Former ESPN Host Received ‘Vicious’ Messages for Mourning Charlie Kirk

Former ESPN host Samantha Ponder revealed that she received “vicious” messages from strangers after she mourned the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

Speaking with former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Fox News this weekend, Ponder said that a simple post about Charlie Kirk’s family prompted severe backlash.

“The strange thing is I didn’t really say much. I reposted a video of his family just because I thought it was so relatable to see because he’s a dad. You forget when you watch people on TV sometimes that this is just a dad who is a husband and has these little kids,” she said. “So, I reposted a video of their family on vacation and I immediately lost thousands of followers – and who cares? This is not about me.”

“But it was more about seeing what’s going on in our country right now and I got just vicious messages, which any of us who have worked in TV get all the time. I’m used to that. But it was in response to something that I thought we could all agree on – man, it’s sad when someone’s murdered. I thought that was just something the general public could agree on,” she continued.

Ponder blamed some of the celebratory responses to Charlie Kirk’s death on social media algorithms that were feeding people a specific narrative and generate outrage.

Charlie Kirk, 31, was gunned down while speaking at a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University on September 10. He is survived by his wife Erika and two children. While the response from Democrat leadership condemned the killing, hardcore leftists celebrated on social media in the immediate hours after his death.