Donald Trump delivered a fiery address on Wednesday night following the murder of Charlie Kirk, calling the conservative activist a “martyr for truth and freedom” and blaming the “radical left” for fueling political violence in the United States.
Kirk, 31, was shot and killed during a debate at Utah Valley State University earlier that day. Authorities said the suspect remained at large.
Speaking in a four-minute message posted to Truth Social, Trump expressed his “grief and anger” at what he called a “heinous” act. He described Kirk as “the best of America” and praised his influence among young conservatives.
“Charlie Kirk travelled the nation, joyfully engaging with everyone interested in good faith, debate,” Trump said. “His mission was to bring young people into the political process, which he did better than anybody ever.”
Trump accused the left of fostering a culture of division that he claimed leads directly to violence. “It’s long past time for all Americans and the media to confront the fact that violence and murder are the tragic consequences of demonizing those with whom you disagree day after day,” he said, according to The New York Times.
The president pointed to instances where he and other figures in the MAGA movement have been compared to Nazis. “For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans, like Charlie, to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals,” Trump said. “This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today.”
He also tied Kirk’s murder to other high-profile political attacks, referencing the attempt on his own life at a Pennsylvania rally in 2024, the 2017 shooting of then-Majority Whip Steve Scalise, and the killing of United Healthcare CEO Bryan Thompson last year.
“From the attack on my life in Butler, Pennsylvania, last year, which killed a husband and father, to the attacks on ICE agents, to the vicious murder of a healthcare executive in the streets of New York, to the shooting of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and three others, radical left political violence has hurt too many innocent people and taken too many lives,” Trump said.
The president vowed his administration would pursue not only the perpetrators but also organizations he claimed support political violence. FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed a suspect was briefly detained and released, but said the investigation continues.
Trump called the assassin a “monster” but insisted Kirk’s message would not die. “An assassin tried to silence him with a bullet, but he failed, because together, we will ensure that his voice, his message, and his legacy will live on.”