LONDON – The Oxford Union is, in its own estimation, “the world’s most prestigious debating society,” where international guests and speakers have sat for pointed interviews and stood for lively debate in its hallowed halls since 1823.
Guests have included Bernie Sanders, Ronald Reagan, Ricky Gervais, Mother Teresa, Albert Einstein and Michael Jackson – and, just this May, Charlie Kirk, the firebrand conservative American activist who was killed in September.
On Saturday, the Oxford Union president-elect, a 20-year-old student who appeared to celebrate Kirk’s assassination, faces removal from office, in a confidence vote that has drawn attention among student members and thousands of alumni from around the world who are eligible to cast ballots by proxy.
In the hours after Kirk was shot while speaking at a Utah college campus, the president-elect, George Abaraonye, who is a philosophy, politics and economics student, posted comments on Instagram and WhatsApp, including “Charlie Kirk got shot loool” and “Charlie Kirk got shot, let’s f***ing go,” according to screenshots, which circulated widely online.
Abaraonye removed the posts and told the Times of London that he had “reacted impulsively.” By then, the comments had drawn huge public attention and were covered by the British press, including the BBC and the Daily Mail.
Abaraonye did not respond to The Washington Post’s request for comment.
After news of his remarks surfaced, the Oxford Union, which is separate and independent from the University of Oxford, issued a statement saying it “would like to unequivocally condemn the reported words and sentiments” expressed by Abaraonye, who was elected as the society’s president in June.
The union said it “firmly opposes all forms of political violence and strongly stands by our commitment to free speech and considerate debate.”
Later, the Oxford Union revealed that Abaraonye, who is Black, had suffered racial abuse and threats since his comments were reported.
After repeating that his words “do not represent the values of our institution,” the Oxford Union added: “we are deeply disturbed by and strongly condemn the racial abuse and threats that George has faced in response. No individual should ever be attacked because of the colour of their skin or the community they come from. Threats to his life are abhorrent. Such rhetoric has no place online, or anywhere in society.”
The statement went defended freedom of expression but added the caveat that free speech “cannot and will not come at the expense of violence, intimidation, or hate.”
In an interview this week on the “What’s Left” podcast, hosted by Labour Party politician Jovan Owusu-Nepaul, Abaraonye said he was “scared to leave the house for days on end” after the comments were revealed. He also said that he would love to retain his leadership role at the Oxford Union and that he had called for the confidence vote.
Abaraonye noted in the interview that “cancel culture” has become more prevalent since Kirk’s killing, and Abaraonye said that he believed his race was a factor in how people reacted to his comments.
A co-host asked Abaraonye, “Do you think you would have been treated differently if you weren’t a Black guy with dreads from Fulham?” Abaraonye replied: “Part of the reaction is because of the way I look. It’s the way I present.”
Elon Musk, the owner of X, reposted a tweet arguing that Abaraonye had the right to express his views but not a right to keep the Oxford Union presidency.
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During his appearance at the Oxford Union in June, Kirk told the audience, “you should be allowed to say outrageous things.”
Kirk also condemned the recent 31-month prison sentence given by a British court to Lucy Connolly, a former home day care provider, for a social media post during the Southport riots in 2024, when false rumors spread that asylum seekers were responsible for killing three girls.
Connolly’s post – “set fire to all the [expletive] hotels full of the bastards” – was viewed more than 300,000 times before it was deleted. She pleaded guilty to intending to stir up racial hatred, but even some critics of her language said the punishment seemed disproportionate.
During a Q&A at the Oxford Society, Kirk argued against abortion, said that keeping the Sabbath holy is a recipe for longer life and compared President Donald Trump to a modern biblical Samson.
He also predicted that Britain might follow the United States, telling the students, “you guys are about to see a political revolution, if the stars align, that could mirror what happened in America,” with Trump’s reelection.
After Kirk sat for questions, per tradition, students came up to the stage to address him in debate.
One of those students was Abaraonye, who had not yet been elected. During the encounter, which was recorded, the two talked about masculinity, toxic and otherwise, and touched on the hit Netflix series “Adolescence,” about children, a shocking murder and the role social media plays in young lives.
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At one point, Kirk asked Abaraonye, “has the West grown stronger the more effeminate it has become?” Kirk argued that in poor countries, men didn’t die by suicide at the rates they do in Britain or the U.S. Abaraonye argued that men were “not allowed to talk about their feelings. These are large contributors to a massive problem within men’s spaces that lead to what is the highest contributor to men’s death, suicide.”
The exchange wasn’t especially noteworthy at the time, and it was far from the best that day. But it was civil. Kirk did not embarrass the student and Abaraonye mostly made his points.
On the podcast this week, Abaraonye presented his side before the upcoming vote. He called Kirk’s rhetoric “harmful” and said his social media posts after Kirk’s murder were “reaction” within the “political climate that Charlie Kirk spoke in, the political climate the Charlie Kirk stoked.”
Abaraonye called for finding “more productive ways to have a conversation or to disagree with someone than to immediately go nuclear and try and ruin someone’s life.”
On Instagram, Abaraonye wrote that the Oxford Union “must remain a place where students can make mistakes, apologize sincerely, and learn from them.”
