The Take

The Take: What Charlie Kirk’s death says about political division in the US

Right-wing youth activist and influencer Charlie Kirk, a major ally of President Donald Trump, was shot dead on September 10, 2025, in a murder that sparked fears of more political violence in an increasingly febrile United States [File: Josh Edelson/AFP]

Shot while answering a question about mass shootings, outspoken gun-rights advocate and conservative activist Charlie Kirk was killed on a university campus. What does this moment signal for escalating political violence and the state of US politics?

In this episode:

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Dr Matthew Boedy (@MatthewBoedy), Professor of Rhetoric, University of North Georgia

Episode credits:

This episode was produced by Amy Walters, Sarí el-Khalili, Diana Ferrero, Tamara Khandaker, with Phillip Lanos, Spencer Cline, Melanie Marich, Chloe K. Li, Farhan Rafid, Kisaa Zehra, and our host, Malika Bilal. It was edited by Noor Wazwaz and Kylene Kiang.

Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad al-Melhem. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.

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