The fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, a prominent 31-year-old Republican activist and close ally of former President Donald Trump, has sent shockwaves through the American political landscape. On September 10, 2025, Kirk was gunned down in Utah, a tragedy that quickly became a flashpoint for the nation’s ongoing debate over political violence and the responsibilities of its leaders.
In the hours and days following Kirk’s assassination, President Trump’s response stood out for its fiercely partisan tone. Rather than seeking to calm the nation or bridge divides, Trump posted a video on social media that directly blamed “the radical left” and “the media” for fostering an environment of hostility and violence. “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 declared in the video, as reported by The Independent. “This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now.”
Trump’s remarks drew immediate criticism, even from within his own party. Chase Oliver, a former Libertarian Party presidential candidate, took to X (formerly Twitter) to say, “Trump's response to the murder of Charlie Kirk was the complete wrong tone for a president to make. He should have cooled tensions and instead decided to inflame them. I don't think that was the best way to respond when the nation needed calm.” Republican Representative Don Bacon of Nebraska echoed this sentiment, telling NBC News he wished Trump had made an effort to unite the country in the wake of the tragedy. Former Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, also a Republican, admitted to Politico that he was “looking” for a unifying figure but couldn’t identify anyone in the current political landscape.
Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, never one to mince words, also weighed in. “With all these terrible things happening, you would think that our president would at least make an attempt to bring us together, but he didn’t,” Kimmel lamented on his show, highlighting the public’s hunger for a leader who could help heal the nation’s wounds.
This reaction from Trump stands in stark contrast to the approach taken by his predecessor, Joe Biden. When Trump himself survived an assassination attempt at a campaign rally last year, Biden delivered a six-minute Oval Office address that condemned political violence in all forms and called for unity. “Lower the temperature in our politics,” Biden pleaded. “Remember, while we may disagree we are not enemies. We’re neighbors, we’re friends, co-workers, citizens and most importantly we are fellow Americans.” Biden emphasized that “there was no place in America for this type of violence.”
Yet, even Biden’s calls for unity have not always been reciprocated. After law enforcement intercepted what was believed to be a second assassination attempt on Trump last year, Trump blamed “the rhetoric of Biden and Harris.” This pattern—of pointing fingers at political opponents in times of crisis—has become a hallmark of Trump’s public statements. After the attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of Speaker Emeritus Nancy Pelosi, Trump blamed Democratic-run cities for the violence, and even spread conspiracy theories and mocked Pelosi in a subsequent speech.
But Trump’s record on political violence is not entirely one-sided. In June, when Minnesota Democratic state lawmaker Melissa Hortman was assassinated alongside her husband, and another Democratic lawmaker, John Hoffman, survived an assassination attempt, Trump condemned the violence without blaming political adversaries. However, in his recent video responding to Kirk’s death, Trump omitted any mention of these incidents, as well as the attempted assassination of former Democratic Representative Gabby Giffords.
As the nation grapples with the aftermath of Kirk’s assassination, the question of leadership and responsibility looms large. William Barber, a pastor and civil rights activist, told Politico, “Does the president have a responsibility at this moment? Yes. But I’m saying that in our history there has never been one person. So it’s the president, pulpits and politicians that hold key leadership positions that must step into this moment.” The call for a collective response—a chorus of voices urging calm and unity—has rarely felt more urgent.
The White House, meanwhile, has defended Trump’s rhetoric. Spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told The Independent, “President Trump speaks the truth. Every single night Jimmy Kimmel gets on TV and divides the American people by fueling hatred and spreading lies about the President, his supporters, and any American who doesn’t agree with his worldview. The only thing he should be doing on air is apologizing for his divisive rhetoric — and Kimmel is an absolute ghoul for pointing fingers at President Trump following the tragic assassination of his dear friend, Charlie Kirk.”
In his public remarks, Trump also urged Americans to commit themselves to the values for which Charlie Kirk “lived and died: free speech, citizenship, the rule of law, and patriotic devotion and love of God.” Republican Representative Greg Murphy of North Carolina took to X to encourage his colleagues “on BOTH SIDES” to “calm the rhetoric and look towards peace. It is OK to disagree. It doesn’t mean the other person is evil.”
Despite the polarization at the top, leaders from both major parties have condemned the violence against Kirk and expressed sympathy for his family. Former presidents Biden, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush each released statements strongly opposing political violence. Yet, some high-profile Republicans, including former senior adviser Elon Musk and Representative Derrick Van Orden, have echoed Trump’s approach, blaming the media and political opponents for the shooting.
On September 12, 2025, Trump appeared on “Fox & Friends” and was asked how Americans could “come back together” after Kirk’s death. His blunt response—“I couldn’t care less”—was seen by many as a rejection of the opportunity to unite the country. Trump did acknowledge that there are “radicals” on both sides of the political spectrum, but he insisted, “The radicals on the left are the problem. And they’re vicious, and they’re horrible and they’re politically savvy—although they want men in women’s sports, they want transgender for everyone, they want open borders.”
Conservative voices like Fox News host Jesse Watters and Representative Bob Onder of Missouri have echoed Trump’s blame, targeting politicians, the media, and leftist ideology as the root causes of the violence. Watters blamed “all these rats out there” for the shooting, while Onder called leftist ideology “pure evil.”
In a development that brought at least one chapter of the tragedy to a close, Trump announced on September 11 that the suspect in Kirk’s shooting—a 22-year-old man—had been captured after authorities detained and released two other individuals. The suspect was reportedly turned in by his own father.
As the dust settles, the nation remains deeply divided, with the assassination of Charlie Kirk serving as both a symptom and a catalyst of America’s fraught political climate. The question of who will—or even can—step forward to heal these wounds remains unanswered, but the need for a unifying voice has never been clearer.
