Charlie Kirk Statue Proposal Prompts Comparison to KKK Leader David Duke

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In the six weeks since Charlie Kirk was shot and killed, the discourse over the conservative podcaster’s life and legacy has frequently bubbled over into heated debate.

The latest furor has to do with proposals to erect a statue to Kirk.

The controversy began when Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry called on administrators at Louisiana State University to “find a place” for the statue.

“We’re gonna put a challenge out to the LSU board of supervisors to find a place to put a statue of Charlie Kirk to defend freedom of speech on college campuses,” Landry said, according to Fox News.

“Come on, ladies and gentlemen, let’s see if we can be the first campus to do it,” Landry

In a post on Bluesky, Professor Emeritus Robert Mann, who retired from LSU in 2024, blasted the idea and likened Kirk to late KKK Grand Wizard David Duke.

“If Jeff Landry wants a statue of a white nationalist on the LSU campus, it shouldn’t be Charlie Kirk,” Mann wrote.

“Shouldn’t he be honoring our home-grown racists, like David Duke (who actually went to LSU)?”

Numerous educators and students across the state of Louisiana were quick to echo Mann’s remarks.

LSU women’s basketball star Flau’jae Johnson also blasted the Landry’s call for a Kirk memorial on campus.

“For the sake of clarity,” she wrote on X, according to TMZ, “if you align yourself with or endorse his racist rhetoric and discriminatory views toward people of color, I respectfully ask that you utilize the unfollow option at the top right of my profile.”

“Sooo my governor wants LSU to put up a statue of someone who created an organization with the specific goal of targeting and harassing professors,” wrote Nicole Gasparini, an associate professor of environmental sciences at Tulane University.

Johnson — a senior guard for the LSU Tigers — has not commented further on the decision.

Which makes sense, as she made herself quite clear in her initial remark.

Landry has not replied to the criticism surrounding his remark, and it might be a dead issue, as the idea for a Kirk memorial doesn’t seem to have much support among LSU administrators and staff.

After all, Kirk had no strong ties to the school, and the idea of memorializing a recent, controversial political figure in order to protect free speech doesn’t really make much sense.

In all likelihood, Governor Landry was simply using Kirk’s death to further his political agenda — a trend that’s almost certain to continue in the months and years to come.

Charlie Kirk Statue Proposal Prompts Comparison to KKK Leader David Duke was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.