Nation writer Elie Mystal on Friday tore into some arguments and hot takes surrounding the "canonization" of Charlie Kirk, a MAGA influencer shot dead this week in Utah, cautioning that the "martyred mascot of racism" has distracted people from facing heightened racism and the country's raging gun problem.
"Before the shooting, the biggest story in America was the Supreme Court’s authorization of racial profiling against Latinos. I wrote about it here," Mystal wrote in his column. "After the white media is done celebrating their martyred mascot of racism and bigotry, I hope we can resume our conversation about how the rest of us are forced to live in this white supremacist state."
The writer offered condolences for Kirk and his family, sharing the most recent updates on the suspect, Tyler Robinson, whose motives remain unknown and who is now in custody. He noted that Kirk's last words were “counting or not counting gang violence." And, he recounted how historically Black colleges and universities in Virginia cancelled classes after receiving threats in the fallout.
"To recap, a white man was murdered by another white man for reasons we don’t yet know, but somehow that means Black people have to catch hell," Mystal wrote.
Mystal called out the Yankees for their moment of silence for the right-wing activist and specifically Ezra Klein's recent "unconscionably" titled “Charlie Kirk Was Practicing Politics The Right Way,” dubbing the New York Times opinion piece as the "worst argument of the week," specifically citing his white privilege and shortcomings.
"Klein’s article goes on to condemn political violence," he wrote. "I agree with that, of course. But condemning political violence as an op-ed columnist is a little bit like condemning the French Revolution when you’re a member of the aristocracy. It is in our best interests to condemn the violent murder of public figures, because we all know we might be next. That doesn’t make us empathetic or graceful or more enlightened than the least common denominator on social media, it makes us self-interested."
But Mystal says Klein misses the point — Kirk attacked and denigrated Black people and even threatened the existence of LGBTQ people.
"Moreover, it is entirely possible to condemn political violence and mourn the victims of political violence without lauding the political influence of the victims of the violence. Klein fails that should-be-basic test," he wrote.
"Charlie Kirk represented the very worst American political discourse had to offer, and I wish he were still alive so I could tell that to him, to his face, over and over again. I wish he lived long enough to see everything that he worked to achieve crumble all around him," he wrote.
Mystal argued that Klein ought to pay attention to this.
"You see what I did there, Ezra? It’s really not hard."
For now, Mystal says he's proud to be a Mets fan, saying he wants "people who practice politics to be better than Charlie Kirk. And Ezra Klein."
"All I can do is try to weather the storm. Violent whites have their blood up, and that usually means incredibly bad things for people like me. I’ve got public appearances that I probably need to cancel. I hope to survive this by staying as far away from white folks as I possibly can until their fever breaks."