In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s horrific assassination, members of the media and others with massive online platforms have misquoted or even outright lied about the late conservative activist.

From prominent journalists to one of the most well-known writers of fiction, many individuals with large followings have peddled lies about Kirk’s position on a number of issues, such as race and anti-semitism. Some of these individuals have since offered mea culpas or publicly apologized, while others have made no recognition of their false statements. (RELATED: New York Judge Drops Terrorism Charges Against Luigi Mangione)

Debunked Comments About Black Women

Karen Attiah, a former Global Opinions editor for The Washington Post, publicly revealed on Monday that the news outlet fired her for alleged social media violations. In her Substack post detailing her termination, she outlined her recent online posts — some of which included diatribes against “white men” — and included a quote allegedly stated by Kirk.

Screen grab of Karen Attiah, Bluesky.

The fired WaPo writer took to Bluesky to falsely quote Kirk as saying, “Black women do not have the brain processing power to be taken seriously. You have to go steal a white person’s slot.”

“My only direct reference to Kirk was one post— his own words on record,” Attiah wrote on Substack about the fake quote.

However, these were not Kirk’s “own words.” The origin of Attiah’s fake quote likely originated from a warped interpretation of a comment he made during a July 13, 2023, episode of “The Charlie Kirk Show,” in which he specifically talked about four specific individuals who happened to be black — Texas Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, television host Joy Reid, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and former First Lady Michelle Obama. Several independent fact checkers corrected the record, but that did not stop others from continuing to claim online that the quote was real, including Pulitzer Prize winner Laurie Garrett.

‘He Advocated Stoning Gays To Death’

A viral claim that circulated online was that Kirk advocated for the stoning of gays. Perhaps the largest purveyor of this lie was famous horror author Stephen King.

“He advocated stoning gays to death. Just sayin’,” King posted on X in a since-deleted post, where he boasts nearly seven million followers.

The post drew immediate backlash, with GOP Texas Sen. Cruz calling him a “horrible, evil, twisted liar.”

The famous fiction writer later recanted and deleted his original post, saying “The horrible, evil, twisted liar apologizes. This is what I get for reading something on Twitter w/o fact-checking. Won’t happen again.”

TORONTO, ONTARIO – SEPTEMBER 06: Stephen King attends the premiere of “The Life of Chuck” during the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival at Princess of Wales Theatre on September 06, 2024 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Olivia Wong/Getty Images)

King was not the only prominent individual forced to offer a mea culpa for spreading this false rumor.

Alastair Campbell, a former Labour Party official and journalist, issued an apology on X after claiming on a popular podcast show that Kirk supported the stoning of gay people.

“Apologies for this. I had seen a clip on social media which did not have the full context, and had seen others making the same claim… Kirk did have views with which I strongly disagree but this was not among them,” Campbell said in a statement.

Jaimee Michelle, a lesbian conservative activist and founder of Gays Against Groomers, spoke out in support of Kirk after his assassination. Speaking in response to the false accusation about stoning gays, the self-described “right wing lesbian” said Kirk welcomed gay people to the conservative movement and that her group worked alongside Turning Point “many times” over the years.

Alleged Racial Comments 

“That time Charlie Kirk called an Asian woman in the audience ‘chink’ multiple times. He made millions off of his racism and sexism,” stated an X post by @alluring_nyc. The post, which at the time of this article’s publication has been shared roughly 14,000 times, included a video of Kirk appearing to use the racial slur repeatedly during a debate.

The problem with this claim is that Kirk was addressing Cenk Uygur, the Turkish-born progressive commentator and co-founder of The Young Turks. The word was an apparent reference to Uygur’s name.

The heated exchange, which took place during an October 2018 Politicon event, was covered by the media at the time.

That time Charlie Kirk called an Asian woman in the audience “chink” multiple times.

He made millions off of his racism and sexism. pic.twitter.com/Py0tOX5rfV

— Elizabeth (@alluring_nyc) September 10, 2025

The New York Times was forced to issue a correction on Thursday, admitting that it incorrectly attributed an anti-semitic comment to Kirk in a write-up detailing his overall political views.

“An earlier version of this article described incorrectly an antisemitic statement that Charlie Kirk had made on an episode of his podcast. He was quoting a statement from a post on social media and went on to critique it. It was not his own statement,” the correction states.

A hall of fame correction from the New York Times

NYTs: Charlie was an antisemite

NYTs also: we got the wrong guy pic.twitter.com/xOaXzWevUV

— Nathan Brand (@NathanBrandWA) September 12, 2025

The NYT had initially reported that Kirk, while speaking on his podcast in 2023, stated that Jewish communities were “pushing the exact kind of hatred against whites” that they wanted people to stop using against them. In actuality, the late activist was quoting a social media post that he proceeded to criticize, clarifying that not all Jewish people held such beliefs.

Misinformation About Kirk’s Alleged Killer

Beyond falsehoods about Kirk’s past commentary, pervasive myths about his alleged killer continue to circulate online and among the American populace.

Since Robinson’s arrest, investigators have gradually painted a picture of his background and his apparent descent into political radicalism. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox stated Sunday that interviews with family and those close to the alleged killer reveal that he adopted a leftist ideology. Law enforcement also recovered ammunition etched with phrases such as “Hey, fascist! Catch!” along with unfired casings inscribed with lyrics from Bella Ciao, an anti-fascist anthem.

Despite mounting evidence to the contrary, major figures have continued to insist that Robinson was a member of the far-right.

“Now that the Charlie Kirk assassin has been identified as MAGA, I’m sure Donald Trump, Elon Musk and all the insane GOP politicians who called for retribution against the ‘RADICAL LEFT’ will now shift their focus to stopping the toxic violence of the RADICAL RIGHT,” California Democratic Rep. Dave Min posted Friday on X.

As of the publication of this article, Min’s X post is still up, despite an overwhelming online response condemning the unverified claim. The California congressman is not the only high-profile individual making this unsubstantiated claim.

Heather Cox Richardson, a center-left historian with over 2.6 million Substack subscribers, repeated this baseless claim in a Substack post that was published Sunday.

“In fact, the alleged shooter was not someone on the left. The alleged killer, Tyler Robinson, is a young white man from a Republican, gun enthusiast family, who appears to have embraced the far right, disliking Kirk for being insufficiently radical,” the historian falsely claimed.

The rampant — and false — claims about Robinson’s ideology appear to be working. A new YouGov poll reveals that a substantial portion of Americans believe the alleged killer is affiliated with the Republican Party, despite Cox and federal officials confirming that he was influenced by leftist ideology.

Robinson’s mother told authorities in an interview that her son “had become more political and had started to lean more to the left – becoming more pro-gay and trans-rights oriented,” according to an indictment released Tuesday. The alleged killer’s political views differed greatly from his conservative father’s, she allegedly stated.

Robinson is officially charged with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, obstruction of justice, witness tampering and committing a violent offense in the presence of a child.

Kirk, the founder of conservative non-profit organization Turning Point USA, was fatally shot in the neck while hosting an event at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10. Law enforcement officials arrested 22-year-old Tyler Robinson on Sept. 12 and filed formal charges against the suspect on Tuesday. Kirk’s organization, which champions conservative causes on college campuses across the U.S., has since received an outpouring of support from across the globe.

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