Fox News hosts blame shooting of Charlie Kirk on ‘drugs they take in order to trans’

A Fox News host has claimed that gender-affirming care causes trans people to commit violent acts, while talking about the shooting of right-wing podcaster Charlie Kirk.

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, known for his gun rights advocacy and anti-LGBTQ+ beliefs, was shot in the neck while holding a debate at Utah Valley University, in Orem, on Wednesday (10 September). He died later in hospital.

Following a huge manhunt, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson was arrested two days later, after allegedly confessing to his father.

In the seconds before the gun shot, which came from the roof of a nearby university building, Charlie Kirk had been discussing the conservative conspiracy theory about trans shooters.

Fox News pundits Rachel Campos-Duffy, Lawrence B Jones and Kevin Corke discussed the right-wing influencer’s death on Fox & Friends on Sunday (14 September).

Campos-Duffy asked how much “Christian blood has been spilled this month?”, in reference to Kirk and the shooting at a Catholic school in Minneapolis. “We can’t forget about the children who were gunned down while attending Mass and we saw that, in the end, that was also a trans shooter,” she said. “So, what can we know about this ideology and why is it so violent?”

Jones said some sections of the media were “trying to make [Robinson] MAGA” and noted that Kirk was shot while discussing trans shooters, before saying investigators will be looking at that “ideology”.

He went on to share the claim that the suspect was in a relationship with his roommate, who is reportedly trans, saying: “It’s important to know that his lover, the transgender individual [who’s] transitioning, is co-operating with the investigation.”

Corke then said: “Here is the problem I have: a lot of people are indoctrinated with leftist ideology but that’s a bridge too far to obviously take to a level of violence and that’s where I wonder if there is a nexus between not just this ideology but also his community.”

That prompted Campos-Duffy to say: “Or maybe even some of the drugs they take in order to trans. What do those drugs do to their body, their minds?”

Corke agreed, saying: “Medically speaking, we should get to the bottom of whether or not there is a link there.”

In recent months, especially following the shooting in Minneapolis, the right-wing conspiracy theory that trans people – who make up about 0.6 per cent of the US population – are more likely to commit violent acts has been pushed by conservatives, despite such claims having been disproven.

Figures from The Violence Project’s database, which has collated details of the more than 190 mass shootings in the US since 1966, show that cis men were responsible for 97 per cent of the crimes.

The Gun Violence Archive, which describes a mass shooting as involving at least four victims – either dead or injured – revealed that trans people “would be expected to have committed at least 16 mass shootings since 2018” according to the data. However, “there are just three possible cases cited by conservatives,” The Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler reported in 2023.

Kirk’s death came just days after sources within the Trump administration said Justice Department officials were having discussions about taking away trans people’s right to own firearms, by labelling them mentally ill. The idea has been strongly criticised by America’s highly influential gun lobby.

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