Leftist establishment media satire outlet The Chaser is under fire for mocking the assassination of American conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
The satirical site, which has regularly worked with national broadcaster the ABC and is embedded in Australia’s left-wing corporate media ecosystem, responded to the shooting of Kirk on Thursday with an article and social media post.
“R U OK? Day not going well at Turning Point” read the headline, in reference to the shooting happening on the same date as a suicide prevention charity’s national day to encourage conversations about mental health.
— The Chaser (@chaser) September 11, 2025
The article also implies that Kirk deserved to be shot dead due to his opposition to gun control with this paragraph:
Turning Point reportedly began to question their views on gun control measures that could help stop any more tragedies like this occurring, but decided to stick to their guns after remembering that the shooting happened at a school.
The article and post sparked outrage among Australians, and The Chaser turned comments off on X in response to the backlash.
“I’ve always enjoyed dark humour. This is objectively unfunny. Genuinely shit. Not even edgy. Just lame. Not even ABC Comedy level. Your writers room is very weak. Call it a day,” said one critic.
“You think this is funny you disgusting low life pieces of human garbage. I will boycott you forever now,” said another.
“The left and the sickos showing their true colours,” said a third.
The Chaser were not the only members of the establishments media to mock or celebrate Kirk’s assassination, with Crikey associate editor Cam Wilson, a far-left activist who has appeared on antifa podcasts, saying it was “fine to joke about” in leaked messages.
“I think it’s reasonable to say that Charlie Kirk was more responsible than almost anyone for a political culture that we can assume contributed to his death,” Wilson wrote in leaked messages, The Daily Telegraph reported.
“That being said I’m in the camp of ‘it seems like MAGA is going to mass execute the left now so let’s be chill,” he wrote, and later told the chat where the messages were written: “Oh yeah it’s so fine to joke about it.”
The Chaser’s article was written by its far-left editor John Delmenico, who posted on his personal X account: “Charlie Kirk’s Russian boss sending him an R U Ok Day email as we speak.”
He also reposted a story from Jezebel on September 9 headlined “We paid some Etsy witches to curse Charlie Kirk” with the caption: “Jezebel is now the only news source I trust.”
Earlier this year Delmencio was ridiculed after trying to get a toothpaste company cancelled by stirring up an online leftist lynch mob about public transport ads that said “make the White choice”.
Header image: Left, The Chaser’s John Delmenico (X). Right, the offensive article (The Chaser).
