Until Thursday, September 11, no figure from France's far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party had ever mentioned Charlie Kirk. Yet Kirk, 31, was an icon in MAGA circles, and one of the most powerful Christian national-populist influencers in the United States. His assassination, in which he was shot in the neck on Wednesday while speaking on a Utah university campus, instantly elevated him to hero status for the RN, as well as for a large part of the broader European far right.

In June, the assassination of a Democratic lawmaker from Minnesota drew no reaction from the RN. Kirk's death, meanwhile, sparked a wave of tributes and outrage. More than his ideological position, the RN lawmakers seized on his violent death as an opportunity to attack the "left," accusing it of seeking to silence its opponents. Never mind that, while a suspect, Tyler Robinson, was apprehended, his political leanings were not yet known. "The left's dehumanizing rhetoric and intolerance are fueling political violence. No one can ignore this poison that is corroding our democratic societies any more," wrote RN party leader Jordan Bardella on X.

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