WIRED Roundup: How Charlie Kirk Changed Conservative Media

Zoë Schiffer: So where does that leave the traditional right-wing media, like Fox News, for example? Is it a replacement of this or does it work in tandem?

Jake Lahut: I think it’s more in tandem. Fox’s programming was dominated by Kirk’s assassination last night. I think that for many Fox personalities, people like Charlie Kirk, and I suppose that in the wider cinematographic universe of USA turning point, these younger characters are really important, in fact, because I think that many of the most established media television guests to build this audience and start to present themselves to people who do not throw the old school tube at home every night. And it is also something interesting, because the Democrats have been trying to make versions for some time, and as we mentioned earlier, conventional wisdom had judged that the Democrats would always have this advantage of younger voters. So I think it is very interesting to see what Turning Point USA will become after that; And then to what extent this door he opened could be taken into account by a figure with another type of profile, another type of charisma, perhaps more extreme on certain questions. There is therefore a very legitimate, almost legitimate vacuum cleaner which is open here because it was such a singular figure in this aspect of conservative policy.

Zoë Schiffer: Absolutely. Thus, the creation of a new branch of right -wing media intended for a younger audience is certainly a key element of Kirk’s heritage. And there is also the heritage he left in politics as a whole, like his rhetoric towards trans people, immigrants, his rhetoric on the rights to abortion. These things really keep me. Tell me about this, this imprint he could have left.

Jake Lahut: Yes, I think the imprint has contradictions that we see in the aftermath of this horrible incident. There is certainly this almost holy way that he is painted after his death, and I think that part of this is that he was an organizer and not an candidate, so he never got the kind of control or had to really make difficult choices on politics. It was always more in the field of attention economics, the field of fundraising and the area of ​​electoral participation. So I think that at the moment, he especially remembers his real commitment to freedom of debate and really want to have uncomfortable interactions in person with people who could otherwise never talk to each other or not be in disagreement on politics. But then you have a lot of things that he said about the control of firearms, for example, which is indeed worth the dead for firearms, to paraphrase what he said here, in order to protect the second amendment. He was asked once if one of her daughters, who at the time was 10 years old, that if she was sexually assaulted and fell pregnant, she would like her to wear pregnancy and he essentially said yes, that there should be a baby there. The other area where I think he may have had the biggest impact, to add very quickly, is that his vision of what the young adult serves, very different from what we have generally heard of young people involved in politics. He painted a positive vision of going to university for young people. Now, this vision was indeed for women, as you should go to university just to find a husband, and that’s about it. But he offered this vision in the same way: “Hey, in fact we tell you in America that your career and your jostling and your grinding are the most important. I am in fact there to tell you that you just have a family and that you have children.” And we have seen surveys that recently left NBC News where Gen Z Men ranked having children as a number one priority, and no other demographic group has done. While women of generation Z have listed a litany of other problems before that in terms of stable career, mental well-being, of all these things. It is therefore a thread of his inheritance which, I think, is worth keeping a trace, because it was really only this feeling of a man on university campuses. And I do not think that anyone replaces this role right away, but if we want to understand how he really changed our policy beyond looking at an election or a series of quotes that he has given, I would look that there are many young people who really admire this guy, who could be well ending by being the biggest term of Charlie Kirk.

Zoë Schiffer: Jake, thank you very much for joining me today.

Jake Lahut: Zoë, thank you very much.

Zoë Schiffer: This is our program for today. We will link to all the stories that we talked about in the notes of the show. Adriana Tapia produced this episode. Amar LAL at Macrosound mixed this episode. Kate Osborn is our executive producer. Condé Nast, world audio chief, is Chris Bannon and Katie Drummond is the world editorial director of Wired.