Overview

• King’s now-deleted reply to Jesse Watters asserted Kirk “advocated stoning gays to death,” a claim he retracted with an apology stating Kirk was illustrating how people cherry-pick Biblical passages.
• Responding to criticism, King said he posted without fact-checking and pledged it would not happen again, issuing multiple follow-up apologies and confirming the deletion.
• Coverage ties King’s claim to a 2024 video in which Kirk cited Leviticus while arguing about selective use of scripture rather than endorsing stoning.
• Republican figures condemned King’s post, with Sen. Mike Lee urging a defamation suit by Kirk’s estate and Sen. Ted Cruz labeling the author a “horrible, evil, twisted liar.”
• Utah officials said 22-year-old Tyler Robinson was taken into custody in Kirk’s fatal shooting, noting he indicated involvement to a family member, as Gov. Spencer Cox announced, “We got him.”