The Poison in America’s Heart, by Pedro Gonzalez

An old colleague I had not heard from in a long while added me to a group chat on Wednesday. The members were all people who had been in my cohort for the Claremont Institute’s Lincoln Fellowship in 2021, a mixture of media figures, analysts, and activists. Although the group sort of fragmented later, I did make a few good friends with whom I kept in touch even after I began removing myself from that social circle. Still, I thought it was odd. Why now, and why add me after years of silence?

“Charlie got shot.”

Charlie Kirk had been in my Lincoln Fellow class. That was how we first met, and that was how I appeared on his show and spoke at one of his events, before our paths diverged. I opened X just as the headlines were starting to appear on the feed. Someone shot him while he was on tour at Utah Valley University. …

Continue reading >>>>>>>>>>>