Former soccer star Joey Barton has claimed that Charlie Kirk’s assassination will be remembered as a ‘bigger moment in history’ than the death of Martin Luther King.
Barton, who previously played in the Premier League, was widely regarded as one of the most controversial athletes in England after a number of on-field incidents that occurred during his playing career.
And, since retiring, the 43-year-old has maintained that controversial image by being one of the most outspoken sport personalities in England in recent years.
He continued that trend on Wednesday when, in the latest episode of his ‘Common Sense’ podcast, he made the comparison between Kirk and King’s deaths.
Speaking to his co-host, Barton said: ‘I felt that Charlie Kirk getting killed is a bigger moment – a more seismic moment – in history than Martin Luther King getting killed.
‘It will be remembered by our kids and maybe their kids as a seismic moment, similar to – but I think way above – Martin Luther King’.
Former English soccer star Joey Barton has gone viral for his take on Charlie Kirk’s death
Barton said Kirk’s death will be ‘a bigger moment in history’ than Martin Luther King’s death
His co-host – seemingly trying to play down Barton’s claims – replied: ‘I think we don’t know [right] now. I think we’ll know in about five years’.
However, Barton continued. He said: ‘No, I’ll tell you the reasons why. He [Kirk] was 31-years-old, obviously Martin Luther King was 53-years-old or whatever’.
Many fans – who were stunned by Barton’s claims – quickly pointed out that King died aged 39 in 1968 and not, like Barton said, at 53.
A clip of the podcast discussion quickly began circulating social media, with many fans ripping into the former England soccer star.
One wrote: ‘Oh Joey…..you keep saying things to try and cause controversy and to be relevant. Do you actually understand who Kirk was and who Dr King was and what they stood for? Please watch some videos and read some books / articles by them and then you will see there is no comparison’.
‘There are things crawling at the bottom of my garden with more intellect than this absolute whopper,’ another said on X.
In reference to his soccer career, another wrote: ‘Heading a ball too many times causes brain damage’.
Fans quickly piled on to social media to call out Barton for the controversial take
Barton enjoyed a successful soccer career before becoming an outspoken public figure
As previously mentioned, Barton is no stranger to controversy – both during and after his career as a professional soccer player.
Back in July, a High Court libel battle resulted in the former star being forced to pay £200,000 ($266, 852) to a BBC presenter who he verbally harassed online.
Prior to that, he was involved in another High Court libel claim after a female analyst accused him of damaging her broadcasting career with his social media posts.
Barton, 42, made comments which had a defamatory meaning when he accused her of being a ‘race card player’, a judge ruled at the time.
The judge also found that while another of his posts did not have a defamatory meaning, it did have a defamatory ‘innuendo meaning’.
