Same GOP Rep Who Said January 6 Was Tourism Likens Kirk to MLK

Some House Republicans are pushing for Charlie Kirk to get a statue in the Capitol, and equating his impact to that of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. in the process.

NOTUS’s Reese Gorman posted on Xthat far-right Representative Anna Paulina Luna is collecting signatures for a letter addressed to Speaker Mike Johnson, calling for him to erect a statue of Kirk in the Capitol Building.

“To honor this legacy, we call upon you to direct that a statue of Charlie Kirk be placed in the United States Capitol,” the letter reads. “This is not a symbolic gesture, but a permanent testament to his life’s work, his courage, and his sacrifice.”

Kirk was shot and killed at an event at Utah Valley University Wednesday afternoon. The FBI has identified a person of interest, but no suspect is currently in custody.

Kirk founded the conservative group Turning Point USA and was an active presence on the right, taking his influence all the way to the White House, as an advocate and unofficial adviser to President Donald Trump.

Gorman asked Georgia Representative Andrew Clyde—who once described the January 6 insurrection as “tourism”—about Luna’s letter. Clyde agreed with the idea, saying, “We have a statue of MLK in the Capitol, don’t we?”

King is known for fighting for African Americans to be treated like full human beings, spreading a theology of peaceful civil disobedience, and being one of the most powerful orators ever.

Kirk, for his part, is known for his online debates, right-wing views that include banning abortion with no exceptions and unconditional support for the Second Amendment, and starting a conservative movement on college campuses throughout the country in reaction to what he saw as an environment that was too liberal and too empathetic. The comparisons between him and MLK Jr. are perplexing, to say the least.

Kirk held particularly negative views about MLK Jr. and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which King fought tirelessly for, and he wasn’t shy about sharing them.

“MLK was awful,” Kirk said at America Fest, a political convention, in 2023. “He’s not a good person.” Later, at the same festival, Kirk described passing the Civil Rights Act in the 1960s as a “huge mistake.”

Kirk criticized King last year on his podcast as well, saying, “This guy is not worthy of a national holiday. He is not worthy of godlike status. In fact, I think it’s really harmful.”

And on the anniversary of King’s birthday in 2024, Kirk posted on X: “Who was MLK? A myth has been created and it has grown out of control … while he was alive most people disliked him, yet today he is the most honored, worshipped, even deified person of the 20th century.”

Now conservatives are trying to deify Kirk in the same way because of their similarly brutal deaths. But the lives they lived couldn’t have been more different.