CLAIM
“Charlie Kirk has been killed not for espousing extremist views - because he didn’t. He has been killed for saying things that used to be simple common sense.” – Boris Johnson, X/Twitter, September 10 2025.
IN BRIEF
Right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk was open to debating with those who shared different views than him, but would frequently make provocative statements on race, LGBT+ rights, abortion and other controversial topics in a bid to attract younger voters. He held extreme views on certain issues, that could not be described as "common sense".
WHAT’S THE STORY?
Kirk was killed by a single gunshot fired from a distant rooftop at the Utah Valley University campus, where he was speaking on Wednesday. A manhunt is currently under way for his killer.
He was chief executive and co-founder of the conservative youth organisation Turning Point USA, a right-wing podcaster, culture warrior and ally of US President Donald Trump.
Kirk’s death has led to right-wing influencers in the US to call for a civil war, and even UK politicians like former prime minister Johnson have weighed in.
While many politicians and prominent figures raised the issue of political violence, Johnson went as far as to call Kirk’s views “common sense”.
WHAT HAS CHARLIE KIRK SAID?
Kirk has a history of making racially charged comments. In one video, he claimed black people were better off in slavery before the 1940s, stating: “It was bad and it was evil but they committed less crimes.”
In a 2024 podcast episode, he said: “I’m sorry. If I see a black pilot, I’m going to be like: ‘Boy, I hope he’s qualified'.”
He once called George Floyd, who was killed during an arrest in Minneapolis in 2020, a “scumbag”.
Kirk also staunchly opposed the enactment of Juneteenth – the June 19 commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States – as a federal holiday. He said the move to elevate the date was motivated by “anti-American” sentiment that promoted “a neo-segregationist view” that he claimed sought to supplant Independence Day.
He once claimed that homelessness is “not a money problem”, during one of his college tours.
“Every single one of them has mental problems or drug disorders, it is not a matter of lack of capital. They should either be in an asylum or they are doing hard drugs and don’t want to stop,” he said.
Kirk also frequently denounced the “LGBTQ agenda” and opposed same-sex marriage. He described the Bible verse Leviticus 20:13, which states that homosexuals should be executed, as “God’s perfect law when it comes to sexual matters”.
He told a gay Wisconsin college student in September: “I don’t agree with your lifestyle. I don’t think you should introduce yourself just based on your sexuality because that’s not who you are.”
Kirk also said it should be legal to burn Pride and Black Lives Matter flags, and was completely against any gender affirming care for transgender people, saying it should be banned.
He was uncompromising on his anti-abortion stance, which he said was unacceptable in any circumstance, even going so far as to say that if his 10-year-old daughter was impregnated through rape, the “baby should be delivered”. He also opposed birth control.
Kirk was a vocal supporter of Israel and backed its attack on Gaza. In May, he justified the genocide by saying: “When you declare war on Israel, expect a firestorm in reaction.”
On gun laws, he backed the right to own guns and said a few deaths every year was an acceptable pay-off for any loss of life.
“It’s worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year, so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights,” he said.
He once claimed the Great Replacement Theory, a far-right conspiracy theory that claims white people are being replaced by people of colour, particularly Muslims, was UK Government policy.
FACT CHECK RATING
False.
Whatever you think of Kirk’s views, they cannot be described as “common sense”.
His provocative statements were intended to get a reaction, but he evidently sat to the extreme right of the political spectrum. His views were certainly not mainstream in the way Johnson is trying to paint them.
Johnson’s claim that Kirk’s views represent a “reasonable opinion” held by many in the world glosses over their true intent, to use hate and division to push voters towards his ally Trump.
We also do not have any official information on why Kirk was killed, with his killer still at large, so Johnson's comments are simply speculation.
