Former ESPN host Samantha Ponder says she has been receiving “disturbing” messages after expressing sorrow over the death of Charlie Kirk.
Ponder revealed on social media that her direct messages worsened after she mourned the 31-year-old conservative influencer, who was assassinated last week. She also connected the hostility to her own concerns about safety while riding the New York City subway after the fatal stabbing of Iryna Zarutska.
“My DMs are more disturbing than ever (and trust me, that’s sayin something). Apparently only perfect people can be mourned when they’re murdered in their 30s with a wife and young children,” she wrote on X.
She criticized the backlash, noting that some people implied Kirk “had it coming” because of his political views. “How can we see someone post about sadness over the death of ANYONE they cared about, even someone we think was flawed, and say ‘Stop being sad about them. I didn’t like their opinions’?” she asked.
Kirk was shot and killed during an event at Utah Valley University in Orem. Tyler Robinson has been charged in the killing.
Ponder, who was among the public figures mourning Kirk’s death, said the tragedy left her deeply shaken but also more determined to speak out.
“I feel changed by this. At first, admittedly, more fearful,” she wrote. “But as I consider what's
https://x.com/samponder/status/1966168258001682705 at stake for our country and our children, I am emboldened to speak the truth with love even more.”
She admitted that during much of her career she avoided saying what she believed out of fear of losing her position. But now, she said, she feels a renewed sense of courage. “A platform is actually useless without courage,” Ponder added. “I mourn for Charlie's family. I mourn for our country. But I have renewed hope that many, like me, will find the courage to lovingly speak the truth boldly in the public square, as he often did.”