Ex-footballer Joey Barton has sparked outrage by suggesting that Charlie Kirk’s killing will be remembered as a “bigger moment in history” than the assassination of Martin Luther King. Barton, a former Premier League player, gained a reputation as one of England’s most controversial figures due to numerous incidents during his playing days. Since leaving football, the 43-year-old has maintained that notoriety by becoming one of the most outspoken sports personalities in the country.

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That reputation continued on Wednesday when, during the latest episode of his Common Sense podcast, he compared Kirk’s death with that of King. Speaking to his co-host, Barton, who is seldom shy of sharing his right-wing views, claimed: “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.”

Right-wing commentator Kirk was fatally shot on September 10 in front of a large crowd. The 31-year-old was addressing students at Utah University on the topic of mass shootings when he was struck in the neck by a bullet. Barton’s co-host, seemingly attempting to dispute the claim, responded: “I think we don’t know [right] now. I think we’ll know in about five years.”

Barton, however, pushed on. 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.”

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He went on to say: "You think about Nelson Mandela went through but both of these people are criminals. Both of those people had committed acts of terrorism.

"Martin Luther King has got big issues in the background if you read deeply into him... his adultery, his sex life and prostitution."

Shocked fans were quick to highlight that King was 39 when he was assassinated in 1968, not 53 as Barton stated. A clip of the exchange spread rapidly on social media, with many mocking the ex-England international.

As noted, Barton has long been associated with controversy both on and off the pitch. In July, a High Court libel case ended with him being ordered to pay £200,000 to a BBC presenter he had targeted with online abuse. Before that, he faced another High Court libel action after a female analyst accused him of harming her career through his social media posts. Barton, 42, was found to have made comments with defamatory meaning when he accused her of being a “race card player,” a judge ruled. The same judge concluded that while one of his other posts was not defamatory on its face, it still carried a defamatory “innuendo meaning.”

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