University of Kwazulu-Natal

Trump Uses Levers Of Power To Respond To Charlie Kirk Killing

Bonisiwe Shabane
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trump uses levers of power to respond to charlie kirk killing

Rather than condemning violence and calling for unity, the president of the United States accused his political opposition of being accessories to murder. Updated at 1:20 p.m. ET on September 12, 2025 It is possible that, in the history of America’s radicalization spiral, the horrifying, cold-blooded assassination of the right-wing activist Charlie Kirk will be recorded as only the second-most-dangerous event of September 10, 2025. If so, the more significant development will instead have been the speech that evening by President Donald Trump. If you did not listen to Trump’s remarks, which have received only light attention from the media, you might have missed the chilling message they contained.

Trump may have sounded like he was deploring violence and calling for unity. In reality, he did the opposite. The speech began and ended with encomiums to Kirk’s character and family, which is wholly appropriate. The important and dangerous passage came in a sequence of four sentences in the middle: The conservative activist’s killer remains at large and authorities have not said what the motive was behind his shooting. President Donald Trump speaks with reporters on the South Lawn as he departs the White House on Sept.

11, 2025. | Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP President Donald Trump on Thursday told reporters that “we just have to beat the hell” out of “radical left lunatics,” following the killing of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk. The president, speaking on the South Lawn of the White House as he was heading to New York City, was responding to a reporter who asked what the president’s message was to conservatives who... Trump, who also had some more measured comments about Kirk’s killing during the roughly 10-minute exchange with reporters, said: “We have to be brave in life, in all fairness, we have a life. I probably shouldn’t be out here talking to you in all fairness but we will be brave.

And we have a great country. We have radical left lunatics out there and we just have to beat the hell out of them.” Donald Trump spoke to the nation Wednesday evening about the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot at a campus event in Utah hours earlier. “Charlie inspired millions, and tonight, all who knew him and loved him are united in shock and horror,” the President said in a video address. “This is a dark moment for America,” he added, apparently blaming the shooting as well as other “terrorism,” including his own attempted assassination last year and “attacks on ICE agents,” on political rhetoric “demonizing... On Truth Social, Trump initially after the shooting posted on Truth Social, calling for prayers for Kirk, whom he called a “great guy from top to bottom.” He later posted: “The Great, and even...

No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!” Trump also ordered flags in the U.S. to fly at half-mast until Sunday evening.

Read More: The Killing of Charlie Kirk and the Political Violence Haunting America Trump said he wasn't concerned for his safety but for the country. President Donald Trump on Thursday voiced concern for the country in the wake of the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, and said he wanted his supporters to respond with "nonviolence." Trump was asked if he's worried for his own safety in the wake of Wednesday's fatal shooting of Kirk as he left the White House for New York on Thursday afternoon. "Not really," the president responded. "I'm really concerned for our country.

We have a great country. We have a radical left group of lunatics out there, just absolute lunatics, and we're going to get that problem solved. I'm only concerned for the country." Trump was also pressed on how he wants his supporters to respond, as tensions remain high in Washington and around the country. President Donald Trump said Charlie Kirk “was an advocate of nonviolence” and said, “That’s the way I’d like to see people respond” to his killing. Watch Trump’s remarks in the video player above.

The president said he thought progress was being made to find the shooter. “Hopefully we’ll have him and we will deal with him very appropriately,” Trump told reporters Thursday as he left the White House for a trip to New York. READ MORE: How politicians who have experienced violence directly are responding to Charlie Kirk’s death

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No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!” Trump also ordered flags in the U.S. to fly at half-mast until Sunday evening.