President Donald Trump released a video addressing the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk and called Kirk’s death a “dark moment for America.”
In a video posted to Truth Social, Trump stated that he was “filled with grief and anger at the heinous assassination” of Kirk. Trump continued to highlight how Kirk was a “man of deep, deep faith.”
“To my great fellow Americans, I am filled with grief and anger at the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk on a college campus in Utah,” Trump said. “Charlie inspired millions, and tonight all who knew him and loved him, are united in shock and horror. Charlie was a patriot who devoted his life to the cause of open debate, and the country that he loved so much, the United States of America.”
“He fought for liberty, democracy, justice, and the American people,” Trump continued. “He’s a martyr for truth and freedom, and there’s never been anyone who was so respected by youth. Charlie was also a man of deep, deep faith, and we take comfort in the knowledge that he is now at peace with God in heaven. Our prayers are with his wife, Erika, the two young, beloved children, and his entire family, who he loved more than anything in the world.”
“This is a dark moment for America,” Trump added. “Charlie Kirk traveled the nation, joyfully engaging with everyone interested in good faith debate. His mission was to bring young people into the political process, which he did better than anybody ever — to share his love of country, and to spread the simple words of common sense. On campuses nationwide, he championed his ideas with courage, logic, humor, and grace.”
“It’s long past time for all Americans and the media to confront the fact that violence and murder are the tragic consequence of demonizing those with whom you disagree, day after day, year after year, in the most hateful and despicable way possible,” Trump added. “For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans, like Charlie, to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals. This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we are seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now.”
Trump continued to ask that “all Americans” commit themselves to the “American values” that Kirk “lived and died,” which Trump noted were “the values of free speech, citizenship, the rule of law, and the patriotic devotion and love of God.”
Trump’s video comes hours after Kirk was shot in his neck and killed while at an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday.
