The US Department of Education has sparked controversy by hanging a large banner featuring the late far-right commentator Charlie Kirk outside its Washington DC headquarters. The banner, which honours Kirk alongside 19th-century educator Catharine Beecher and Black education pioneer Booker T Washington, has drawn criticism given Kirk’s history of inflammatory remarks.
Kirk, who was shot and killed last September while speaking at a campus event in Utah, co-founded the conservative group Turning Point USA. The organisation advocates for conservative politics among young people, particularly on college campuses.
A nearby banner reads: “Empowering our States to tell the Stories of our Heroes in American Education.” The department said in a statement: “We are proud to honour visionary leaders whose contributions have shaped the future of education for generations.” It added that the display marks the nation’s “historic 250th milestone”.
Critics have pointed out that Kirk previously called for the abolition of the Department of Education and made racist and sexist comments. Among his past remarks, he described the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as a “mistake”, called abortion “worse” than the Holocaust, and defended gun deaths as a price for Second Amendment rights.
Despite his views, former President Donald Trump posthumously awarded Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom in October, calling him a “great American hero”. The banner follows a similar display at the Department of Justice featuring Trump’s image.
