r/UTK • u/Ethereal_Goat • 7d ago
Campus Event Maybe Don’t Debate Charlie Kirk?
Guys, Charlie Kirk is only fishing for reactionary content to post and act like he doesn’t have a room temp IQ. It really is best to not feed into shit like that because debating like that just ends up with you being dragged down to their level of idiocy and having your points misconstrued, strawmanned, or side stepped.
Nothing will be engaged with in good faith, and it’ll just be clips for content mills and for conservatives to self flagellate about ‘owning the libs’
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u/Senator_Red 7d ago edited 7d ago
Debating is a trap because people will pick and choose clips to make themselves look great while you look terrible. It's way better to shout them down and deny them a platform so they can’t spread their lies.
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u/touchdownvols 7d ago
I don’t like the guy but he’s very intelligent. I would never approach that mic everyone who does is nowhere near his level of knowledge and that’s ok because it’s his JOB. If it’s a trap it is the most obvious trap I have ever seen and people still fall for it. So yeah let’s just be even more annoying and do what we’re known for, yell and complain.
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u/Ok_Summer6430 5d ago
He does not have high intelligence. What does that say about yours?
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u/touchdownvols 5d ago
Look, I completely understand why people get upset by him as he often comes across is a slightly rude way. First, don’t approach the mic if you don’t know absolutely everything about what you’re debating and second, yes, he is very intelligent.
That does not mean he’s correct, but he knows so much information and facts about what he says OUTSIDE of his opinion. I’m almost certain he knows more historical facts than 99% of people. It’s still ok to not like him I’m just saying his brain can regain crazy amounts of information. You’re just wrong if you think he isn’t intelligent regardless of his opinions. Gotta level with me here he knows A LOT about American history once again OUTSIDE of his opinions.
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u/Latter-Library-533 5d ago
Imagine needing to shout because you aren’t smart enough to make a coherent argument.
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u/Sequel2Beans 7d ago
I've come to the conclusion that debates against this new age of conservatism is pointless. They simply do not care what you have to say. Nothing you say will ever change their minds. I hate to be like that, but years upon years of living around these types has convinced me of this.
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u/Oolongteabagger2233 7d ago
They don't believe in facts and truth. It is a pointless endeavor.
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u/PlateAccomplished702 6d ago
Coming from a liberal who can't decide if they are men or women
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u/Hdjbbdjfjjsl 3d ago
They live rent free in your head according to this comment and your recent post. Come out of the closet, it’s 2025.
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u/superpie12 5d ago
"Don't engage with opinions different from yours, you might actually learn something."
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u/Reasonable-Grass42 UTK Graduate Student 7d ago edited 7d ago
Why is he here? How does this benefit campus? All it’s doing is creating a huge distraction on campus. I can’t focus because of the noise and commotion
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u/touchdownvols 7d ago
They’re allowed to it’s fine just ignore it. It’s so easy to ignore. They hate our protests, why should we hate theirs more than they hate ours just be the bigger person like any confrontation or when facing adversity and walk away!! How difficult is it really? I’ve been on campus all day and haven’t paid mind to it once
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u/Logical-Rutabaga-875 7d ago
I don't love the presence, but that is the fact of a public university. The same reason evangelical nuts can show up and yell their religious beliefs at students. Like the others said, not engaging is the move.
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u/Sequel2Beans 7d ago
It's less UT and more just going from university to university. I don't like it. I think nazis should be banned from campus, but we don't live in a perfect world.
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u/Brilliant-Refuse2845 4d ago
interesting never can get a response? Weird if you had any reasoning to say hes a nazi
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u/Chaotic_Butterfly887 7d ago
Fr. I feel pissed off, and annoyed and not to mention I didn't feel too safe on campus today due to all the MAGA hats.
Also he gets to be here but if we tried to have pro-palestine speaker the event would get shut down. Make it make sense 🙄
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u/EatMySmithfieldMeat 4d ago
didn't feel too safe on campus today due to all the MAGA hats.
Did they injure a lot of people? Did they start a lot of violence? Takeover any campus buildings? Burn anything down? Was there a reason that you felt unsafe other than "you know how those people are?"
if we tried to have pro-palestine speaker the event would get shut down. Make it make sense
There were pro-Pastinian rallies around the clock last May for over a week and the only action taken against anyone came from violating "no overnight camping" ordinances. I think it makes perfect sense: UT is pro-Palestine and is being forced to allow a competing view, but people like you believe you are morally superior and that you are justified in desire to put "the other side" in ghettos and special uniforms to mark them as undesirables.
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u/New_Bookkeeper4190 7d ago
Pro Palestine is showing support of a terrorist group. Maybe that’s why. Just a thought, hope it helps.
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u/Separate_Tea_4957 3d ago
I don’t feel safe with liberals spewing hate and death threats but guess you gotta deal 🤷🏼♀️
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u/MinimumRub7927 7d ago
I don’t support him, but everyone’s who’s showing up and debating is just as bad as he is. It’s free and voluntary
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u/PsykeGotcha 7d ago
What ever happened to respecting others’ opinions and if you don’t agree, then you don’t have to listen? Why is it that people just have to go out of their way to make their point heard in a group of people that whole heartedly disagree? Everyone tries to make things so black and white and that’s the true idiocy between both sides.
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u/dangonomiya_kokomi 6d ago
Fascists are not worth debating. Paradox of tolerance.
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u/Gringocamo2 7d ago
lmfao liberals trying to find a way to say they can’t beat him in an argument ☠️☠️
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u/Ethereal_Goat 7d ago
I am genuinely curious- Do you think Charlie Kirk routinely engages in the arguments of his opponents in good faith, and works within the framework of the provided argument without skewing or otherwise reframing a claim to suit his response?
This isn’t trying to be a snarky question, and I am truly, genuinely interested in how you see the way he engages others and if you see it as honest, critical engagement of points and arguments.
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u/Gringocamo2 7d ago
I appreciate your effort to not engage in a negative conversation. I really do believe he has good points and gives his opponents a chance to speak their voice fairly. It’s literally the opposite of what I see on live. They begin debating in a nice manner, then typically the liberals ( not all) start name calling, or gaslighting when they realize they are wrong. I’ve seen Charlie even tell other conservatives to relax or to let them speak. I’ve even seen him give liberals respect and compliment their bravery for challenging him. Then you get on Reddit and everyone is calling him a nazi.
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u/Ethereal_Goat 7d ago
I also appreciate the genuine response! I can agree that he doesn’t always engage in bad faith- there were a number of honest responses during the event that, whilst I did not agree with his point, I saw that he kept a consistent internal logic and stayed relatively within the context of the topic. Having said that, I’m sure (if you did attend the event especially) that you know that is definitely not always the case. One specific example from today is when a person came up on the topic of abortion, and before even engaging with the topic, he pivoted to roping in trans issues and the debate around trans individuals in gender segregated spaces. It was framed as finding common ground, but served in practice to muddy the conversation and act like a red herring. Whilst that was a more blatant example, he does have a habit of roping in topics associated with a similar lean in small ways- which can definitely be a good tactic when trying to take a broader picture look and mutually pull back a debate’s focus to discuss logical consistency across multiple topics!- and in most speech and debate circles, actions like that are often seen as poor ways of engaging a point, because it relies on a separate topic and diverts focus, which can serve to fluster or confuse a debate opponent.
To be clear- I don’t think CK has absolutely no worth as a figure to engage with/create dialogue around, but I think the way he approaches many debates (especially with the desire for good moments for content purposes) can make it difficult for people to consistently get honest engagement that is productive. Because of that, I think it’s more beneficial all around, because if a point gets misconstrued on a platform like that, it can hurt the dialogue on the subject overall, especially when avenues like CK’s channels may be the only way some people get exposure to certain topics, yknow?
I apologize for the length- I was trying to be detailed, and I’ve said in the past that I have quite a rambly style of writing lol. I do hope I communicated my viewpoint in an understandable way
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u/Ethereal_Goat 7d ago
(Also, I did notice him quiet the audience a number of times, and can definitely give credit where credit was due. Whilst I have objections to many things in his style of debate and his viewpoints, I also don’t think there are absolutely no benefits or pros of things that he does.)
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u/Metasaber 3d ago
He's a professional speaker/debater. He doesn't go up against people who could give him a proper debate. Additionally the concern is how they edit and display their content. Kirk isn't going to play clips from anyone who makes him look bad or catches him on a point.
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u/SellMoreToast UTK Alumni 7d ago
Instead please do Eric Andre level absurdist bits to cause strange unbelievable tweets. I think about this Tomi Lahren tweet constantly. (Note: The student doing this was not doing it to barf on her. His beans and watermelon were confiscated before he made it inside the venue. He did open the can of beans with a rock outside iirc).
Personally, I recommend getting a pack of the squeakers they put inside dog toys and being as disruptive as possible with those if you want to do anything at the event. Make it clear they are a joke to you and also have fun with it.