political spectrum do not.