Right-wing youth activist and influencer Charlie Kirk (inset), a major ally of President Donald Trump, was shot dead.
Right-wing youth activist and influencer Charlie Kirk (inset), a major ally of President Donald Trump, was shot dead.
The Green Party candidate for Māngere has been criticised by Act for a now-deleted social media post making light of the death of right-wing speaker Charlie Kirk.
Kirk, 31, died after being shot at a speaking event at Utah Valley University in the United States. At the time, Utah GovernorSpencer Cox described his death as a “political assassination”.
Michel Mulipola’s post, published in September 2025 after Kirk’s death, depicted a video with text reading “Charlie Kirk died as he lived”, followed by a cartoon image of a bleeding neck, captioned “talkin’ out the side of his neck”.
The caption stated: “I’m not obligated to respect someone who wrapped their bigotry, racism, White supremacy, queerphobia, misogyny et al”.
The post was deleted after Newstalk ZB sent a media request to the Greens.
Mulipola is an activist, comic book artist and professional wrestler, and does not feature on the party’s list.
In a comment, Mulipola said he’s known for strong takes on social media and was responding to a significant global event.
“Now that I’m a candidate for the Greens I’m taking into account their kaupapa and don’t want distractions from the important campaign we have underway to bring about progressive change for people in South Auckland.
“I’m looking forward to a strong, clean campaign for the Māngere seat,” he said.
The party’s co-leaders were approached for comment, but said Michel’s statement covered all the party needed to say.
It had been posted on Instagram by Mulipola’s account, bloodysamoan, which states in his bio that the views are his own - with an authorisation statement from the Green Party.
The account has more than 2800 posts, including political commentary and activist content - and has gained more than 20,000 followers.
Michel Mulipola, now a Green Party candidate, posted and then deleted a meme about Charlie Kirk's death on social media.
Act MP Simon Court told Newstalk ZB the post was “disgusting” and a “gross meme that essentially references Charlie Kirk being shot and bleeding to death on a university campus”.
Court stated it seemed “grossly inappropriate” for the Greens to be selecting a candidate posting something that appears to violate the non-violence aspect of the party’s charter.
“I think the Greens leadership need to look into their own souls. If they’re going to be a serious political party, would they want to have a candidate who’s expressed such vile views on social media?”
While announcing his candidacy on social media, Mulipola described himself as being unafraid to “ruffle feathers” and to “hold the powers-that-be to account” in his candidacy announcement video.
“Together, we can turn these mean streets into the Green streets of Māngere,” he said, and urged people to register to vote.
Mulipola’s announcement was commented on with messages of support from sitting MPs.
After Kirk’s death, Act leader and Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour paid tribute to him in Parliament.
“To see somebody who is not elected lose their life because of violence, when they were trying to promote the freedom to speak without violence, is a bitter irony,” he said.
Azaria Howell is a multimedia reporter working from Parliament’s press gallery. She joined NZME in 2022 and became a Newstalk ZB political reporter in late 2024, with a keen interest in public service agency reform and government spending.
