Dave Chappelle made fun of comparisons between conservative activist Charlie Kirk and civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. in a surprise Netflix standup special released Friday.
Following the fatal shooting of Kirk, some on the right began to liken his life and death to that of King, who was assassinated in 1968. Media personality Glenn Beck, for instance, called on cities to name streets after the Turning Point USA founder, proclaiming him “a civil rights leader as much as Martin Luther King.”
“That’s a reach,” Chappelle said in a clip widely circulated on social media. “You know, they both got murdered in a terrible fashion. They both got shot in the neck. But that’s about where those similarities ended.”
Calling Kirk a “motherfucking Internet personality,” he asked the crowd, “Can you imagine if Dr. King was behaving like Charlie Kirk?”
The comedian then launched into an impression of King’s recognizable voice speaking in the lingo of an online influencer.
″‘Smash that like button and subscribe!’” Chappelle boomed. ”‘Follow me for more content like this! I believe all Black people should be free, change my mind!’”
Kirk wasn’t a huge fan of King in the years preceding his death. Though he had previously praised King, in 2023 he called him “awful” and someone who simply “said one good thing he actually didn’t believe,” Wired reported at the time. Kirk also said he believed that passing the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a “huge mistake.”
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