The David Pakman Show

Episode: 9/11/25 – Charlie Kirk Assassinated and All Hell Breaks Loose
Date: September 11, 2025

Overview

In this gripping and somber episode, David Pakman tackles the unprecedented political assassination of Charlie Kirk, conservative activist and head of Turning Point USA, which occurred during a public event at a Utah college. Pakman explores the multiple facets of this tragedy: the immediate aftermath and investigation, the social and political response, the surge in violent rhetoric (particularly from the MAGA right), and the broader implications for American society, gun violence, and media coverage. The episode also addresses the danger of political violence becoming normalized, how the ubiquity of smartphones has changed public experience of violence, and developments in the national conversation about gun control.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Assassination of Charlie Kirk: Event and Response

• Pakman’s Reaction & Ethical Stance

  • Pakman expresses horror, calling this “disgusting and appalling and a potential inflection point.”
  • Quote: “If you support ending gun violence, you can’t support any instances of it… If you want to get to an end point of no more gun violence, then we have to condemn every single instance of it, even if the victims are those who advocated for more guns in more places.” (02:15)

• Kirk’s Controversial Rhetoric on Guns

  • Clips played of Charlie Kirk defending the Second Amendment, acknowledging gun deaths as a “prudent deal.”
  • Quote (Kirk): “I think it’s worth to have a cost of unfortunately some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the second amendment to protect our other God given rights. That is a prudent deal. It is rational.” (~04:30)

• Dangers of Martyrdom and Further Violence

  • Pakman warns against Kirk becoming a martyr and against anyone rationalizing or celebrating the assassination:
    • “We also don’t want Charlie Kirk to become some kind of martyr that then leads to more people encouraging this type of violence.” (05:53)
    • “The world doesn’t improve when assassins kill people... it can simultaneously be true that Kirk believed and said some disgusting things and that there is no place for violence of this kind.” (05:35)

• Historical Context: Rise in Political Violence

  • Pakman references Ezra Klein’s summary of escalating political violence (kidnapping plot against Gretchen Whitmer, Jan. 6, Pelosi attack, etc.)
  • Quote (Ezra Klein): “Political violence is contagious. It is spreading. It is not confined to one side or belief system. It should terrify us all. The foundation of a free society is the ability to participate in it without fear of violence.” (07:26)
  • Pakman emphasizes: “Unfortunately… this will deepen polarization, empower authoritarians like Trump, and fuel a dangerous cycle...” (08:05)

2. The Investigation: FBI, Incompetence, and Theories

• FBI Leadership Issues

  • Pakman is critical of Trump-installed FBI Director Kash Patel, citing their “complete botch” of the response.
    • Quote: “When you put a 45-year-old conspiracy theorist in charge of the FBI, it’s not likely that good things are going to happen.” (09:32)

• Contradictory Official Statements

  • Patel prematurely announced a suspect was in custody. Later corrections revealed no suspect had been caught.
    • Pakman’s Translation: “They got it wrong. They didn’t have anybody.”

• Official Updates & Lack of Progress

  • Utah Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason confirms little info:
    • Quote (Mason): “We do know [the suspect was] dressed in all dark clothing, but we don’t have a much better description other than that.” (08:44)
    • Quote (Mason): “No matter what side of the political aisle you’re on… we lost something important in America today… There’s a little bit of foreign intelligence and I think over the next couple of days we will learn a lot more and hopefully we will bring to justice the evil person who did what they did to Charlie today.” (09:21–09:51)

• Speculation vs. Fact

  • Pakman refuses to entertain unproven theories about a “foreign intelligence element.”
    • Pakman notes: “I’m not going to fuel the fire with any unproven stuff.” (09:51)

3. MAGA/Right-Wing Reaction: Calls for Retaliation and Escalation

• Trump’s Comments: Incitement and Blame

  • Trump appears on TV, blames “the radical left,” and signals retribution:
  • Quote (Trump): “My administration will find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity… to other political violence, including the organizations that fund it and support it…” (11:33–12:08)
  • Pakman’s response: “What does that even mean? … This statement from Trump is not going to reduce the temperature...” (12:02)

• Violent Online Rhetoric

  • MAGA figures and influencers issue warnings and threats:
    • Libs of TikTok: “This is war.”
    • Joey Mannarino: “The Democrat Party must be classified as a domestic terror organization and their members leaders treated accordingly.” (34:14)
    • Brian Eastwood: “Charlie Kirk getting shot is the shot heard around the country. I’m ready for civil war.” (34:14)
  • Chilling direct message from an unidentified MAGA supporter on video:
    • Quote: “It’s war motherfuckers. We’re coming for you. … I don’t give a fuck.” (36:19)
  • Pakman: “This is exactly what I feared was going to happen.” (36:30)

• Media Escalation

  • Jesse Watters on Fox News: “We are going to avenge Charlie Kirk’s death… This is a turning point and we know which direction we’re going to.” (38:22–39:56)
  • Pakman: “This talk of avenging is kind of how we got here in the first place. We don’t reduce violence by doing more violence.” (39:56)

• Misleading Claims About Political Violence

  • Asmongold (streamer): “I think that in the last five years or so, especially since BLM, it’s been a like 90% left wing thing.”
  • Pakman cites data from CSIS, Brookings, Reuters: “The far right is overwhelmingly responsible for the majority of political violence, especially when you just look at deadly attacks.” (41:45–43:10)

4. Analysis: Gun Violence, Culture, and Public Assassination in the Digital Age

• Calls for Gun Reform

  • Pakman insists now is the time to address gun culture and legislation:
    • “Charlie Kirk has been assassinated in broad daylight at a public event. And if now is too soon, tell me when the right time is.” (17:08)
    • “No single change will prevent every shooting. But we know… many other countries don’t have this level of shootings.” (20:16)

• American Gun Culture vs. Other Countries

  • Pakman cites anecdotes about families moving abroad and their relief at no longer fearing gun violence.
  • “When I drop my kid off at daycare, it doesn’t even enter my mind that somehow a gun might end up here, they might end up being targeted. That is a pretty important difference..." (22:40)

• Impact of Instant, Ubiquitous Video

  • Pakman stresses how the spread of video of Kirk’s assassination is different from past public killings (e.g., JFK).
    • “The sound, the chaos, it was captured… uploaded globally almost instantly. Clips were showing up on Twitter algorithmically… without warning.” (24:22)
    • “Every kid is crowded around a smartphone watching a Charlie Kirk die on screen. That’s not good for society.” (26:09)

• Comparison to Other Shootings and Media Coverage

  • While Kirk’s assassination dominates headlines, many other shootings occurred the same day (e.g., school shooting at Evergreen High in Colorado, multiple others across the US).
    • “Until we stop deciding which shootings matter based on whether the victim’s a celebrity or there is video footage, the ones that don’t fit... are just going to kind of evaporate into the background.” (28:46)

5. Political Fallout: Democrats, Media, and Future Trends

• Political Posturing and Blame

  • Congresswoman Nancy Mace: “Democrats own what happened today. I am devastated. … Democrats own this.”
    • Pakman challenges her logic: “By that logic, do Republicans own the shooting of the two Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota? Isn’t this on both sides?” (34:14)

• The Danger of Tit-for-Tat Violence

  • Pakman warns: “I deplore any of that violence. … The idea of avenging and adding more violence to this tragedy is just going to make it worse. … if they somehow… managed to get rid of all the liberals, they would obviously then just start turning the guns on each other over small differences." (39:56)

• Conspiracy Theories and Speculation

  • Greg Gutfeld floats suggestion the shooting “feels professional,” but admits “we don’t know.” (44:25)
  • Pakman cautions against evidence-free conspiracies, but notes “it's totally plausible that conspiracy theorizing is going to continue.” (45:20)

6. Memorable Quotes (with Timestamps)

• “[This] feels like a potential inflection point in this country and a bad one. I don’t see violence declining after this incident. I hate to say that.”
  — David Pakman (01:15)

• “If you support ending gun violence, you can’t support any instances of it… If you want to get to an end point of no more gun violence, then we have to condemn every single instance of it, even if the victims are those who advocated for more guns in more places.”
  — David Pakman (02:15)

• “Political violence is always an attack against us all. You have to be so blind not to see that.”
  — Quoting Ezra Klein (07:26)

• “Donald Trump put out a disgusting message about the death of Charlie Kirk… Rather than dampening down the rhetoric and saying, ‘this is a time for us to come together,’ Trump says, ‘the radical left are the cause of this, and we are going to go after them.’”
  — David Pakman (11:33–12:02)

• “We also don’t want Charlie Kirk to become some kind of martyr that then leads to more people encouraging this type of violence.”
  — David Pakman (05:53)

• “Charlie Kirk has been assassinated in broad daylight at a public event. And if now is too soon, tell me when the right time is.”
  — David Pakman (17:08)

• “Every kid is crowded around a smartphone watching a Charlie Kirk die on screen. That’s not good for society. That is a level of exposure and a speed of exposure that is new. It didn’t exist even 15 years ago.”
  — David Pakman (26:09)

• “Until we stop deciding which shootings matter based on whether the victim’s a celebrity or there is video footage, the ones that don’t fit the right criteria to be covered are just going to kind of evaporate into the background.”
  — David Pakman (28:46)

Timestamps of Major Segments

• Assassination & National Response: 00:07 – 09:51
• FBI/Investigation/Leadership Critique: 09:51 – 12:55
• MAGA & Trump Response: 11:33 – 16:00
• Gun Reform & Gun Culture Debate: 17:08 – 22:40
• Media, Video, and Public Trauma: 24:22 – 28:46
• Other Shootings & Media Selectivity: 28:46 – 33:56
• Right-Wing Retaliation & Civil War Rhetoric: 33:56 – 41:45
• Misleading Narratives on Political Violence: 41:45 – 43:10
• Conspiratorial Theories (Gutfeld, “Professional” Shooting): 44:25 – 45:20
• Political Fallout, Kamala Harris Segment: 45:20 – end

Notable Moments

• Charlie Kirk’s Statement on Gun Deaths (Played by Pakman, ~4:30): Example of Kirk’s controversial views resurfacing after his assassination.
• Social Media Panic and Youth Exposure (26:09): Description of how the assassination video flooded schools and group chats.
• Pakman’s Refutation of “90% Left-Wing Violence” Claim (41:45): Detailed demolition of a right-wing talking point using credible data.

Overall Tone and Takeaway

The tone is urgent, direct, and sober. Pakman insists that regardless of political disagreement, violent attacks must be condemned universally. He worries about a dangerous cycle of tit-for-tat violence, an empowered authoritarian right, and society’s numbing to daily shootings. He calls for immediate action on gun reform, decries the posturing and blame games on both sides, and highlights the uniquely destructive impact that immediate, immersive media coverage has on public trauma and political polarization.

“There is no place for violence of this kind and we have to condemn it.”

For First-Time Listeners

This episode serves as a comprehensive, unapologetically progressive analysis of a critical, fraught moment in American political and media history. David Pakman breaks down the assassination, its immediate aftermath, and its likely consequences with nuance, skepticism of official narratives, and a call for both moral clarity and policy change.