Oxford Union President Faces Ouster After Controversial Post on Charlie Kirk Shooting

Oxford Union president George Abaraonye is facing a possible ouster after posting a message that appeared to celebrate the shooting of American political commentator Charlie Kirk.

The 20-year-old Oxford University student sparked outrage last month after sharing a WhatsApp message saying, “Charlie Kirk got shot, let’s f—— go,” shortly after reports of the incident emerged. He later deleted the message and apologized, admitting he had “acted poorly” and had not known about Kirk’s death at the time.

In response to the backlash, Abaraonye has triggered a motion of no confidence against himself, describing it as an effort to uphold “true accountability.” Members of the Oxford Union — the 200-year-old debating society independent of the university — will vote on Saturday to determine whether he should be removed from his position.

Abaraonye urged members to vote in his favor, writing on Instagram: “On Saturday, 18th October, there will be a poll of the members to decide whether or not I should be removed as President-Elect of the Oxford Union. Vote NO. As I will be doing.”

He will be forced to step down if two-thirds of those participating in the poll vote against him.

In a recent YouTube interview, the second-year philosophy, politics, and economics student claimed he had been misrepresented in the media, explaining that he reacted “without knowing the full situation.”

“I reacted poorly, I reacted very quickly. At the time I didn’t know anything about the situation,” he said. “I retracted and deleted my comments, and the stories came out a day later saying I celebrated his death. But at this point, I had no clue.”

When asked whether he would have posted the message if he had seen the video of the shooting, he responded, “No.”