Trump vows crackdown on “radical left” violence after Charlie Kirk assassination
U.S. President Donald Trump promised a sweeping response to the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
U.S. President Donald Trump promised a sweeping response to the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, pledging to hunt down not only the killer but the networks and organizations that enable “radical left” political violence in America.
In a sombre Oval Office address, Trump said Kirk’s murder is the latest in a string of attacks driven by years of left-wing demonization of conservatives.
“In the most hateful and despicable way possible, for years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals,” said Trump.
Trump vowed to target “organizations that fund and support” political violence in all its forms.
“My administration will find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity and to other acts of political violence,” Trump declared.
“That includes the organizations that fund and support it, as well as those who go after our judges, law enforcement officials, and everyone else who brings order to our country.”
Trump tied the killing to a broader pattern of political violence, pointing to the assassination attempt against him in Butler, Pennsylvania, the shooting of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, attacks on ICE agents, and the murder of a New York health care executive.
“Radical political violence has hurt too many innocent people and taken too many lives,” he said. “It must stop right now.”
Kirk, the 31-year-old founder of Turning Point USA, was shot during a student town hall at Utah Valley University. Videos show him collapsing from his chair after a single gunshot rang out. He later died of his wounds, Trump confirmed.
“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead,” Trump wrote on Truth Social earlier in the day. “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.”
Flags across the country are being flown at half-mast in Kirk’s honour by presidential order.
Vice President JD Vance called Kirk “a genuinely good guy and a young father,” while Canadian Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre demanded the killer be brought to justice.
For Trump, Kirk’s murder is a rallying cry—not only to honour his life and legacy, but also to confront the culture of hatred that, he argues, has made violence against conservatives inevitable.
“Charlie was the best of America,” Trump said. “An assassin tried to silence him with a bullet, but he failed—because together we will ensure that Charlie’s voice, his message, and his legacy will live on for countless generations to come.”
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