NC candidate fired from community college after calling Charlie Kirk racist

A Coastal Carolina Community College psychology instructor, who is also running to represent Onslow County in the NC House, was fired from his job after the conservative advocacy organization Turning Point USA posted a recording of him calling its founder, the late Charlie Kirk, “a racist piece of (expletive).”

The recording, posted Wednesday by Turning Point USA on X and Instagram, features Christopher Schulte talking about the organization and its new chapter at Coastal Carolina Community College in Jacksonville. Schulte said on Facebook that the recording was made by a student. On Instagram, it has upward of 42,000 likes.

“Wasn’t that the whole stupid Charlie Kirk thing? Why people were getting fired because they didn’t like him? That he’s a First Amendment warrior? Isn’t that why professors got fired for saying he was a racist piece of (expletive), which he was?,” Schulte says in the audio.

“Did he deserve to die? No. But he was a racist piece of (expletive). And Turning Point USA is a racist piece of (expletive) organization. And they just started a group on this campus. And it’s people like them that are coming into these classrooms and recording us, trying to get us fired because they don’t agree with us.”

Conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated in 2025 while speaking to a crowd at Utah Valley University.

Professor says he needed security

On Feb. 19, just one day after the recording was posted, Schulte was fired by Coastal Carolina. Schulte said that security had to escort him to his car due to threats made against his career and his life. He’s worked at the school since 2008.

Schulte, a Democrat, told The News & Observer he plans to continue his campaign for the state house. On Election Day, he’ll face eight-time winner Republican Rep. Phil Shepard. Shepard has been in office since 2011. When Schulte ran against him in 2024, he lost by a margin of 63% to 31%.

“I’m not sure how it’s going to go with everybody, but I really do believe that we have an important discussion to have as a country, as a people, about academic freedom and certainly the attempts by Republicans to silence that in as many ways as they possibly can,” Schulte said.

“I will definitely be making that a part of my campaign going forward. … I think that I’ll definitely be able to go forward and just be honest with people about what I was talking about that day.”

College cites reasons for firing

In Schulte’s dismissal letter from Coastal Carolina, obtained by ABC News 12 in New Bern, the school lists the following violations of its handbook:

• Refusal or inability to perform assigned duties
• Repeated discourtesy to or difficulty in dealing with students
• Using vulgar, profane, or abusive language toward a student
• Failure to follow the polices and procedures adopted by the College’s Board of Trustees

Schulte told The N&O he plans to take legal action against Coastal Carolina.

The N&O reached out to Coastal Carolina for comment but the school did not respond immediately Monday.