Fox News host sparks fury after claiming trans-related medication drove Charlie Kirk shooter

A Fox News host has sparked fury after suggesting trans-related medication drove the shooter of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.

Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, was taking part in a debate at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on Wednesday 10 September when he was struck in the neck by a bullet. The 30-year-old, known for his opposition to LGBTQ+ rights and support of gun ownership, later died in hospital.

Police arrested 22-year-old Tyler Robinson two days later after a statewide search. Investigators said Robinson admitted to his father that he had carried out the attack. Shots were believed to have been fired from the roof of a nearby campus building. Just before the gunfire, Kirk had been discussing a conspiracy theory circulating in conservative media which falsely claims trans people are more prone to violence.

“A lot of people are indoctrinated with leftist ideology” – Kevin Corke on Tyler Robinson being presented as a Trump supporter

The following Sunday, Fox & Friends hosts Rachel Campos-Duffy, Lawrence B Jones and Kevin Corke devoted a segment to Kirk’s death. Campos-Duffy drew comparisons with a recent shooting at a Catholic school in Minneapolis, asking: “How much Christian blood has been spilled this month?” She continued: “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. So, what can we know about this ideology and why is it so violent?”

Jones suggested “some media outlets” were trying to present Robinson as a supporter of Donald Trump and noted that Kirk had been speaking about “trans shooters” when he was killed. He also said that Robinson’s alleged partner, a trans roommate, was co-operating with the investigation.

Corke added: “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.”

“What do those drugs do to their body, their minds?” – Rachel Campos-Duffy on trans-related medication

Campos-Duffy then speculated: “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.”

Conservative figures in the US have increasingly attempted to connect gun violence with trans identities. Yet research overwhelmingly shows otherwise. The Violence Project, which tracks mass shootings dating back to 1966, has found cisgender men responsible for 97 per cent of attacks. The Gun Violence Archive notes that trans people would be expected to have committed at least 16 mass shootings since 2018 if they were represented proportionally in the data. According to The Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler, conservatives have identified only three possible examples.

Kirk’s death comes amid reports that officials within Donald Trump’s Justice Department once considered restricting gun ownership for trans people by categorising them as mentally ill – a move widely condemned by firearms lobbyists.