Jay Leno Warns Charlie Kirk Shooting Is ‘The Death of Free Speech’

DeeCee Carter/MediaPunch/IPX via AP

Former Tonight Show host Jay Leno warned the murder of conservative media star Charlie Kirk signaled “the death of free speech,” where political adversaries resort to killing those they disagree with, rather than engaging in debate.

Leno shared his thoughts on the shooting of Kirk during an appearance on The Tim Conway Jr. Show on KFI 640 in Los Angeles, Wednesday.

“It’s not a random shooting. I mean, it’s the death of free speech, to think that you are so illiterate and so stupid you can’t answer verbally, and you have to shoot somebody with a gun to win the argument,” Leno said.

The comedy legend said he thoroughly enjoyed debates when he was in college at Emerson University in the early 1970s, and that he vividly remembered civil but passionate arguments between political opposites like James Baldwin and William F. Buckley. Those days are gone, and America is worse for it, Leno argued.

“This is a political assassination of a man who I didn’t necessarily agree with, but I certainly enjoyed listening to. Because, ‘Oh, I didn’t know that, okay’ — and I didn’t have to agree on everything [with Kirk],” Leno said. “I mean, we’re at a point in this country where, if you don’t agree with everybody on everything, you take out a gun and you shoot them?”

Leno called into Conway’s program just hours after the shooting.

The 31-year-old influencer and organizer behind Turning Point USA, a conservative nonprofit organization that helped President Donald Trump make significant gains with young voters, was shot and killed during an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday. The suspect in the shooting has been identified as 22-year-old Tyler Robinson.

Conway told his audience he was sickened by the attack, especially with the knowledge that Kirk’s wife and two children were in attendance.

“His young kids… they’re going to be watching the internet forever and accidentally running across that footage,” Conway said. “Because their last name is Kirk, and 20 years from now they’ll be putting their name in and that Charlie Kirk video will come up. That’s what they have to look forward to their whole lives. It’s horrible. It’s the worst.”

The veteran radio host added that Kirk’s influence would only continue to grow following his tragic death.

“I think this is going to have the exact opposite effect that the shooter wanted,” Conway said. “I think this movement of Charlie Kirk’s is going to explode.”