Liberal podcasters apologize after laughing at joke about digging up Charlie Kirk's body

American podcast hosts Jennifer Welch and Angie Sullivan have apologized after laughing at a joke about the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. During Thursday's episode, they laughed while reading a social media post that referred to exhuming Kirk's body. On Saturday, they apologized in a post on Instagram.

The incident occurred during Thursday's episode of Welch's "I've Had It" podcast. In the episode, the two hosts were reading social media reactions to the Democrats' victories in the 2026 midterm elections. Several posts mocked conservative positions on issues including abortion, vaccines and LGBTQ+ policies.

Welch read aloud, "Somebody posted, 'I don't care if you celibate or abstinent. Grab the nearest person available and do your worst. Abortion's on me.'" The two laughed as they read the posts.

Welch then read another post: "You can't even fathom the pronouns we're going to invent. You can't even pronounce them." The host praised the writers of the posts, calling them "patriots" and saying, "These people make me patriotic."

Welch then burst into laughter while reading another post that said, "We're digging up Charlie Kirk and doing it again." After reading the post, the two hosts said, "No comment."

Charlie Kirk was the founder of Turning Point USA. On September 10, 2025, he was shot in the neck and killed while speaking at his "American Comeback Tour" event at Utah Valley University.

On Saturday, the two hosts apologized on Instagram, writing, "On Thursday's show, we laughed at a joke about Charlie Kirk. It was an insensitive joke, and we should not have laughed. We regret it, and we apologize. Whatever our political differences, there is nothing funny about gun violence. We've long supported common-sense gun safety reform."

In the apology statement, they added, "To that end, we've made a donation to Everytown for Gun Safety, the largest gun violence prevention organization in America. We'll keep using our platforms to fight for the safety of all Americans."

During Thursday's episode, after laughing at the post, the hosts asserted without presenting evidence that Tyler Robinson, the man accused of killing Kirk, supported President Donald Trump. Sullivan said, "Other than he was shot by somebody that was super MAGA." Welch said, "He was shot by a MAGA person. White person, White MAGA family."

However, Utah voter registration records show that Robinson is unaffiliated with a political party and did not vote in the past two general elections. Robinson and his family lived in Utah's Washington County, where 75 percent of residents voted to send President Donald Trump back to the White House.

Several commentators criticized the hosts' remarks on social media. Conservative activist Riley Gaines wrote on X, "In all of their hatred and blood thirst, these ghouls seriously consider themselves morally superior to you."

Influencer Collin Rugg posted, "They will celebrate your death, laugh uncontrollably, and still be fully convinced they're the 'good guys.'" Media Research Center President David Bozell said, "If Madison Ave. would stop sponsoring gutter trash, gutter trash would go out of business."

Democratic strategist Kaivan Shroff also criticized Welch and Sullivan's remarks. He said, "As a Democrat, it is frustrating to watch Jennifer Welch and Angie Sullivan get treated like voices for the Democratic Party when so much of their own brand is railing against Democrats."

Shroff added, "Then, after Democrats just delivered historic wins and a massive blue wave, they say something this offensive and irresponsible and suddenly the story is about them instead. They are not helping Democrats. They are hijacking the attention Democrats actually earned at the ballot box."

Welch and Sullivan did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.