Wendell Barnhouse, a longtime Texas-based sports journalist best known for his nearly 25 years at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, is going viral after a Bluesky post where he referenced the death of Charlie Kirk in wishing a similar fate on conservative activist Scott Presler.
Earlier this month, Barnhouse wrote, “Scott Presler needs to be Kirked,” while quoting a Bluesky post about Presler launching the SAVE America Tour. As the name implies, the SAVE America Tour is designed to promote the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or the SAVE Act, which would require individuals to provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship in order to vote.
The @BlueskyLibs X account shared Barnhouse’s comments on Thursday evening, and that post had surpassed 100,000 views in less than 24 hours. Although Barnhouse’s original post no longer appears on his Bluesky feed, Inquisitr News previously confirmed its validity.
Presler, who has 2 million X followers, addressed the situation on Friday morning.
Democrats are calling for me to be assassinated.
I want to be clear that no threats against my life are going to intimidate or stop me from this work.
I’m still coming to Erie County, PA, this Saturday, regardless of the threats.
Pass the SAVE America Act! pic.twitter.com/bAFzgd3H04
— ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) February 27, 2026
“Democrats are calling for me to be assassinated,” Presler wrote. “I want to be clear that no threats against my life are going to intimidate or stop me from this work. I’m still coming to Erie County, PA, this Saturday, regardless of the threats. Pass the SAVE America Act!”
In another Bluesky post earlier this week, Barnhouse wrote, “I will forever be sad that the tree that fell on Greg Abbott didn’t finish the job. I will forever be sad the man who shot Steve Scalise failed to aim accurately.”
Abbott, who has served as the governor of Texas since 2015, was paralyzed below the waist when an oak tree fell on him in 1984. Scalise, the current House Majority Leader, was shot in the hip while practicing for the 2017 Congressional Baseball Game. Scalise underwent immediate surgery upon being taken to MedStar Washington Hospital Center and returned to the House of Representatives that September.
Inquisitr News has reached out to Barnhouse for comment.
“NO ONE, regardless of their political affiliation, should EVER wish violence on their opposition,” Florida Rep. Kat Cammack wrote on X. “It’s shameful.”
Wow. Leftists instigate political violence on @ScottPresler for supporting America First policies.
NO ONE, regardless of their political affiliation, should EVER wish violence on their opposition.
It’s shameful. https://t.co/BbhzuAFDIo
— Congresswoman Kat Cammack (@RepKatCammack) February 27, 2026
Barnhouse isn’t the first person to use the term “Kirk” as a means of referencing an assassination. A woman who identified herself as a San Antonio medical assistant wrote, “How did ya’ll not want to Kirk yourself watching this?” on Facebook in response to Kid Rock performing at the inaugural Turning Point USA All-American Halftime Show earlier this month.
Police detained a 21-year-old man at the University of Utah in January after he told Young Republicans, “I am going to Kirk you.”
Kirk was assassinated during a speaking appearance at Utah Valley University last September. The Utah County Attorney’s Office is pursuing the death penalty against Tyler Robinson, the alleged shooter. Robinson will not have his preliminary hearing until May 18.
As of publication, Robinson has not yet entered pleas for the charges he faces, which include aggravated murder, felony use of a firearm, and witness tampering. He also faces several victim targeting enhancements and an aggravating factor of having committed a violent offense in the presence of a child.
