A social media post by conservative commentator Jonah Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Dispatch, has set off a heated exchange on X following this week’s midterm elections.
In the wake of the midterm results, Goldberg posted a sarcastic message on X reading, “Thank God TPUSA mobilized the youth vote.” The post referenced Turning Point USA, the conservative youth organization founded by Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated roughly a year earlier.
Independent journalist and influencer Sarah Gonzales responded sharply, calling Goldberg “an absolute piece of sh*t.” When Goldberg pushed back, asking her, “Do you have anything of substance to say? An argument to make? Or are you just going to whine and name call?” Gonzales replied:
Yes. You’re a piece of shit for mocking an organization whose founder and leader was just assassinated in broad daylight a year ago for his politics. That’s the argument. Here I was thinking that was self-explanatory.
Goldberg did not back down, writing in a follow-up post:
He wasn’t “just assassinated” ffs. I didn’t mention his name. And you’re pretending to be offended because you have nothing interesting or serious to say. It’s like this is the only kind of argument you people know how to make. Heck, a serious person (ie not you) could just as easily have interpreted what I said as a lament that with Kirk gone the movement has failed. But no, you need to do this demagogic bullshit and special pleading instead. It’s pathetic and childish and a sign of your utter lack of seriousness. It’s amazing how you folks argue like the lefty snowflakes you mock.
Other X users joined the thread. One commenter wrote, “Is this what you guys are calling ‘principled conservatism’ these days? Mocking the murder of Charlie Kirk?” Another, John Hellrung, wrote, “Wow, you’re as morally bankrupt as as terrible a person as David French. Enjoy your trip to the wall when the Trotskyites you’ve allied yourself with eat their own.” A user posting as Pursuing Happiness suggested Goldberg had been drinking when he posted, writing, “Didn’t tag you before to be a bit kind, but seeing this series, maybe it’s time to put the Chardonnay – and the phone – down for the night.”
Goldberg, a former prominent voice in conservative media and author of “Liberal Fascism,” resigned from Fox News alongside colleague Stephen Hayes and has since appeared as a commentator on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN and MSNBC, where he has frequently criticized President Trump and the MAGA movement.
As of this writing, Goldberg has not issued any further public statement clarifying or retracting his original post.
