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Art Jipson, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Dayton

Charlie Kirk and the making of an AI-generated martyr

Charlie Kirk Jesus George Floyd Ronald Reagan Abraham Lincoln John F Kennedy Martin Luther King Jr Turning Point USA United States
A makeshift memorial for Charlie Kirk outside the headquarters of Turning Point USA in Phoenix. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

An AI-generated image of Charlie Kirk embracing Jesus. Another of Kirk posing with angel wings and halo. Then there’s the one of Kirk standing with George Floyd at the gates of heaven.

When prominent political or cultural figures die in the U.S., the remembrance of their life often veers into hagiography. And that’s what’s been happening since the gruesome killing of conservative activist and Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk.

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