On Monday, MAGA activist Charlie Kirk celebrated what he called “Liberation Day” in Washington, D.C., after President Donald Trump announced a deployment of 800 National Guard troops to the capital. Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA and one of Trump’s most loyal media allies, went much further. He demanded a full-scale military occupation of America’s largest cities, arguing that tanks, troops, and prisons are the only solutions to what he described as a national crime crisis.
His remarks came after Trump temporarily took control of the city’s police department, citing an alleged surge in violent crime. “Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged out maniacs and homeless people, and we’re not going to let it happen anymore,” Trump declared. The president compared Washington to some of the “worst places on Earth,” despite statistics showing violent crime has actually fallen for two consecutive years under the city’s current police leadership.
Kirk seized on Trump’s announcement during his podcast, praising the move while urging the White House to go further. “I guarantee the crime’s gonna go way down,” he said. “And then the media will say, oh, it’s only going down because he brought in the military. Exactly. We need full military occupation of these cities until the crime desists. Period.”
A Push for Expansion Beyond Washington
According to Kirk, Washington is only the beginning. He argued that Chicago, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Portland, and San Francisco should all be targeted next. He pointed to Chicago in particular as an example of what he described as “a teenage crime problem,” claiming that harsh sentencing for young offenders was the only solution.
“Simple fix. You steal a car, 25 years in prison,” Kirk raged. “I don’t care if you’re a teenager. I don’t care if you didn’t grow up with a dad. You’ll meet a new dad in jail. We’re done. We need more prisons, and we need more prisoners.”
This stance represents a sharp reversal for Kirk. During Trump’s first term, he supported criminal justice reform, which included reduced sentences and rehabilitation initiatives. On Monday, he admitted that he now views those policies as a mistake. “It was a totally wrong premise,” he confessed. “It makes me cringe at myself.”
The Political Theater of “Liberation”
Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcement followed a high-profile incident in which Edward “Big Balls” Coristine, a former employee of the cryptocurrency company DOGE, was reportedly assaulted in an attempted carjacking. The president used the event to justify military intervention in the capital, portraying the city as dangerous and lawless.
Critics, however, note the irony. Trump has repeatedly downplayed the January 6 Capitol attack, describing participants as peaceful demonstrators who wanted to “say a prayer in the U.S. Capitol.” Yet, earlier this year, he pardoned hundreds of those rioters, many of whom were convicted of violent crimes. He has not acknowledged that as the most violent episode in Washington’s recent history.
Trump also declined to mention Republican-led states with significantly higher murder rates than D.C. Instead, his focus remains squarely on Democratic strongholds, fueling accusations that the deployments are politically motivated rather than crime-driven.
Kirk’s Escalating Rhetoric
Kirk has become known for pushing increasingly extreme and racially charged positions. On Monday, he framed Trump’s critics as “anarchists” and rejected claims that a military occupation of U.S. cities would amount to authoritarianism. “We’re not fascist. We’re order,” Kirk shouted. “Call them a name right back. You’re an anarchist. You want the criminals, the thugs, the gang members, and the worst of society to run the streets of D.C.”
He went on to argue against the concept of “protected classes,” a cornerstone of U.S. anti-discrimination law. “Game over. No more protected classes,” he declared. “We are all citizens made in the image of God. Oh, you’re a protected class because of your skin color? Wrong. That regime was defeated back in November.”
Kirk also warned Trump not to make the deployment symbolic, calling for tanks, boots on the ground, and military patrols on every street in Washington. “If we just kind of do this symbolically, we will lose. The criminals will win. We got to go hard. We gotta go big league. We’re talking National Guard, tanks—every street, you need military.”
Crime, Perception, and Politics
Kirk’s rhetoric reflects a broader strategy: framing Democratic-led cities as chaotic, violent, and in need of federal control. Yet the facts don’t align with the narrative. While violent crime remains a concern in many areas, Washington’s homicide and assault rates have dropped in recent years. Cities like Los Angeles and New York have also seen mixed or declining crime rates compared to the peaks of the 1990s.
What has risen is the political value of portraying those cities as unsafe. Trump and his allies use these depictions to justify extraordinary measures, galvanize their base, and shift focus away from controversies like January 6 or policies in Republican-led states.
A Hardline Vision for the Future
Kirk’s comments reveal a clear vision: more prisons, harsher sentences, and a sweeping military presence in urban America. He dismissed the criminal justice reforms he once supported and instead emphasized “the humiliation of criminals” as a deterrent.
Critics argue that such measures would devastate communities, worsen racial inequalities, and normalize military force against American citizens. Supporters see them as necessary steps to restore order and punish what they perceive as rampant lawlessness.
For Kirk, however, nuance is irrelevant. “Once we liberate D.C., you better believe it—Chicago, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Portland, San Francisco. We got a big military. We should be willing to use it,” he declared, leaving little doubt about the scope of his ambitions.
Conclusion
Charlie Kirk’s call for a “full military occupation” of American cities underscores how far the rhetoric of Trump’s allies has shifted since the first administration. What was once framed as reform is now framed as punishment. What was once about restraint is now about force.
Trump’s move to deploy the National Guard in Washington may have been symbolic, but Kirk’s vision is something else entirely: an America where tanks patrol city streets, prisons overflow with offenders, and critics are dismissed as anarchists.
Whether this vision is ever realized remains uncertain. But one thing is clear: the political theater of “Liberation Day” has set the stage for a new era of rhetoric, one where calls for military power at home are no longer whispered but shouted from the largest platforms in conservative media.
