George Abaraonye, the Oxford Union president who sparked outrage after appearing to celebrate the shooting of U.S. commentator Charlie Kirk, is now facing a possible ouster from his position.
The 20-year-old student drew backlash last month after posting a WhatsApp message that seemed to endorse the attack on Kirk. He later deleted the message and issued an apology, admitting that he had “acted poorly” and commented without fully understanding the situation.
In a surprising move, Abaraonye has initiated a motion of no confidence against himself, saying he wants to demonstrate “true accountability.”
According to Mail Online, a poll will be held on Saturday, October 18, allowing Oxford Union members to decide whether he should remain as president-elect.
Abaraonye urged members to support him in an Instagram post:
“On Saturday, 18th October, there will be a poll of the members to decide whether or not I should be removed as President-Elect of the Oxford Union. Vote NO. As I will be doing.”
If two-thirds of voters choose to remove him, Abaraonye will be forced to resign.
The Oxford Union — a 200-year-old debating society independent of the university — has been at the center of controversy since Abaraonye’s social media posts on September 10, when he reportedly wrote:
“Charlie Kirk got shot, let’s f------ go.”
In a recent YouTube interview, Abaraonye claimed his comments were misrepresented, explaining that he did not know Kirk had died at the time.
“I reacted poorly and very quickly,” he said. “At the time, I didn’t know anything about the situation. I retracted and deleted my comments, but by then the stories had already said I celebrated his death — which wasn’t true.”
When asked whether he would have made the same remarks after seeing footage of the shooting, he replied simply: “No.”
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