Did Charlie Kirk apologize or clarify his comments about Paul Pelosi?

1. What Kirk actually said — the clip and the quote

Video and transcript excerpts from an Oct. 31, 2022 episode of The Charlie Kirk Show show Kirk saying the attack on Paul Pelosi was “awful” and “not right,” and, in the same segment, urging rhetorically that “someone should bail out” the assailant, David DePape. FactCheck.org cites the clip and pinpoints the remark at around the 53:00 mark, noting Kirk combined condemnation of the violence with a separate admonition of cashless-bail policies ^[1].

2. Fact-checkers’ read: sarcasm and context

Independent fact-checkers such as Snopes and FactCheck examined the viral posts and video. Snopes concluded Kirk was using sarcasm to criticize what he described as disparities in bail practices — arguing other defendants in some cities were released — while still calling the Pelosi attack “awful.” FactCheck similarly reports Kirk qualified his words by saying the attack was “awful” and “not right” even as he suggested someone should bail DePape ^{[2] [1]}.

3. How Kirk “clarified” his comments on the podcast

Local news reporting cites Kirk’s own on-air qualification: during the podcast segment he explicitly said he thought the attack was “awful” and “not right,” language presented as a clarification of his stance even while he continued to criticize criminal-justice policies and suggest the bail point as commentary ^{[3] [4]}. Those outlets present the qualification as Kirk’s attempt to separate moral condemnation of the assault from his policy critique.

4. How critics and supporters framed the exchange

Political actors used the episode to advance competing narratives. Critics highlighted the “bail out” line as evidence Kirk was minimizing or encouraging support for an assailant of a political figure (examples appear in statements cited by Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and other commentators), while supporters emphasized his later verbal condemnation and the policy critique context ^{[5] [4]}. The materials show clear disagreement about whether the remark was a flippant provocation or a sarcastic policy critique ^{[5] [4]}.

5. Broader coverage after Kirk’s later death — why the exchange resurfaced

After Kirk’s fatal shooting in 2025, many outlets revisited prior controversial statements, including the Pelosi episode. Coverage from outlets like KRON and the San Francisco Standard recounts both the original “bail out” line and Kirk’s on-air qualification that the attack was “awful,” using the episode to illuminate his history of incendiary commentary ^{[3] [6]}. Fact-checkers and newsrooms resurfaced the 2022 clip to answer viral claims circulating after his death ^{[1] [2]}.

6. Limits of the available reporting and remaining questions

Available sources consistently document the two-part nature of Kirk’s comments — condemnation plus a provocative “bail” remark — and cite his on-air qualification ^{[1] [2] [3]}. What the sources do not uniformly provide is a verbatim full transcript in a single place that would let readers judge tone and delivery for themselves; some outlets rely on excerpts and timestamps ^{[1] [2]}. Available sources do not mention any formal public apology from Kirk specifically framed as retracting or apologizing for endorsing bail for the assailant.

7. Takeaway for readers

The record shows Charlie Kirk both condemned the Paul Pelosi attack on air and made a separate, controversial statement that someone should bail the alleged attacker — a remark he framed as sarcastic and rooted in a critique of bail policy when he later qualified it on his show. Media and political actors disagree about whether that qualifies as irresponsible rhetoric or legitimate policy commentary; fact-checkers and local reporting concur on the basic facts and on Kirk’s on-air qualification ^{[1] [2] [3]}.