On September 10, 2025, Charlie Kirk was assassinated at Utah Valley University while launching his American Comeback Tour. Within hours, claims began circulating online that he had recently broken with Israel and was killed as a result.
Anti-Israel influencers such as Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson pointed to short video clips in which Kirk expressed frustration over backlash from some pro-Israel activists. These clips have been circulated online as supposed evidence of a break with Israel. According to a report published by the New York Post, more than 10,000 posts on X have falsely linked his assassination to Israel.
Law enforcement has rejected these claims. Utah police have arrested 22-year-old Tyler Robinson for aggravated murder. Authorities have found no evidence connecting Robinson — or Kirk’s death — to Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mourned him as a “lion-hearted friend of Israel… he fought the lies and stood tall.”
In fact, just the night before his death, Kirk held a Zoom call with Rabbi Pesach Wolicki and commentator Josh Hammer to prepare responses to anti-Israel questions he expected to face on college campuses. Wolicki described Kirk as “excited to get back out on the campus tour” and “in a combative mood… preparing for debates and attacks.”
Kirk, the co-founder of Turning Point USA, had built a national reputation as a strong supporter of Israel. He condemned the October 7 Hamas massacre, backed Israel’s war against Hamas, and agreed to headline the Zionist Organization of America’s upcoming national gala. While he occasionally criticized specific Israeli government decisions and acknowledged that not all conservatives in the America First movement shared his views, his overall record of support for Israel never wavered. “No non-Jewish person my age has a longer or clearer record of support for Israel… than I do,” he told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency earlier this year. Days before his death, he reiterated to TheJ.ca: “I’m very pro-Israel… my whole life I have defended Israel.”
Charlie Kirk remained a committed supporter of Israel until his final hours, preparing to defend it on the very tour where his life was cut short.
