Free Speech and the Opportunistic Deceit
of the Right

Right-wing culture warriors on both sides of the Atlantic cannot cloak their authoritarianism in a strident belief in free speech – the hypocrisy is striking, writes Jonathan Lis

The assassination of the right-wing American commentator and activist Charlie Kirk in Utah in September was condemned by nearly all mainstream left-wing politicians, academics, and commentators, in the US and in the UK. Kirk’s most strident opponents denounced his killing, and the manner of it, and emphasised their revulsion at all political violence.

It was not enough for his most high-profile supporters.

Their offence? Some had the temerity to quote from Kirk’s exhaustive list of racist, misogynistic, and homophobic statements.