The mechanism that gave Friday's San Francisco crowd something to chant is a piece of AI-generated audio: a Christian power ballad titled "We Are Charlie Kirk," released September 18, 2025, in the immediate aftermath of Kirk's assassination in Utah. Hasan Piker, the far-left Twitch streamer and co-host of the weekly comedy and pop culture podcast "Fear&," led the audience through the song's refrain at the opening stop of the podcast's West Coast "Fear& LIVE" tour.
Piker sang: "We are Charlie Kirk, we carry the flame. We'll fight for the Gospel, we'll honor his name." His co-hosts were visible on stage laughing. Piker appeared at one point to describe it as one of the most surreal moments of his life.
The track moves online primarily as a meme targeting Kirk and conservatives, its lyrics framing Kirk in the register of Christian martyrdom: "He spoke the truth when the cost was high / He lived for Jesus, unafraid to die." After the show, Piker posted a photo from the event with the caption "carried the flame tn," a direct reference to the song's text.
Kirk allies respond
Andrew Kolvet, spokesman for Turning Point USA, wrote on X that Piker was "engaging in pure, unadulterated evil," citing Proverbs 17:5. Chuck Ross, an investigative reporter at the Washington Free Beacon, called Piker "a trash human being" and noted that Piker had been scheduled to debate Kirk in the days following the assassination and had previously spoken publicly about how much the shooting affected him. Piker reposted an account defending him against critics, which argued that conservatives objecting to the performance had "openly celebrated the murder of American citizens."
Kirk founded Turning Point USA as a teenager and built a national profile through viral debates on college campuses. He was a close ally of President Donald Trump, with a key role in Trump's 2024 re-election campaign, and had previously debated Piker on socialism. Piker's political footprint has grown through the 2026 cycle: he has campaigned alongside Michigan Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, and his influence over the Democratic Party's direction has become a recurring media story. Fox News Digital reached out to Piker for comment.