Conservatives feud over what Charlie Kirk would have wanted

Published September 18, 2025 6:00am ET



In the days following his killing, conservative activist Charlie Kirk has, in a sense, become all things to all people. 

Catholic and Orthodox Christians claimed that the late protestant campus speaker was on the verge of converting to their respective faiths, advocates in support of Israel pointed to Kirk’s Zionism as a key pillar of legacy while some claimed he was souring on Israel in the months before his death, and many said he would have encouraged efforts to shut down individuals or organizations fomenting political violence, whereas still others see such retaliation as an affront to Kirk’s love for freedom of speech. 

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