A band of Republicans have suddenly turned on the First Amendment in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
At least three ruby-red MAGA voters have called for posts relating to the horrific tragedy to be stripped from social media.
Their demands for posts concerning the Turning Point USA founder’s death to be removed from the internet are at odds with the GOP’s steadfast support of free speech, a principle Kirk strongly valued and exercised.
Representatives Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, and Clay Higgins of Louisiana called for social media platforms to take down certain videos and comments regarding Kirk’s assassination.
Luna even tagged X owner Elon Musk, Meta owner Mark Zuckerberg, and TikTok in an X post, voicing her dissatisfaction with the clips remaining online.
‘I am calling on [Musk, Zuckerberg and TikTok] to remove the horrifying videos of Charlie Kirk’s murder,’ the Florida Republican wrote.
‘He has a family, young children, and none should face the trauma of this tragedy online. These are not the only distressing videos of gruesome murders shared—there reaches a point where social media numbs human empathy. We must continue to value life. Please remove them.’
Boebert commented on her post in support ‘Thank you! I agree completely! I never want to see that again! I hate that I saw it at all.’
U.S. conservative activist and commentator Charlie Kirk is seen at a Utah Valley University event in Orem, Utah, U.S. on September 10, 2025. He was fatally shot in the neck during the event. As of Thursday afternoon, the suspect remains at large, according to the FBI.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., called for social media companies to ban the videos of Kirk’s assassination
Kirk, a staunch advocate for free speech who frequently visited college campuses to engage in debates with ideological critics, was shot while debating at Utah Valley University in Orem on Wednesday.
The lawmakers’ calls to eliminate the videos of his untimely death stand at odds with what the staunch First Amendment supporter advocated for on hundreds of campuses nationwide – the freedom to expression, no matter how evil.
‘There’s ugly speech. There’s gross speech. There’s evil speech. And all of it is protected by the First Amendment. Keep America free,’ Kirk posted last year on his X account.
Though some of the remarks about the shooting in Utah were too ugly for Louisiana Republican Clay Higgins.
‘I’m going to use Congressional authority and every influence with big tech platforms to mandate immediate ban for life of every post or commenter that belittled the assassination of Charlie Kirk,’ the conservative posted on social media.
‘If they ran their mouth with their smarta** hatred celebrating the heinous murder of that beautiful young man who dedicated his whole life to delivering respectful conservative truth into the hearts of liberal enclave universities, armed only with a Bible and a microphone and a Constitution… those profiles must come down.’
Stunningly, Higgins threatened to ‘cancel’ anyone found to have said mean things about Kirk. The lawmaker appeared to be emulating the same tactics that Republicans accused Democrats of employing just years ago when X was under different ownership.
In addition to having all their social media accounts banned, the Louisianan demanded that these Kirk-haters be kicked out of schools and have their business and driver’s licenses revoked.
Luna knew Kirk personally and has credited him with helping her get elected to Congress
‘I’m also going after their business licenses and permitting, their businesses will be blacklisted aggressively, they should be kicked from every school, and their driver’s licenses should be revoked,’ Higgins’ tirade continued.
‘I’m basically going to cancel with extreme prejudice these evil, sick animals who celebrated Charlie Kirk’s assassination. I’m starting that today.’
Many conservatives pushed back on both Luna and Higgins’ posts.
‘I don’t agree with this, personally,’ GOP political strategist Joey Mannarino responded to the Louisianan. ‘I want them to be able to speak so we know exactly who they are and what they think about us.’
TikTok later responded to Luna and told her the company would remove content related to Kirk’s assassination.
‘These horrific violent acts have no place in our society,’ the company said in a statement.
‘We remain committed to proactively enforcing our Community Guidelines and have implemented additional safeguards to prevent people from unexpectedly viewing footage that violates our rules.’
Neither Higgins nor Luna returned the Daily Mail’s request for comment.
