Dave Chappelle’s comments on Charlie Kirk draw attention amid debate over political violence

Jokes about Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist and Turning Point USA co-founder assassinated in 2025, spread online after last week’s midterm elections, in which Democrats made gains.

“I’ve Had It” podcast hosts Jennifer Welch and Angie Sullivan faced backlash after celebrating Democratic victories and laughing at a post joking about digging up Kirk and killing him again. Some sponsors withdrew their support. The hosts later apologized and spoke out against gun violence, though Welch renewed her criticism of Turning Point USA in a video on Sunday.

Welch said the apology was not intended for the group’s supporters. She explained that she and Sullivan had apologized for someone they knew personally who was killed by gun violence, following remarks by Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet.

In a statement posted Saturday, the hosts said they had laughed at an insensitive joke on Thursday’s show, regretted doing so and apologized. They added that political differences did not make gun violence funny.

A video also circulated over the weekend showing comedian Dave Chappelle performing at Madison Square Garden. While discussing Kirk’s assassination, Chappelle told the audience, “I feel better.” Kirk had previously condemned the 2022 attack on Chappelle during a performance and called for the attacker to face more serious charges.

Chappelle and Welch are among a number of entertainers and commentators whose jokes or remarks about political violence targeting conservatives have prompted criticism.

Violent rhetoric about President Donald Trump has also surfaced over the years. At a Women’s March rally in Washington, D.C., the day after Trump’s 2017 inauguration, Madonna said she had thought about blowing up the White House. The following May, comedian Kathy Griffin caused a national outcry after posing with a prop depicting Trump’s severed, bloodied head.

That June, actor Johnny Depp referred to Abraham Lincoln’s assassination while speaking about Trump. Depp said he was not an actor but made his living by lying, then suggested it had been a long time since an actor assassinated a president.

Such remarks continued after the assassination attempts against Trump in 2024. Hours after the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, Tenacious D musician Kyle Gass made a birthday wish at a concert, saying he hoped the next attempt would not miss.

In April 2026, “Saturday Night Live” cast member Michael Che made a joke about Trump attending the opening-night performance of “Chicago” at the Kennedy Center. During “Weekend Update,” Che asked what the worst possible outcome of a president going to the theater could be, alluding to Lincoln’s assassination.

Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel also faced criticism earlier this year for saying First Lady Melania Trump had the “glow of an expectant widow,” days before an assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Kimmel later said the joke referred to the age difference between Melania and her husband. George Lopez and the late Broadway actor Carole Cook have also made jokes about Trump being killed.

Republican lawmakers have also been targets of violent remarks. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky was assaulted by a neighbor in 2017 after a dispute over yard maintenance. Paul suffered six broken ribs and later had surgery.

Actress Bette Midler mocked Paul in social media posts. In 2018, as he debated a federal spending bill, she asked where his neighbor was “when we need him.” The next year, after Paul criticized Kurdish fighters in Syria, Midler said she did not support violence but praised the neighbor who had beaten him.

Midler also posted a remark about Trump that appeared to suggest someone close to him should give him a “shiv,” then corrected the word to “shove.”

In 2025, progressive commentator Hasan Piker told his audience that people concerned about Medicare or Medicaid fraud would “kill Rick Scott,” referring to the senator’s former association with a healthcare company that pleaded guilty to fraud. Piker later said Scott should receive the maximum punishment. In a separate livestream, Piker called for landlords and property owners to be murdered.

Earlier this month, New York University professor and podcast host Scott Galloway called SpaceX CEO Elon Musk a traitor after reports about Musk’s alleged role in limiting Starlink satellite internet speeds in Ukraine. Galloway said Musk should face the same punishment as Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were executed in 1953 after being convicted of conspiring to commit espionage for the Soviet Union. The Rosenbergs were executed by electric chair at Sing Sing prison.

Galloway later reiterated his position on another podcast, calling his remark incendiary but saying he believed Musk was a traitor to the West. He argued that the public response might be different if society were less focused on wealth and innovation.

Welch told Fox News Digital on Monday that she regretted laughing at the joke and said the podcast had removed the segment and donated to Everytown for Gun Safety. She also accused Turning Point USA of mocking violence without apologizing.

Welch said the show still had advertisers and planned to continue. She added that its audience had grown by nearly 30,000 followers in recent days.

Chappelle’s representatives and Madison Square Garden were contacted for comment but did not immediately respond.