News/Commentary

USA Today: Mocking Charlie Kirk’s assassination is actually a ‘good’ thing for GenZ

September 12, 2026 | | Print Article

Just shy of suggesting opposition is the problem, a “sinister” report from USA Today endeavored to explain why mocking Charlie Kirk’s assassination is “actually good” for Gen Z.

An all-too-familiar formula at present has been outright denials, admission of something happening, insistence that it isn’t bad, claims that it’s actually good, and ultimately an argument decrying those who pointed out evil in the first place. Flirting with the finish line, USA Today’s “Youth Mental Health Reporter” Rachel Hale made such a case as she touted “Kirkiversary” posts as a means to avoid “the emotional weight of reality.”

Featured under the headline, “On the anniversary of Charlie Kirk’s death, many Gen Zers are sharing odd posts. Here’s why,” that unto itself downplayed the assassination, Hale used the “Kirkiversary” tag as she wrote, “On its face, these posts may appear bizarre, tasteless, and tone-deaf. But experts who study media and digital culture explain that as Gen Zers make sense of political violence, polarization and constant exposure to bad news, these posts are actually a good example of how many young people today use humor to distance themselves from the emotional weight or reality.”

Reacting to the article, Libs of TikTok wrote on X, “I have no words… USA Today says the people mocking Charlie’s ass*ssination is actually good because they’re just using humor to deal with it emotionally … USA Today is covering up for the violent scum who want us dead and celebrate m*rder … I can’t believe this is real … They have no shame.”

As was reported, a year after the Christian patriot, husband, father, and Turning Point USA founder was fatally shot in broad daylight on the campus of Utah Valley University while exercising his First Amendment right, students at a number of college campuses were among those hosting lookalike contests, playing music, and bringing a party atmosphere to mark the anniversary of an assassination.

Well after talking up the “sometimes morbid memes” circulating on social media, the article finally arrived at citing University of Michigan Ph.D. candidate Audrey Havlersen in pointing out “detachment can have a cost.”

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“Halversen says that joking about a politically motivated murder likely also reflects a growing desensitization to political violence,” wrote Hale.

Using a fraction of the words, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller offered his own summation of what was at play as he joined those reacting to the sickening spin, “Charlie’s children are growing up without their dad. Erika has lost her soulmate. Leftists are celebrating the public assassination of a loving father and devoted husband simply because he persuaded legions of young Americans to embrace the faith and values of our nation. Sinister does not even begin to describe the vile, growing and dangerous malignancy that we are witnessing.”

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Kevin Haggerty
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