Utah Valley U. Drops Graduation Speaker Who Smeared Charlie Kirk as ‘Bigoted’ After His Murder
“Hours immediately after Charlie’s assassination, Sharon McMahon posted a now deleted series of out-of-context quotes from Charlie in an effort to tarnish his name”
It’s important to note that this does not qualify as cancel culture. It would be entirely inappropriate for this person to speak at this event.
The College Fix reports:
Utah Valley University drops graduation speaker who called Charlie Kirk ‘bigoted’ after murder
Utah Valley University will no longer honor an educator who called Charlie Kirk “bigoted” soon after someone murdered the Turning Point USA founder at the Orem campus.
The public university announced that author and educator Sharon McMahon would no longer be the graduation speaker this spring, following “increased safety concerns.”
On Sept. 12, 2025, just two days after an assassin brutally murdered Kirk during an on-campus event, McMahon posted on Instagram a series of quotes from stating: “These aren’t sound bites taken out of context. Millions of people feel they were harmed, and the murder that was horrific and should never have happened does not magically erase what was said or done.”
Her thread argued that Kirk said horrible things about black and LGBTQ people, as well as women, claiming he promulgated “bigoted ideas on a stage that reached tens of millions.”
“It’s important to remember that the incredible tragedy of a public assassination does not erase the harm many experienced from his words, and the ensuing actions his followers took,” she wrote.
The selection of McMahon had drawn criticism from the campus Turning Point USA club, who lived through the horrific murder during an event they hosted:
Hours immediately after Charlie’s assassination, Sharon McMahon posted a now deleted series of out-of-context quotes from Charlie in an effort to tarnish his name and minimize the tragedy, rather than offering condolences or condemning political violence.
While universities should welcome diverse viewpoints, platforming someone who treated a historic and tragic political assassination not as a moment to grieve but as an opportunity to create content is tone-deaf and disrespectful to those still affected, especially on this campus.
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‘The public university announced that author and educator Sharon McMahon would no longer be the graduation speaker this spring, following “increased safety concerns.”’
There is nothing good to say about this “reason”.