Far-right activist Charlie Kirk is drawing criticism—and head scratches—after claiming China will invade Taiwan because a high school in the United States held a drag show.
What the two have to do with each other is anyone's guess, but the claim was just one part of a tirade Kirk went on over the high school drag show, which happened during half-time at a school football game in Burlington, Vermont.
Both students and faculty participated in the drag show to great fanfare at the school, which Kirk called "godless" and "soulless" in his rant, seen below.
WARNING: homophobic and transphobic slurs
The drag show of about 30 students and faculty, which was organized by the school's gay/straight alliance group, was part of Burlington High School's homecoming celebration and by all accounts left people in the stands cheering.
But to Kirk, the show was indicative of the state of decline of the United States as a whole.
"Meanwhile, at a high school in Vermont, just to kind of show the state of the nation, what are they doing during a high school football game? Oh, they're having a drag show."
Kirk then segued into a diatribe about comedian Dave Chapelle's new Netflix special The Closer, which the trans community has called transphobic and which inspired a walkout by trans employees at the streaming company.
The far-right "youth" leader is one of Trump's biggest cheerleaders. #LGBTQhttps://lgbtq.to/3b3yxZ7— LGBTQ Nation (@LGBTQ Nation) 1634911634
Kirk lamented Chapelle is being "canceled for being hilarious," before segueing once again to make his claim all this pro-LGBTQ+ inclusion is going to make China really mad—not at the United States, but at Taiwan.
"If I were [Chinese leader] Xi Jinping, and I saw that Netflix employees were walking out over saying that gender is a fact, if I was Xi Jinping and I saw drag queen halftime show, I would take Taiwan over lunch."
Kirk offered no explanation for how these two things were connected before then claiming China and Taiwan's beef would somehow also endanger the United States.
"The transgender garbage is making America a dangerous place. It allows our enemies an opportunity to take us over."
As you might guess, Twitter found Kirk's latest rant absurd.
Listening to Charlie Kirk go off about a drag show at a high school being the last of the seven seals of the apocalypse or something and thinking about how much I\u2019d rather be LGBT than Catholic or \u201cEvangelical\u201d or whatever.— \ud83e\udea6\u262dRonaldReaganWasTheDevil\u262d\ud83e\udea6 (@\ud83e\udea6\u262dRonaldReaganWasTheDevil\u262d\ud83e\udea6) 1634930048
"Godless, Soulless: Burlington, Vermont"\nDidn't know The city with fresh water lakes alongside Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream would be labeled a PORTAL TO HELL.https://twitter.com/mmfa/status/1451259286286442497\u00a0\u2026— Jason Kitsemetry (@Jason Kitsemetry) 1634847127
Listening to Charlie Kirk go off about a drag show at a high school being the last of the seven seals of the apocalypse or something and thinking about how much I\u2019d rather be LGBT than Catholic or \u201cEvangelical\u201d or whatever.— \ud83e\udea6\u262dRonaldReaganWasTheDevil\u262d\ud83e\udea6 (@\ud83e\udea6\u262dRonaldReaganWasTheDevil\u262d\ud83e\udea6) 1634930048
Charlie Kirk needs to get a hobby. Also I guess he's got an attitude w/Media Matters bcz he calls them out directly. LmaoThey're clearly doing something right. I mean like, imagine throwing a tantrum bcz other ppl are simply existing/minding their own business. Lolhttps://twitter.com/mmfa/status/1451259286286442497\u00a0\u2026— Double Treble \ud83c\udf83\u26b0\ufe0f\ud83d\udc7b (@Double Treble \ud83c\udf83\u26b0\ufe0f\ud83d\udc7b) 1634842751
Omg I\u2019ve been dying to move to Burlington and this just confirms that my hopes for the place are true!— Hermione Marzin (@Hermione Marzin) 1634916614
Then shouldn't he keep quiet?— CoolsomeXD (He/Him) (@CoolsomeXD (He/Him)) 1634842800
Is it just me or does @charliekirk11 look like one of those deeply weird wypipo who brags about not showering regularly - or at all?https://www.wonkette.com/charlie-kirk-geopolitics-corner-will-china-bomb-taiwan-because-of-vermont-drag-show\u00a0\u2026— \ud83c\udf83\ud83d\udc80Bub's Back, Baby!\ud83d\udc7b\ud83c\udf83 (@\ud83c\udf83\ud83d\udc80Bub's Back, Baby!\ud83d\udc7b\ud83c\udf83) 1634880830
Show me your life's falling apart...\n\nWhen you can't even put on a hat correctly— John Bolger (@John Bolger) 1634842301
Everyone in this story is more of a man than Charlie Kirk--the players and the drag queens.— Mike (@Mike) 1634845925
OMG! I hadn't heard about this! This is so awesome!\n\nGo VT!\n\nProud of Burlington!https://www.joemygod.com/2021/10/charlie-kirk-if-china-hears-about-a-high-schools-godless-drag-show-theyll-invade-taiwan-video/\u00a0\u2026— Normal Citizen VT (@Normal Citizen VT) 1634903635
This fucking moron really needs to get a real hobby, instead of living for "triggering libs" and exciting bigots and morons.\nSorry Charlie, you're not even good at trolling. You're just a boring jerk. An incoherent and unoriginal one.https://www.wonkette.com/charlie-kirk-geopolitics-corner-will-china-bomb-taiwan-because-of-vermont-drag-show\u00a0\u2026— Phazon-S (@Phazon-S) 1634851447
Kirk is one of former Republican President Donald Trump's biggest supporters, frequently amplifying his baseless "Big Lie" election fraud claims.
Jane Rosenberg
Jane Rosenberg
@arianagrande/Instagram
@arianagrande/Instagram