by The Sacramento Beea Northern California-based newspaper, has apologized for falsely claiming that Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk called for the “lynching” of transgender people.
Charlie Kirk was scheduled to speak at the University of California Davis on Tuesday Sacramento Bee Opinion writer Hannah Holzer called the activist “another fascist” and said he wanted to lynch transgender people.
“Among his most gruesome comments, Kirk suggested lynching transgender people, whom he has labeled ‘garbage,'” Holzer wrote.
Holzer also called Kirk a “vocal transphobe and Donald Trump fanatic” who has “moneyed controversy for years.”
Holzer based her opinion on a contextless clip from Charlie Kirk’s show, in which he said the fact that transgender people change clothes in a woman’s dressing room needs to be treated “like we did in the 1950s and ’60s.”
The bee Holzer’s claims on its social media pages continued when it tweeted, “Charlie Kirk has called for the lynching of trans people, a comment intended to justify the cancellation of his speaking engagement at UC Davis.”
Kirk said he never called for the lynching of transgender people and threatened to sue the newspaper for defamation.
“This is slander and slander. We will sue if not corrected,” Kirk tweeted. “Left rags like the SacBee are allowed to spread lies against conservatives and get away with it. Lawfare time.” He added:
Here’s the TRUTH Swimmer Riley Gaines came to my show and shared how Lia Thomas got naked in the girls’ locker room. I said we should go back to the 50’s and 60’s which meant local law enforcement intervened or parents boycotted the event.
“I have NEVER once used the word ‘lynch’, nor did it occur to me. In fact, I specifically called for PEACE, but they don’t want you to see that part,” he concluded.
Here is THE TRUTH
Swimmer Riley Gaines joined my show and shared how Lia Thomas exposed herself in the girls’ locker room.
I said we should “go back to the ’50s and ’60s,” meaning local law enforcement intervened or parents boycotted the event.
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) March 14, 2023
REGISTER and come out in large numbers tonight and show UC Davis that conservatives won’t be silenced. And if you disagree, I invite you to the front of the line for a peaceful exchange of views.https://t.co/7OnETGa9fU
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) March 14, 2023
After Kirk threatened a lawsuit, the Sacramento Bee eliminated the “lynch” line and changed the headline to say “far right” instead of “fascist”:
An earlier version of this column contained a statement that Charlie Kirk “promoted the lynching of trans people.” The basis for this allegation is a video clip in which Kirk was upset that a trans woman had won an NCAA swimming championship. In the clip, Kirk said rather than let the woman compete, “someone (sic) should have cared about how we cared about things in the 1950s and ’60s.”
The bee Continuation:
Some trans advocates on social media extrapolated from Kirk’s comments that he called for the lynching of trans people – an accusation The Bee echoed. But a review of the video shows Kirk never advocated lynching trans people. In fact, he firmly denies the accusation. These notes have been added to the column. The Bee regrets his comments and we apologize for any misunderstanding this earlier version may have caused.
The newspaper continued to use Kirk’s entire quote, saying, “Some trans activists questioned whether Kirk was referring to potential violence related to mid-century America, but he strongly denied this on Twitter.”
