Left-wing New York Times correspondent Nikole Hannah-Jones in a Sunday column used a quotation that falsely portrayed assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk as racist and decried the public mourning for Kirk as “unsettling.”
“In the wake of Kirk’s death,” Hannah-Jones wrote, “individuals and institutions across the nation moved not just to condemn his killing and political violence, but to venerate him. It was unsettling to many to see politicians from across the political spectrum speak with reverence about [Kirk].”
Hannah-Jones in her column also quoted Oklahoma resident Dominic Durant, who told his 11-year-old daughter that Kirk was “under the impression that you, as a young Black woman, don’t have the brain processing power.” Claims that Kirk made that assertion circulated on social media following his murder. In reality, the comments that Durant was referencing referred to four specific public figures—Supreme Court justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, former first lady Michelle Obama, then-MSNBC host Joy Reid, and then-Texas congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. Kirk said during the July 13, 2023, episode of his podcast that the four women had admitted to being “affirmative action picks” and lack “the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously.”
Hannah-Jones has long faced public scrutiny. She was the creator of the Times‘s 1619 Project, which has come under extensive criticism for historical inaccuracies, including her claim that “one of the primary reasons the colonists decided to declare their independence from Britain was because they wanted to protect the institution of slavery.” She profited from the project, with one Virginia public library paying her $40,000 to deliver a speech titled “1619 and the Fight for Democracy.”
Just The News correspondent Jerry Dunleavy called out Hannah-Jones for smearing Kirk.
“Nikole Hannah-Jones knows that is not what Charlie said, so she back doors the false claim into the B.S. premise of her story through a false quote,” Dunleavy wrote in a Sunday X post.
The false claim about Charlie Kirk that went viral after his death was that he said black women don’t have brain processing power. Nikole Hannah-Jones knows that is not what Charlie said, so she back doors the false claim into the B.S. premise of her story through a false quote. pic.twitter.com/6I2cWa4IQe
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) September 28, 2025
Hannah-Jones responded to Dunleavy’s post, sparking a back-and-forth. “I listed the specific women he discussed and then quoted him directly,” Hannah-Jones wrote. “The quote is exact and you know it. Durant extrapolated what he felt from that. His feeling is also not false.”
I listed the specific women he discussed and then quoted him directly. The quote is exact and you know it. Durant extrapolated what he felt from that. His feeling is also not false. Nice try tho.
— Ida Bae Wells (@nhannahjones) September 28, 2025
Dunleavy was unconvinced. “You wanted so badly to use the fake viral quote of what Charlie didn’t actually say but you couldn’t, so you back doored the false sentiment into your story with this Durant quote,” he told Hannah-Jones. “It’s so obvious what you did & why you used the quote you did. Who do you think you’re fooling LOL.”
You wanted so badly to use the fake viral quote of what Charlie didn’t actually say but you couldn’t, so you back doored the false sentiment into your story with this Durant quote. It’s so obvious what you did & why you used the quote you did. Who do you think you’re fooling LOL. https://t.co/TdZgt5wu8j
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) September 28, 2025
Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, died on September 10 after an assassin shot him during an event in Utah. Police have arrested 22-year-old Utah man Tyler Robinson, who “clearly” had a “leftist ideology,” Utah governor Spencer Cox (R.) has said.
