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, 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 organization 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 prominent conservatives.
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.”
The president called for American flags across the country to be lowered at half-mast until Sunday evening in honor of Kirk.
Upon hearing news of the shooting, members of Trump’s cabinet, including Vice President JD Vance, sent tributes. “Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord,” Vance wrote on X.
Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said Kirk’s influence in the 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.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. remembered Kirk as “the most eloquent truth teller.”
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson led a moment of silence for Kirk on the House chamber floor on Wednesday, calling the shooting “detestable.”
Utah Governor, Republican 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.”
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 serves on the president’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, said his friend was “the best of America.”
Other conservative media personalities who knew Kirk shared their grief. Candace Owens, a right-wing podcaster, said she couldn’t “process” the news.
Ben Shapiro, a fellow conservative activist, recounted meeting him as an 18-year-old and believing he was destined to take over the Republican National Committee.
“Charlie became even bigger and more important than that. It was a privilege to watch this principled man stand up for his beliefs and create the single most important conservative political organization in America. But more importantly, Charlie was a good man, a man who believed in right and wrong, who stood by his Biblical values. All of us will miss him, and I can’t imagine the pain of his beautiful young family, and we must all pray for them,” Shapiro wrote.
Prominent Democrats also sent prayers and called for an end to political violence.
“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.
“We don’t yet know what motivated the person who shot and killed Charlie Kirk, but this kind of despicable violence has no place in our democracy,” former President Barack Obama wrote on X. “Michelle and I will be praying for Charlie’s family tonight, especially his wife Erika and their two young children.
Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom called the attack on Kirk “disgusting, vile, and reprehensible.”
Senate Minority Leader, Democrat 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,” Democratic New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said. “The shooting of Charlie Kirk is the latest incident of this chaos and it must stop.”
Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of John F. Kennedy and a Democrat, said the country was “weaker” because of the assassination against Kirk.
Anti-gun violence activists, who typically butt heads with Republicans over Second Amendment rights, also offered prayers for Kirk while calling for gun control.
Former congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who became a gun violence prevention advocate after surviving an assassination attempt in 2011, 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 Parkland 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.
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