Charlie Kirk's college tour enrages female students over abortion

Kirk recently went viral with his video for Jubilee, in which he debates young liberals on issues such as abortion, race and the LGBTQ+ community. Many TikTok users mocked Kirk and grabbed a clip of a USC student challenging him on the issue of abortion.

“Charlie Kirk has really come into her own on social media over the last few months,” said Morgan Kilbourne, a sophomore and journalism major TeenVogue. “He's definitely become something of an online personality for our generation just because he's debated so many college students — and a lot of them have really held their own and made good arguments.”

Kilbourne added: “He’s just a strange guy. He is a great interrupter. I just wanted to see him in real time.”

Ashley Thornton, a sophomore and criminal justice major, said she went to the event after seeing the debate videos go viral on TikTok. “It’s nice that he’s here because I can make fun of him,” Thornton said. “I don’t agree with his views and the things he says…” In one of the videos I saw, he was talking about abortion and how he feels about abortion. I look at him and ask myself, 'You don't have a uterus, why do you have an opinion?'”

Sofia Basurto, a freshman and political science major, described herself as an independent who cared about hearing everyone's perspective and wanted to see what her fellow students had to say about certain topics. Basurto said, “I feel like as a woman I don't agree with a lot of his views on abortion.”

Students against Kirk stood to the side and watched the commotion as he entered the debate floor. When he arrived, red hats were thrown into the mostly male crowd, and some students even stood on their friends' shoulders begging for a “Make America Great Again” hat. “They’re literally throwing MAGA hats right now,” one student said in disbelief.

Isaac Bowers, a graduate student studying hydrogeology, questioned the purpose of the tour, noting that Kirk's on-camera debates don't really convince anyone of anything they don't already believe. “He obviously just goes on these tours to debate people,” Bowers said, “but it doesn't look like a lot of his views are changing one way or the other.”

Bowers continued: “It's a little ironic to me: it's called 'The Brainwashed Tour,' but a lot of the people who are here can't seem to change their minds about anything, so it seems like they're brainwashed themselves “in one way or another.”

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