A liberal author who refers refers to herself online as “America’s Government Teacher” was asked to give the 2026 commencement speech at Utah Valley University. Sharon McMahon’s invitation to speak was, however, rescinded last month following significant backlash over her criticism of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk in the immediate aftermath of his assassination.
McMahon has since gone on a media tour in an apparent effort to convince the American public that she‘s not just a free-speech warrior but the victim of conspiring forces.
How it started
Two days after Kirk’s Sept. 10, 2025, assassination at Utah Valley University, McMahon joined other radicals in maligning the murdered father of two.
‘She is a force of nature.’
McMahon — a middle-aged former high school teacher who purportedly fights “misinformation” and routinely criticizes conservatives and conservative initiatives — shared a series of de-contextualized quotes from Kirk on social media, then stated, “These aren’t sound bites taken out of context. Millions of people feel they were harmed, and the murder that was horrific and should never have happened does not magically erase what was said or done.”
McMahon proceeded to accuse the just-murdered conservative of advancing “bigoted ideas on a stage that reached tens of millions.”
While acknowledging that Kirk’s assassination was a tragedy, she emphasized that the bloodletting “does not erase the harm many experienced from his words, and the ensuing actions his followers took.”
On March 26, Utah Valley University announced that McMahon would keynote its annual commencement ceremony on April 29 and receive an honorary doctorate of education.
“Sharon McMahon is an original. She is a force of nature and a force for good,” stated the university’s then-president, Astrid Tuminez, who stepped down last week. “She underlines how each of us can contribute to a vibrant democracy and how strength comes from knowledge, kindness, and collective action.”
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Trent Nelson/Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images
That a woman who maligned Kirk would feature as the commencement speaker at the very institution where the young father of two was murdered did not sit well with members of the school’s TPUSA chapter, some Republican lawmakers, and other conservatives.
‘Why does UVU think this is okay? It’s not.’
Caleb Chilcutt, president of the school’s TPUSA chapter, stated, “Hours immediately after Charlie’s assassination, Sharon McMahon posted a now deleted series of out-of-context quotes from Charlie in an effort to tarnish his name and minimize the tragedy, rather than offering condolences or condemning political violence.”
“Platforming someone who treated a historic and tragic political assassination not as a moment to grieve but as an opportunity to create content is tone-deaf and disrespectful to those still affected, especially on campus,” continued Chilcutt. “There are countless better alternatives, and the fact that the university is choosing McMahon is entirely disappointing to all of us still reeling from his loss.”
Former Republican Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz told Fox News that McMahon was a “liberal hack” and a “horrific choice” for commencement speaker.
Utah Sen. Mike Lee (R) also blasted the decision, writing, “What if Charlie Kirk had been a beloved figure on the left, rather than among conservatives? And what if Sharon McMahon were a conservative — one who had defamed Charlie Kirk immediately after his horrific assassination at UVU? Would UVU have scheduled her to speak at commencement? Not in a million years. Not in ten million years. So why does UVU think this is okay? It’s not.”
Republican state Rep. Trevor Lee cited McMahon’s planned speech as cause to “withhold taxpayer funds from UVU.”
The university evidently had a change of heart amid the scrutiny of McMahon’s past remarks.
“Due to increased safety concerns related to the speaker and in consultation with public safety professionals and Sharon McMahon, Utah Valley University has decided to proceed without a featured commencement speaker for this year’s ceremony,” UVU announced on April 16.
How it’s going
Last month, McMahon told her sob story to the New York Times, then complained in subsequent interviews with the Minnesota Star Tribune and Newsweek’s “The 1600” podcast about her “cancellation” and Republican officials’ alleged “concerted effort” to silence her speech.
The Free Press, the neocon blog founded by Bari Weiss, rolled out the red carpet this week — just days after the Salt Lake Tribune published the speech she allegedly planned to give at UVU — for McMahon to push her victimhood narrative in full.
McMahon claimed in a lengthy and self-aggrandizing opinion piece that the university’s decision to cancel her speech “is so serious” and a “lesson for everyone who cares about freedom of speech.”
After defending her criticism of Kirk — writing both “that condemning Charlie Kirk’s assassination did not require treating his public record as untouchable” and that she was trying to “educate those who had never thought of Kirk as anything but a positive force in the world” — McMahon said that her disinvitation to give the UVU commencement speech was the result of the government “using its power to punish protected speech.”
While McMahon accepted the grounds for her speech’s cancellation, acknowledging that there were “real and visceral” safety concerns, she blamed “government officials and Turning Point USA” — those who, exercising their own free speech, questioned the university’s speaker selection — for helping to supposedly create the “danger.”
“America’s Government Teacher” leaned harder into the victimhood narrative toward the end of her piece, suggesting that her disinvitation “should concern people who loved Charlie Kirk” and painting herself as something of a free speech canary in the coal mine.
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