Is It Cancel Culture to Go After the Charlie Kirk Assassination Celebrators?

AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson

We are all rightfully angry, and especially disgusted by the awful people who are celebrating Charlie Kirk's death. 

When we see people celebrating the murder of somebody with whom they disagree, as their bodies are barely cooling after a brutal assassination, it is natural to be outraged and even feel hate. 

Advertisement

Disgust. Anger. Hate. Rage. All of these are natural, but when is it reasonable to consciously choose to destroy the lives of ordinary people behaving in appalling ways like this?

Ordinary people--you know, students, baristas, waiters and waitresses? The answer is "Never." Let their friends chastise them, or just realize that there are awful people out there and move on. 

But there is a class of people who not only deserve to be called out, but also be permanently destroyed in their professional careers. 

We call them "professionals," or "influencers," or "journalists," "educators," "administrators," or more generically, members of the elite class who shape our society and signal to others where the Overton window is. The people we are told to admire and defer to. 

You know, the "experts." 

Advertisement

Earlier, I wrote about a University of Michigan Professor at the School of Education. He is fair game because he has assumed a role of authority, and the University of Michigan, the Gates Foundation, and, by extension, the people who have the levers of money and power within their grasp, have endorsed him as their representative to the next generation of people who educate our children. 

They set the tone of society, and in a very real way, control the flow of information and attitudes that are accepted in society. 

Bill Gates just sat next to the First Lady of the United States to discuss technology with Trump and his administration, and his multi-billion-dollar foundation is spreading the message of hate through its grants--to our educators. 

You see the results: K-12 teachers are openly celebrating an assassination online, and will turn around and chastise parents for wanting to influence their children's moral education. Because we all know, teachers are "professionals." 

Advertisement

Several lawyers--including partners in law firms--have celebrated Kirk's death. They are officers of the courts, and as such literally have a duty to preserve our society. 

Doctors and nurses--members of the "caring profession"--sent out videos declaring their joy that somebody they disagreed with deserved to die. 

Prominent media figures blamed Kirk or Trump for the assassination, as they did when Trump was shot. They are giving permission for people to act out their hatred for people who disagree. 

What these people say or do matters in a way that a barista or DoorDash delivery guy doesn't. They all may be equally vile people, but what your local barista says doesn't shape the conversation in society. They are some rando who smoked too much weed and spouted off.

Canceling people for bad behavior or speech if they are not a public figure is wrong because you are punishing people disproportionately to the damage they do to society. All of us say stupid things, and if the stupid thing doesn't matter, then we should frown and perhaps chastise them personally, but we shouldn't destroy them. 

Advertisement

But when a major cultural figure just lies to slander somebody with whom he disagrees? He deserves everything he gets, and probably more, in social opprobrium. 

People who are in a position of trust--elevated by our culture to a position of power over others--have to be judged to be worthy or not to be in such a position of trust. 

The standard isn't determined by what they think, but whether they exercise the trust we place in them for good or ill. People like this are clearly a danger to others while in their current positions. If they want to act like a rando, then be one. 

By accepting a position of authority, they have agreed to exercise it with minimal wisdom. And if they cannot do that, they need to be rejected not because they are bad people--there will always be bad people--but because society cannot put a stamp of approval on bad behavior. 

Advertisement

When the Carolina Panthers fire their communications coordinator for his comments, they shouldn't fire him for his private thoughts--but they should fire him because he represents them to the world. He violated the position of trust. 

Should a therapist be "canceled" for saying vile things in public? Absolutely. Because she belongs nowhere near vulnerable people who are seeking help. 

Therapists shouldn't wish death on people with whom they disagree. Can we agree on that, at least?

Should a nurse or doctor be driven out of the profession for wishing death upon somebody? First, do no harm. 

I am fully on board with the critique of "cancel culture," but people in positions of trust must be trustworthy, and if they reveal themselves to fall far short of that standard, they must be driven out of their professions. 

Advertisement

This isn't hard. If you defend an academic, a teacher, a journalist, or a medical professional by denouncing "cancel culture," you have lost the plot. 

Free speech is an important value, and I don't want to see these people in jail or even personally destroyed for what they think. I may feel compelled to despise them, but plenty of people are despicable and have a right to make a living. 

But if what a person in a position of trust does is so awful that they have broken that trust, they must go. It's not about demanding "justice;" it's about defending others from their ability to use their position of power to do harm. 

If a doctor or nurse is capable of celebrating the death of somebody due to a disagreement over politics, they are a danger. If a teacher is preaching hate to children, they should be fired. If an officer of the court endorses political violence, they should lose their license to practice law. And so on. 

Advertisement

Not because they are bad people, although they are. But because they have violated the trust society puts in them, society must revoke that trust. 

If they want to act like a rando barista or pizza delivery guy who can spout off, so be it. They are welcome to become one. If they want society to trust them, they must act like they deserve it. 

  • Editor's Note: President Trump is leading America into the "Golden Age" as Democrats try desperately to stop it.  

Help us continue to report on President Trump's successes. Join Hot Air VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Trending on HotAir Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Ed Morrissey 10:00 PM | September 11, 2025
Advertisement
Beege Welborn 8:40 PM | September 11, 2025
Advertisement