'Expel this student': GOP leader's free speech 'double standard' exposed after Kirk murder
U.S. right-wing activist and commentator Charlie Kirk appears at a Utah Valley University speaking event in Orem, Utah, U.S. September 10, 2025. Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune via REUTERS
While MAGA Republicans and supporters of President Donald Trump have been working hard to get liberal critics of slain far-right activist Charlie Kirk fired, one Republican leader in particular has gone "above and beyond" in his effort to target Kirk's critics, according to a recent analysis.
In a Wednesday article for Slate, author Shirin Ali reported that Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) has been on a tear over the past week working to get college students expelled for making negative comments about Kirk. Ali recalled one instance in which an 18 year-old Black female student at Texas Tech University was seen on video disrupting a vigil for Kirk on the school's campus in Lubbock, Texas. The student can be seen on video pushing a student's red MAGA hat off of their head and arguing with onlookers who called her "hateful."
In a post to his X account, Abbott posted a photo of the student being handcuffed by police, tweeting: "This is what happened to the person who was mocking Charlie Kirk’s assassination at Texas Tech. FAFO," which is an acronym for the phrase "f--- around, find out." The student was later expelled from the university.
In another video, a Black male student at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas can be seen disrupting a vigil for Kirk held by the campus' Turning Point USA chapter (the right-wing student activist group Kirk founded). Students can be heard shouting at the disruptor, who was wearing headphones and repeatedly slapping his neck and falling down in an apparent mockery of Kirk being shot. Roughly an hour after Abbott tweeted "expel this student immediately," the school issued a statement saying that when the person in question had been identified, it would be taking action against him.
"That student is now expelled," Abbott announced on social media.
Ali observed that these statements were particularly noteworthy from a governor who had taken public action in favor of free speech on college campuses, signing a bill into law in 2019 aimed at protecting "conservative voices" on college campuses in the Lone Star State. However, Abbott backtracked this year following the nationwide protests on college campuses in 2024 protesting Israel's continued bombing of Gaza. According to Ali, the new law focused on "placing restrictions on students engaging in peaceful protests, banning encampments and megaphones and instating a curfew on student protests."
The Slate author further noted the irony of Abbott's statement that Texans "must send a signal that celebrating the assassination of a free speech advocate is wrong in a civil society," writing that the governor "failed to mention that Texas seems ready to enforce a double standard: If two Black students exercise their free speech rights, the governor will happily penalize them and even celebrate their arrest."
Click here to read Ali's full article in Slate.
