Posted 23 minutes agoSubscribe to BuzzFeed Daily NewsletterCaret DownSean Penn Said We "Need" People Like Charlie Kirk In Politics To Encourage "Debate," And Here's How The Internet Reacted"We've gotta fight it out and find a compromise."by Mychal ThompsonBuzzFeed StaffFacebookPinterestLinkHot TopicðŸ"¥ Full coverage and conversation on Politics One Battle After Another star Sean Penn made a rather spirited statement regarding Charlie Kirk's death. Jamie Mccarthy / Getty Images, Andrew Harnik / Getty Images On Sept. 10, Charlie, a conservative activist and founder of Turning Point USA, was fatally shot while speaking at Utah Valley University. Since his death, many political figures, celebrities, and social media users have expressed their feelings and debated Charlie's legacy and the politics of free speech. Joe Raedle / Getty Images In a Sept. 27 interview with the New York Times, Sean, who portrays Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw in Paul Thomas Anderson's 2025 dark action-comedy, expressed that "we need" people like Charlie even though he disagreed with "almost everything" he stood for. Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection "We need that debate," Sean told the NYT. "We've gotta fight it out and find a compromise." Karwai Tang / Getty Images BuzzFeed TrendingHot TopicLet's chat about all things PoliticsSee our Politics Discussions In regard to acts of political violence, which he apparently described as "these fashions of violence," Sean added, "This one seems different. It seems different than the members of Congress. It seems different than the insurance executive. It seems even different than the attempt on the president. There's something about this one." Mike Marsland / Getty Images "These things do come into fashion, and the way we kill the fashion of it is people of conscience on both sides recognizing that if somebody really believes something, that's your friend," he continued. Stuart C. Wilson / Getty Images Sean said he thinks Charlie "truly believed" everything they disagreed on. "I didn't get the sense that he was one of these snake oil salesmen." LAURA SEGALL / AFP via Getty Images The 65-year-old actor suggested that our nation should recognize that opposing viewpoints that we might not always agree with can be "valid opinions," while clarifying he's not talking about "some sociopathic Nazism." Axelle / Getty Images "I'm talking about if somebody believes that a human being starts at conception, if you can't understand that concept, you're just stupid," he added. "And if you're not willing to tolerate the concept as a concept that's held as deeply as I may have a belief that, I don't know, let the woman decide. All of these are valid opinions." Presley Ann / Getty Images In this Reddit thread, people shared their reactions to Sean's remarks, illustrating the ongoing debate about morality and accountability, which has been a hot topic on the internet. One person said, "It's always the people whose very existence isn't up for debate who want to normalize 'debating' the rights/humanity of marginalized people. As if this 'fight' is even fair given the backdrop of a political/cultural/economic system that already works to normalize/uphold white supremacy, misogyny, heteronormative relationships, gender norms etc." Another person wrote, "debate and compromise should be between two reasonable positions. racism and sexism and hate are not reasonable positions." On X, a place where the most critical opinions live, someone else wrote, "Yea, let's listen to the white rich guy who hasn't dealt with the average citizens' struggles for DECADES. I won't argue that Kirk has a right to voice his opinion, but I will never compromise with anyone who preaches hate, and that's what Kirk sold." On the other side, someone on X wrote, "Honestly, I don't agree with Penn on politics but the fact someone like him is stating how horrific Kirk's murder was and the fact we need to have these debates is evidence his death really did wake some people up. Respect for addressing the situation and making a good point." Read the full interview with the New York Times here. Let me know what you think in the comments. Did Sean Penn make a fair point that "we need debate"?