Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) paid tribute to Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk’s free speech dedication while mourning the leftist violence that cost Kirk his life.
Schmitt told Fox Business’s Larry Kudlow that Charlie Kirk was a “free speech warrior,” killed in the deadliest form of censorship. Both Schmitt and Kirk have repeatedly condemned all kinds of censorship, including by Big Tech. During the interview, the senator urged free speech advocates to continue Kirk’s mission.
Yesterday, Utah County District Attorney Jeff Gray revealed texts allegedly written by the man charged with murdering Kirk. Schmitt urged, “Just look at what the messages that were revealed today about the murderer. He said about Charlie Kirk that ‘some hate just can't be negotiated with’. He wrote on the bullets ‘catch this, fascist’.” Schmitt was referring to messages found on bullet casings at the scene.
Schmitt continued, “So the irony, the tragic irony of that, Larry, is that Charlie Kirk, somebody who believed, you know, many things, and was very articulate, actually, was this free speech warrior that was willing to go places and have conversations with people, have the dialogue, and they shot him in the throat to try to silence him and he — this guy murdered Charlie Kirk.”
Charlie Kirk was a free speech warrior. He purposefully engaged with people who disagreed with him, and he was murdered for it.
— Senator Eric Schmitt (@SenEricSchmitt) September 17, 2025
We cannot have a conversation about political violence if we are not honest about where the majority of it comes from - the radical Left. pic.twitter.com/L3NMyTQLmL
The senator framed the assassination as a blow at free speech. ”[I]t was an attack on him, on our country,” Schmitt insisted. “And so I pray for our country, but we're never going to get on the other side of the mountain, Larry, until we recognize the sickness that has captured, sadly, the 25 percent of those who claim to be …very liberal, who think that killing somebody because they have a different point of view than you is somewhat somehow okay, like that's crazy.”
But the solution is more speech, Schmitt contended. “So I just think we got to be truthful. We have to be fearless,” he said. “I think Charlie Kirk would have wanted us to continue on his mission to engage in dialogue and persuade. That's what this whole thing should be about, not assassinations.”
Kirk himself repeatedly condemned censorship. For example, in June he posted, “It took 17 minutes for BlueSky to ban the sitting Vice President for offending them. And thanks to Elon Musk, we get to point and laugh at them instead of howling in anger about censorship. And thanks to us using our free speech on 𝕏, mocking and laughing at them, they’ve been forced to reinstate him!” Last August, he urged 2024 voters to keep free speech in mind: “Stop censorship.”
Free speech is under attack! Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on hate speech and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us using CensorTrack’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
