Presidential Address Following the Assassination of Charlie Kirk on Utah College Campus

[00:00] To my great fellow Americans, I am

[00:02] filled with grief and anger at the

[00:04] heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk on

[00:07] a college campus in Utah. Charlie

[00:11] inspired millions, and tonight all who

[00:13] knew him and loved him are united in

[00:16] shock and horror. Charlie was a patriot

[00:20] who devoted his life to the cause of

[00:23] open debate and the country that he

[00:25] loved so much, the United States of

[00:27] America. He fought for liberty,

[00:30] democracy, justice, and the American

[00:32] people. He's a martyr for truth and

[00:34] freedom. And there's never been anyone

[00:37] who was so respected by youth.

[00:40] Charlie was also a man of deep, deep

[00:44] faith. And we take comfort in the

[00:47] knowledge that he is now at peace with

[00:49] God in heaven. Our prayers are with his

[00:52] wife Erica, the two young beloved

[00:56] children, and his entire family who he

[00:58] loved more than anything in the world.

[01:01] We ask God to watch over them in this

[01:04] terrible hour of heartache and pain.

[01:07] This is a dark moment for America.

[01:10] Charlie Kirk traveled the nation

[01:13] joyfully engaging with everyone

[01:15] interested in good faith debate. His

[01:19] mission was to bring young people into

[01:21] the political process, which he did

[01:23] better than anybody ever, to share his

[01:28] love of country and to spread the simple

[01:30] words of common sense. On campuses

[01:34] nationwide, he championed his ideas with

[01:36] courage, logic, humor, and grace. It's

[01:40] long past time for all Americans and the

[01:43] media to confront the fact that violence

[01:46] and murder are the tragic consequence of

[01:49] demonizing those with whom you disagree

[01:52] day after day, year after year in the

[01:55] most hateful and despicable way

[01:57] possible. For years, those on the

[02:00] radical left have compared wonderful

[02:02] Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the

[02:05] world's worst mass murderers and

[02:08] criminals. This kind of rhetoric is

[02:11] directly responsible for the terrorism

[02:14] that we're seeing in our country today,

[02:17] and it must stop right now.

[02:21] My administration will find each and

[02:23] every one of those who contributed to

[02:25] this atrocity and to other political

[02:28] violence, including the organizations

[02:30] that fund it and support it, as well as

[02:33] those who go after our judges, law

[02:36] enforcement officials, and everyone else

[02:39] who brings order to our country. From

[02:42] the attack on my life in Butler,

[02:44] Pennsylvania last year, which killed a

[02:46] husband and father, to the attacks on

[02:48] ICE agents, to the vicious murder of a

[02:51] healthc care executive in the streets of

[02:53] New York, to the shooting of House

[02:56] Majority Leader Steve Scaliz and three

[02:58] others. Radical left political violence

[03:01] has hurt too many innocent people and

[03:04] taken too many lives. Tonight, I ask all

[03:08] Americans to commit themselves to the

[03:10] American values for which Charlie Kirk

[03:12] lived and died. The values of free

[03:16] speech, citizenship, the rule of law,

[03:19] and the patriotic devotion and love of

[03:22] God. Charlie was the best of America,

[03:25] and the monster who attacked him was

[03:27] attacking our whole country. An assassin

[03:30] tried to silence him with a bullet, but

[03:33] he failed. Because together we will

[03:35] ensure that his voice, his message, and

[03:38] his legacy will live on for countless

[03:40] generations to come. Today, because of

[03:43] this heinous act, Charlie's voice has

[03:46] become bigger and grander than ever

[03:49] before,

[03:50] and it's not even close. May God bless

[03:53] his memory. May God watch over his

[03:56] family, and may God bless the United

[03:59] States of America. Thank you.