TL;DR
- Vice President JD Vance calls for dismantling left-wing groups after Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
- Stephen Miller pledges to use federal resources to “destroy” these groups.
- Civil rights advocates warn this could target dissenting voices, including LGBTQ activists.
- The Open Society Foundations and Ford Foundation deny funding articles critical of Kirk.
- Kirk’s critics cite his long history of anti-LGBTQ, racist, and misogynistic rhetoric.
Trump’s Crew Turns Kirk’s Death Into Political Ammo
WASHINGTON — The assassination of far-right activist Charlie Kirk has quickly turned into political dynamite, and Trump’s allies are wasting no time using it to push their culture-war agenda. Vice President JD Vance, stepping into the role of right-wing crusader, took over Kirk’s livestream this week to call for a government-wide assault on what he called “leftist groups” supposedly undermining the nation.
Vance named heavyweights like the Open Society Foundations and the Ford Foundation, accusing them of bankrolling articles critical of Kirk. Never mind that both foundations denied funding the magazine in question—facts didn’t seem to slow down the rhetoric. “George Soros’ Open Society Foundation funds this magazine, as does the Ford Foundation and many other wealthy titans of the American progressive movement,” Vance declared, his voice dripping with the certainty of a man who knows his audience is already sold.
Adding fuel to the fire, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller joined the show to swear that the Trump administration would unleash “every available resource” to dismantle left-wing networks. “We will destroy these networks and make America safe again,” Miller said, invoking Kirk’s memory as if it were a divine mission.
Who Gets Blamed Next?
The assassination itself remains murky. Police charged 22-year-old Tyler Robinson with the killing, but investigators have yet to pin down a clear motive. Bullet casings with internet meme references were found at the scene, suggesting more chaos than ideology. Still, Trump and his crew didn’t wait for answers before blaming the “radical left.”
Critics argue this is less about justice for Kirk and more about finding a pretext to silence political opposition. And if history is any guide, LGBTQ groups—already vilified by Kirk during his lifetime—know they’re high on the list of potential targets. Kirk’s legacy includes years of transphobic and homophobic rants, often cloaked in Bible verses. He labeled queer rights a moral decay, and his rhetoric regularly painted LGBTQ people as a threat to America’s soul.
Elizabeth Spiers, the journalist whose article “Charlie Kirk’s Legacy Deserves No Mourning” drew Vance’s ire, defended her piece. She stressed that she condemned violence outright but refused to sanitize Kirk’s bigotry: “He was an unrepentant racist, transphobe, homophobe, and misogynist.” For LGBTQ readers, that honesty was a rare acknowledgment in a political landscape where their oppression often gets whitewashed as “debate.”
The Trump team’s narrative—tying Kirk’s murder to a supposed leftist conspiracy—sets a dangerous precedent. If nonprofits, media outlets, and dissenting voices are suddenly framed as enemies of the state, LGBTQ activists are especially vulnerable. History shows that queer organizations are among the first to be smeared as “radical” when authoritarian leaders want a scapegoat.
Already, civil rights groups are bracing for crackdowns. A spokesperson for the Open Society Foundations called the accusations “disgraceful” and emphasized their work is peaceful and lawful. The Ford Foundation echoed that it has no ties to the publication in question. But with Trump allies promising to hunt down “nonprofit entities” they claim enable violence, the chill is palpable.
The queer community remembers Charlie Kirk not as a martyr but as a man whose platform legitimized hatred. His death should not be an excuse to tighten the screws on free speech and grassroots activism. Yet the Trump White House appears determined to make it exactly that. For LGBTQ Americans, the message is clear: stay alert, stay loud, and don’t let Kirk’s ghost be used to justify erasing their voices.