President Donald Trump announced conservative activist Charlie Kirk died on Wednesday after being shot at a university campus event in Utah.
“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. 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 wrote on his social media platform.
Before the announcement, Trump told ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl, “It’s horrific. It’s one of the most horrible things I’ve ever seen.”
“He was a good man. He was an incredible guy. Nobody like him,” Trump told Karl.
First Lady Melania Trump released a statement on Wednesday, sharing her grief for Kirk’s two young children, calling for more “compassionate awareness.”
“Charlie’s children will be raised with stories instead of memories, photographs instead of laughter, and silence where their father’s voice should have echoed. Charlie Kirk’s life should serve as a symbolic reminder that compassionate awareness elevates family, love, and country,” she wrote.
Kirk, the founder of the conservative youth activist organization Turning Point USA, was a close ally to Trump and many members of his administration. Several top officials issued messages of support for Kirk and his family as news of the shooting first spread.
Vice President JD Vance shared Trump’s announcement of Kirk’s death and wrote on X, “Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord.”
Donald Trump Jr., who worked closely with Kirk on the 2016 campaign, posted online: “I love you brother. You gave so many people the courage to speak up and we will not ever be silenced.”
Trump ordered all American flags throughout the country to be lowered to half-staff through Sunday evening in honor of Kirk.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers condemned the shooting.
The House of Representatives held a moment of silence for Kirk on Wednesday afternoon.
House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters the shooting “detestable” and said political violence “has to stop.”
“Utterly devastating. Charlie was a close friend and confidant,” Johnson later said in a statement on Kirk’s death. “He will be sorely missed by so many. Every political leader must loudly and clearly decry this violence. Our prayers go out to his wife and young children. May he rest in peace.”
“There is no place in our country for political violence. Period, full stop,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune wrote on X.
Utah Sen. Mike Lee, a close friend of Kirk, mourned his “dear friend” who he “deeply admired and respected” on Wednesday evening.
“I had been texting him in just the last 24 hours. He was excited to visit Utah, he told me about this trip many weeks ago — invited me to come. I told him we would almost certainly be in session; I wouldn’t be able to be there, but wished I could join him,” Lee said. “I’ve known him for a long time. I’ve known him, I believe, since he was a teenager when he first started this effort. He’s a dear friend. There’s nobody else like him.”
Lee described Kirk as someone with “boundless energy and great love for his country.”
“Whether you agree with him or not, you have to respect his boundless energy, his commitment to making the world a better place,” Lee said. “The genuine decency and respect that he showed to other people, even while disagreeing with them, even while they were yelling at him. I don’t think I can ever remember ever seeing him respond back to hatred with hate, or with anything other than respect. And he had the ability to explain complex concepts to people in very simple, understandable terms, even people who hadn’t historically been involved in politics or historically thought of themselves as conservatives or one way or another. And I think that’s his legacy. And it’s a legacy that’s been cut far too short.”
Former President Joe Biden said “there is no place in our country for this kind of violence.”
“It must end now. Jill and I are praying for Charlie Kirk’s family and loved ones,” Biden said in a post on X.
“I am deeply disturbed by the shooting in Utah,” former Vice President Kamala Harris wrote on X. “Doug and I send our prayers to Charlie Kirk and his family. Let me be clear: Political violence has no place in America. I condemn this act, and we all must work together to ensure this does not lead to more violence.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who earlier this year hosted Kirk for the first episode of his new podcast, called the attack “disgusting, vile, and reprehensible.”
“In the United States of America, we must reject political violence in EVERY form,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote on X.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement, “I am shocked by the murder of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University. Political violence of any kind and against any individual is unacceptable and completely incompatible with American values. We pray for his family during this tragedy.”
Gabrielle Giffords, a former Democratic congresswoman who was shot in the head during a public event in 2011, shared a message condemning acts of political violence. Giffords later founded and led a national gun violence prevention group.
“I’m horrified to hear that Charlie Kirk was shot at an event in Utah. Democratic societies will always have political disagreements, but we must never allow America to become a country that confronts those disagreements with violence. Mark and I are praying for Charlie’s recovery,” Giffords wrote.
Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi, whose husband was violently assaulted in their California home by an invader looking for Pelosi, called the shooting “horrific.”
“Political violence has absolutely no place in our nation,” Pelosi wrote on X. “All Americans should pray for Charlie Kirk’s recovery and hold the entire UVU community in our hearts as they endure the trauma of this gun violence.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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