Pat McAfee has revealed he was the victim of a vile assassination threat, with one online troll urging someone to ‘Kirk’ the ESPN star.
It was a thinly-veiled reference to the killing of Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist who was shot dead during an event at Utah Valley University last September.
McAfee, the former NFL star-turned TV host, announced on his show on Monday: ‘Somebody just said they wanted me to get “Kirked” live on air. What does that mean?’
He added: ‘That’s crazy… I hope that doesn’t happen, by the way.’
McAfee posted a screenshot of the social media post, which has now been deleted. ‘If someone kirked him live during his show it would be a top 3 moment in the history of mankind,’ it read.
The comment was a response to McAfee’s praise for the Indianapolis Colts during their narrow, overtime loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night.
WARNING – GRAPHIC CONTENT
Pat McAfee received a vile assassination threat, with one troll urging someone to ‘Kirk’ him
Charlie Kirk, who died last year, is survived by his wife, Erika, and their two children
The conservative star was shot on September 10, 2025, at a Turning Point USA event in Utah
The former punter has become an increasingly prominent and polarizing figure at ESPN in recent years. But after reading out the death threat, McAfee said: ‘I think a lot of people are saying a lot of stuff on here that I don’t say.
‘And then they just say: “This is what he just said” and people are like: “Yeah, that IS what he just said!”‘
He added: ‘No, I did not say that. Can we? Please? Maybe?’
Turning Point USA founder Kirk was 31 when he was killed during an outdoor event at Utah Valley University while taking questions from an audience of around 3,000 people as part of his organization’s American Comeback Tour.
According to a new legal filing, the Utah Valley University police chief told Turning Point USA organizers ‘I got you covered’ when they raised concerns over a rooftop before Kirk was shot dead from the building.
Kirk’s family made the allegation in a new notice of claim filed last week, which signaled that they intend to sue a number of Utah authorities in the wake of his assassination last year.
In the notice, Kirk’s family accused authorities of a ‘series of stunning failures and reckless decisions’ in the lead-up to his death on Utah Valley University’s campus on September 10, 2025.
