The assassination of conservative firebrand Charlie Kirk has led to extremely tense times in the nation, fueled by the rhetoric of President Donald Trump and other right-wing figures. Political commentator Ezra Klein brought award-winning journalist and author Ta-Nehisi Coates on his show to discuss the issue, notably days after Coates took Klein’s defense of Kirk’s rhetoric to task.
The conversation about Kirk showed Coates’ highly nuanced and accurate observations of the Turning Point USA founder throughout, as well as his disagreements with Klein’s “uncomfortable” perspective that Kirk’s viewpoints were valuable in political discourse. Coates expressed his view prior to the New York Times-hosted podcast in a Vanity Fair article, which took apart Klein’s take point by point, and touched on that in several moments throughout the podcast. The two are friends, with Coates having appeared on Klein’s podcast numerous times.
Klein got right to asking about the focus of Coates’ disagreement with his take, leading Coates to describe Kirk as a “hatemonger,” stating that he was adept at utilizing hate as a powerful force, and should mainly be viewed in that way.
