From Wessel to Kirk: How Martyrdom Becomes Propaganda in the MAGA Era

When Horst Wessel died in Berlin in 1930, he was a 22-year-old member of the Sturmabteilung (SA, or Brownshirts). He was not a party leader or war hero, but a minor activist who had written a marching song later adopted by the Nazis. Wessel was shot in the face at his apartment by a Communist named Albrecht “Ali” Höhler after a dispute involving his girlfriend and landlord. He lingered in hospital for weeks before dying of his wounds.

By most accounts, Wessel’s death had more to do with a personal quarrel than politics. Yet Joseph Goebbels, then the Nazi Party’s master propagandist, saw its potential. The messy details were erased, the shooting reframed as a Communist assassination, and Wessel was turned into a martyr. His funeral became a staged spectacle. His name and song became central to Nazi myth-making.

The lesson was clear: in extremist politics, death can be more useful than life.

That lesson is resurfacing today in the United States, following the assassination of Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, at Utah Valley University on 10 September 2025. Like Wessel, Kirk was a divisive figure in life. And like Wessel, his death is already being moulded into propaganda by those who see political opportunity in tragedy.

From Provocateur to Martyr

Kirk built his career as a conservative youth organiser and MAGA loyalist. To supporters, he gave voice to a new generation of Republicans; to critics, he fuelled division and conspiracy. But as with Wessel, nuance is the first casualty of martyrdom.

In the days since his killing, Kirk has been recast as a noble defender of freedom, silenced by enemies of the right. His controversies have disappeared from coverage on Fox News and sympathetic outlets. His name, image, and slogans are now icons, stripped of complexity and elevated into symbols of sacrifice.

The GOP and MAGA’s Seizure of the Narrative

Republican leaders moved quickly to frame Kirk’s assassination as part of a wider left-wing assault on conservative America. Donald Trump declared that “the left has blood on its hands,” casting the killing as proof of an existential struggle. Party figures echoed the claim, some vowing retribution not just against the shooter but against “every enabler.”

This is the modern equivalent of Goebbels’s intervention after Wessel’s death: claim the killing as political, erase ambiguity, and channel it into mobilisation. Not all Republicans agreed — some, like Senator Thom Tillis, denounced the rush to weaponise the tragedy — but those voices were drowned out in the media storm.

Right-Wing Media: From Reporting to Myth-Making

Fox News, Salem Radio, Blaze TV, and countless podcasts and influencers turned Kirk’s killing into wall-to-wall coverage. His speeches replayed in looped montages, his face haloed in stylised memorials, his name invoked alongside words like “sacrifice” and “freedom.”

Some hosts went further, calling the assassination a declaration of “war” on conservatives. Others suggested retaliation, leaning into militarised rhetoric that transforms grief into mobilisation. The messy realities of Kirk’s politics have been erased, just as Wessel’s quarrel over a girlfriend and rent was erased in 1930. What remains is myth.

Social Media: The Digital Echo Chamber

The Nazi propaganda machine had newspapers, radio, and parades. Today’s right has X, TikTok, Facebook, and Telegram. Within minutes of Kirk’s death, raw footage of the shooting circulated online. Doctored images, false claims about the shooter, and conspiracy theories linking the killing to Israel or LGBTQ+ activists flooded feeds.

The Anti-Defamation League tracked over 10,000 antisemitic posts tying the assassination to Israel in the first two days alone. Russian, Chinese, and Iranian state media amplified divisive narratives, while domestic MAGA accounts pushed hashtags and memes framing Kirk as a fallen warrior.

Algorithms reinforced the loop, drowning out caution or fact-checking. The result: Kirk’s myth spread faster and deeper than Wessel’s ever could, reaching millions before investigators could establish the facts.

Martyrdom as Mobilisation

The parallels between Wessel and Kirk lie in how their deaths are used, not in who they were. Both were ordinary figures elevated into symbols through propaganda. Both became rallying cries to mobilise followers, harden divisions, and justify escalation.

Kirk’s image now appears on banners at MAGA rallies, his name invoked as proof that conservatives are under attack. Like Wessel’s funeral in Berlin, his memorial events risk becoming less about mourning and more about galvanising a movement.

The Danger of Myth over Truth

Wessel’s martyrdom helped the Nazis cast political violence as holy sacrifice, closing down dissent and propelling their rise to power. America is not Weimar Germany, but the same propaganda mechanics are visible. Kirk’s assassination is tragic — but the myth being built around it may prove even more dangerous, stoking grievance, fuelling extremism, and narrowing the space for truth.

When movements elevate the fallen into saints, they demand loyalty and silence dissent. They turn tragedy into doctrine. They weaponise memory.

Conclusion: The Rhymes of History

Horst Wessel died from a personal dispute but was recast as a martyr for the Nazi cause. Charlie Kirk died in a brutal public shooting and is already being sanctified as proof of the MAGA movement’s persecution. The details of their lives matter less to propagandists than the utility of their deaths.

History may not repeat, but it rhymes. Today’s rhyme is chilling. The question is whether America is willing to hear it — and resist before martyrdom becomes mobilisation, and mobilisation becomes something darker.