Charlie Kirk’s strong stance on death penalty resurfaces after Utah assassination

The late Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk previously advocated for the death penalty on several occasions, arguing it should apply broadly in murder cases rather than only in the most extreme circumstances.

Officials on Friday identified Tyler Robinson, 22, as the suspect in Kirk’s assassination on a Utah college campus. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said the state intends to pursue the death penalty if the case goes to trial, while President Donald Trump also voiced support, saying he hopes Robinson receives the death penalty if found guilty.

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Earlier this year, Kirk discussed his stance on capital punishment during an exchange with a student that was captured in a video posted to Turning Point USA’s YouTube channel. Kirk was asked about how he could support a “limited government” while also believing it should have the power to execute people.

“I believe in a small but strong government and, for the record, I believe that someone who took a life should have their life taken,” Kirk told the student.

“Under every circumstance?” the student asks Kirk.

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“Under most, yeah,” Kirk responds.

The student countered that the death penalty should be reserved for extreme instances, such as school shootings, mass murders and crimes against humanity, but not for what she described as “eye-for-an-eye nonsense.”

“Why is it that if you kill 10 people, such a morally different thing than killing one person?” Kirk asks the student, arguing that even people who claim to oppose the death penalty occasionally make exceptions.

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“We as conservatives try to strive for blind justice,” Kirk said. “Those on the left will argue for social justice. … We, as conservatives, believe in the ideal that you shall not favor the administrative justice just because of your skin color, background, wealth, so on and so forth.”

Similarly in 2024, during an episode of the Charlie Kirk Show, the conservative activist and his co-hosts debated capital punishment, including what age children should be before witnessing an execution, and whether such exposure would reduce crime, Newsweek reported at the time.

“Death penalties should be public, should be quick, it should be televised,” Kirk said.

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Kirk, a 31-year-old husband and father, was fatally shot Wednesday while speaking at Utah Valley University as part of his “American Comeback Tour.” He was rushed to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.