Journalist William Turton first reported on Kirk's comments in a January 2024 article for Wired (archived). According to Turton's report, Kirk made the statement while speaking at America Fest, a political convention organized by Turning Point USA, in December 2023.
Turton attended the event in person while working as a reporter for Wired. He provided an audio recording to Snopes, which verified that Kirk said:
I have a very, very radical view on this, but I can defend it, and I've thought about it. We made a huge mistake when we passed the Civil Rights Act in the mid-1960s.
Kirk made the comment while responding to a question from a student who said he was the subject of a Title IX investigation at their university after posting a derogatory message about transgender people on social media
Kirk responded to the Wired article about his characterization of the Civil Rights Act during an episode of his podcast, "The Charlie Kirk Show." A clip of his response can be found on Rumble, where he reads aloud excerpts from an email sent by the Wired reporter:
"We note in our piece that Kirk describes King as, quote, 'A bad guy.'" That's true. "And Kirk described a 'very, very radical view' that the country made a mistake when it passed the Civil Rights Act." Also true. "As we note in the piece, Kirk has previously described [King] as a hero and a civil rights icon." That's true, I used to be wrong. "What inspired Kirk to shift his view on MLK? Why does Kirk think MLK is a bad guy?"
