ROCHESTER, Minn. — The media-savvy Winona-Rochester Catholic bishop, Robert Barron, had booked conservative activist Charlie Kirk as a guest on his interview program “Bishop Barron Presents.” Barron confirmed the invitation the morning after Kirk was assassinated at an event in Utah. Barron said he talked with Kirk two nights before the assassination. The bishop called Kirk “intelligent with considerable charm.” The sit-down interview was to be on Kirk’s swing through Minnesota in mid-September.
Earlier: Right-wing activist had been due at Minneapolis
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Odd pairing?
Kirk was a close adviser to President Trump, who has cultivated an angry identity and demonized his opponents and encouraged violence and retribution. In that spirit. Kirk also celebrated political violence. After Paul Pelosi was bludgeoned and left with a skull fracture, Kirk urged his online followers to bail out Pelosi’s attacker. After Melissa Hortman and her husband and their dog were murdered by a right-wing Minnesota fanatic, Kirk tried to link Governor Tim Walz and the Democrats to the murders.