Charlie Kirk is widely quoted saying he “can’t stand” the word empathy and calling it a “made‑up, new age term” that “does a lot of damage.”

What did Charlie Kirk actually say?

Multiple clips and write‑ups point to the same key quote from an October 2022 episode of The Charlie Kirk Show that later went viral again after his death in 2025.

He said things to this effect:

  • “I can’t stand the word empathy, actually.”
  • “I think empathy is a made‑up, new age term that does a lot of damage.”
  • He contrasted 1990s Bill Clinton–style “I feel your pain” politics with a newer right‑wing strategy that rejects that framing.

Fact‑checks and Christian commentary pieces quote and confirm that wording as authentic, noting that he did not deny saying it and that the clip circulated widely after he was shot and killed in 2025.

How he contrasted empathy and sympathy

Writers analyzing his comments explain that Kirk framed empathy as attempting to feel another person’s pain as your own and criticized that as manipulative or politically dangerous.

  • He was more favorable toward sympathy —recognizing someone’s suffering while keeping some emotional distance.
  • In this view, empathy blurs boundaries and can be exploited, whereas sympathy allows care without being “captured” by the other person’s feelings.

One analysis notes that in that particular podcast he didn’t carefully define his terms, brushing off the empathy‑vs‑sympathy debate as “a discussion for another time,” which later fed confusion about what exactly he meant.

Why this quote became a trending topic

After Kirk was fatally shot during a tour event in 2025, the empathy clip resurfaced and triggered a wave of online debate.

  • Critics reposted “I can’t stand the word empathy” to argue it was hypocritical for his allies to demand empathy for his killing while his own rhetoric had attacked the concept.
  • Supporters and some commentators pushed back, saying his point was about misused empathy and about prioritizing concern for certain groups (for example, victims of crime, fentanyl, or medical policies) rather than for distant or ideological “outsiders.”

Forum threads show people arguing over whether the quote is being ripped out of context or whether it accurately reflects a broader right‑wing suspicion of “empathy” language in politics.

How commentators interpreted his stance

Several essays and opinion pieces use Kirk’s quote as a springboard to talk about the role of empathy in politics and religion.

  • Some Christian writers argue that Kirk misunderstood empathy in theological terms and that Christian love and mercy actually require a form of empathy that is inclusive and not limited to one’s in‑group.
  • Progressive and centrist commentators say that mocking empathy degrades public life, insisting that compassion for others’ pain—no matter their politics—is a moral necessity.
  • Others try to “translate” his position: that he feared empathy rhetoric would be used to shame or silence conservative concerns, and that he preferred a cooler, rules‑based sympathy instead.

So, when people ask “what did Charlie Kirk say about empathy,” they’re usually referring to that 2022 line—“I can’t stand the word empathy… made‑up new age term… does a lot of damage”—and to the ongoing fight over whether that represents a principled critique of the concept or a broader rejection of compassion in politics.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.