Former President Barack Obama condemned the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, calling it an “inflection point” for the nation, while declaring political violence a “threat to us all.”
“Regardless of where you are on the political spectrum, what happened to Charlie Kirk was horrific and a tragedy,” he said, per the New York Times.
“What happened … to the state legislators in Minnesota, that is horrific,” Obama continued, referencing the assassinations of Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband earlier this year. A second lawmaker, John Hoffman, and his wife were also shot the same night.
“It is a tragedy. And there are no ifs, ands or buts about it, the central premise of our democratic system is that we have to be able to disagree and have sometimes really contentious debates without resort to violence.”
Obama’s remarks came during a conversation with journalist Steve Scully at the Jefferson Educational Society in Pennsylvania Tuesday night. He also acknowledged during the sit-down that while he disagreed with most of Kirk’s beliefs, that “doesn’t negate the fact that what happened was a tragedy and that I mourn for him and his family.”
“Even if you think they’re, quote, unquote, on the other side of the argument, that’s a threat to all of us,” he added. “And we have to be clear and forthright in condemning them.”
Kirk was shot on Sept. 10 during a student Q&A at Utah Valley University as part of his American Comeback Tour. He was hit in the neck by a lone bullet during the outdoor event on the Orem campus and was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.
Kirk, the founder of turning point USA and a major Trump ally, was 31 years old.
Obama on Tuesday also acknowledged the division sparked by the shooting. In the days since Kirk was shot, President Trump and his supporters have condemned the left, blaming their rhetoric for the deadly violence.
“When I hear not just our current president, but his aides, who have a history of calling political opponents ‘vermin,’ enemies who need to be ‘targeted,’ that speaks to a broader problem that we have right now and something that we’re going to have to grapple with, all of us,” Obama said, concluding that the nation is going through a “political crisis.”
