The Media Research Center’s weaponization of Charlie Kirk’s death continued with a Sept. 16 post by Curtis Houck whining that some are cautioning against rushing to push right-wing narratives on his killer:
The legacy media are fighting the motive narrative battle with the intensity of the last Japanese soldier in the Philippine jungles after the end of World War II. CBS, in particular, is insisting on a lack of motive in the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
Watch as anchor John Dickerson sets up the longform interview segment on CBS Evening News Plus with both statements dismissing a finding of motive, and an alternative theory: Nihilistic, violent extremism:
[…]This was followed by four minutes with the head of the Institute for Countering Digital Extremism, who also and quite conveniently found that there was no clear motive in the Kirk shooting. In order to get to the interview, Dickerson has to dismiss the trove of circumstantial evidence showing at least some transgender motive to the shooting, beginning with the timing of the shot fired shortly after a question on transgender school shooters.
Additionally, as the The Washington Free Beacon reports, there appears to be evidence of multiple persons having foreknowledge of the assassination:
Would Houck be demanding promotion of alleged motives if Kirk’s shooter was a right-winger? Unlkely — remember how it demanded punishment of Jimmy Kimmel for daring to suggest that was the case.
More weaponization — and complaints that the weaponization was pointed out — continued:
- 7 Times Charlie Kirk Spoke His Mind on Free Speech
- PBS Hints Trump Will Use Anger At Kirk’s Murder To Mess With 2026 Elections
- Maddow Claims Trump Wants to Use Kirk Murder to ‘Stay in Power Indefinitely’
- TV Anchor Suspended for On-Air Tribute to Charlie Kirk Resigns
- WOMP, WOMP: CBS’s Dickerson Forced to Change Tune, Admit to Motive in Kirk Murder
- CNN’s Kayyem Doubles Down On Downplaying Kirk Assasin’s Political Motive
Craig Bannister checked in once again from the propaganda ghetto of CNSNews.com to promote Greg Gutfeld’s Fox News profane meltdown when a fellow co-host pointed out that right–wingers like him ignored the murder of Democratic Minnesota politician Melissa Hortman — which, by the way, the MRC mentioned only in the process of trying to distract from it.
Houck, meanwhile, had his own meltdown over the idea that the killer might have human feelings because they involved feelings for a transgender person, whom Houck believes are icky by definition:
On Tuesday’s ABC News Special Report about Utah County officials formally announcing charges against the suspect in Charlie Kirk’s murder, chief national correspondent Matt Gutman expressed affinity for the suspect and admiration for his love story with a trans person, gushing the text messages released by authorities were “lovingly” stated, “very intimate,” and “very touching.”
Gutman was reporting from the site of the press conference when he told World News Tonightanchor David Muir something “that stood out” was “those text messages” between the suspect and his roommate/lover.
“I don’t know if we have seen an alleged murder with such specific text messages about the alleged murder weapon, where it was hidden, how it was placed, what was on it, but also it was very touching in a way that I think many of us didn’t expect,” Gutman declared.
[…]Who does Gutman think this is? The director of a Hallmark movie? Another attempt at humanizing the trans-loving assassin like Rolling Stone propped up one of the Boston bombers? Is Gutman trying to get fired? He’s already been suspended twice in the last five years for his reporting on Kobe Bryant and Covid, respectively.
In the comments to the above X post (and inside the NewsBusters newsroom), Gutman’s idiocy called to mind the all-time utterance from then-Boston Globe writer Charles Pierce in 2003 humanizing Ted Kennedy, saying Mary Jo Kopechne would have appreciated his work on health care (minus the part about having left her to die in a sinking car).
As we documented way back in 2009, the MRC has long lied about Pierce’s statement on Kennedy; it was meant as criticism, a “tough, but fair, shot” at Kennedy — which is to say not the gaffe Houck thinks it is.
The fact that Houck can’t stop lying about Pierce years after its attacks on him have been discredited says a lot about why the MRC can’t be trusted to tell the truth.
P.J. Gladnick whined that Kirk’s extremism was criticized:
If you look at many social media sites, such as Bluesky, it is not uncommon to see multitudes of unhinged leftists writing off Charley Kirk as a “Nazi” or “Hitler Youth,” which could be an excuse for his brutal assassination. And where does this notion of Charlie Kirk and Donald Trump in particular as well as MAGA and conservatives in general as Nazis come from? Unfortunately much of it comes from media sources.
Gladnick made sure not to mention the actual views of Kirk that might make someone reasonably think that about him.