President Donald Trump led tributes to the conservative activist Charlie Kirk after he was fatally shot during an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday.
“No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, while announcing his death.
“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 added.
Kirk, 31, was the co-founder of Turning Point USA – a nonprofit dedicated to engaging with conservative youths and promoting conservative policies on high school and college campuses. The right-wing activist rose to prominence in the Republican Party as a result of his work, becoming good friends with Donald Trump Jr and other senior figures.
The president called for American flags across the country to be lowered to half-mast until Sunday evening in honor of Kirk.
Members of Trump’s cabinet, including Vice President JD Vance, joined in the flood of tributes. “Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord,” Vance wrote on X.
Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, said Kirk’s influence in Trump’s presidential transition made it “the most successful in history.”
“He never took credit for the assistance he provided. He was always a great friend of mine. I pray for peace and comfort for his wife and two beautiful children,” Lutnick wrote on X.
House Speaker Mike Johnson led a moment of silence for Kirk on the House chamber floor on Wednesday, calling the shooting “detestable.”
Utah Governor Spencer Cox, said on X, that he had spoken with the president and would work with law enforcement “to bring justice to the individual responsible for this tragedy.”
Trump Jr. offered a tribute on X to his friend, saying, “I love you brother. You gave so many people the courage to speak up and we will not ever be silenced.”
Other Republican lawmakers including Arizona Representative Andy Biggs, former Vice President Mike Pence, and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller remembered Kirk on social media.
David Sacks, a billionaire entrepreneur who currently serves on the president’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, said his friend was “the best of America.”
Prominent Democrats also sent prayers to Kirk upon hearing of the event.
“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,” former President Joe Biden wrote on X.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris wrote on X that she was “deeply disturbed” by the shooting and condemned the act.
California Governor Gavin Newsom called the attack on Kirk “disgusting, vile, and reprehensible.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the shooting “horrifying” and said “political violence has no place in America.”
“The scourge of gun violence and political violence must end,” New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said. “The shooting of Charlie Kirk is the latest incident of this chaos and it must stop. We cannot go down this road. There is no place for it in America and we wish for his recovery.”
Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of John F. Kennedy, said the country was “weaker” because of the assassination against Kirk.
Anti-gun violence activists, who typically butt heads with Republicans who advocate for the Second Amendment, also offered thoughts and prayers to Kirk while calling for gun control.
Gabrielle Giffords, a former representative who became a gun violence prevention advocate after surviving an assassination attempt, said political disagreements should never include violence.
“The murder of Charlie Kirk breaks my heart,” Giffords said in a statement. “My deepest sympathies are with his wife, two young children, and friends.”
“Democratic societies will always have political disagreements, but we must never allow America to become a country that confronts those disagreements with violence,” Giffords added.
David Hogg, a survivor of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting and former vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, said it was “horrifying news” that Kirk had been shot.
“Gun violence and political violence have to f***ing stop. Charlie, his family, and all the students who had to witness the shooting are in my thoughts. We have disagreements, but we all agree something has to change,” Hogg wrote.
