Former US presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, both Democrats, have condemned the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, an ally of current President Donald Trump, and stressed that this type of violence “has no place” in the United States.
“There is no place in our country for this type of violence. It must end now,” Biden said on his social media account, referring to the shootings in the United States. “Jill and I are praying for Charlie Kirk’s family and loved ones,” he added.
Along these lines, Obama stated that “the motives of the person who shot and killed Charlie Kirk are not yet known, but this type of despicable violence has no place in our democracy.” “Michelle and I will be praying tonight for Charlie’s family, especially his wife, Erika, and their two young children,” he added.
Kirk died Wednesday after being shot in the neck while participating in an event at a university in Orem, Utah. The 31-year-old activist and commentator was one of the most prominent conservative media personalities in the United States, with millions of followers on social media.
He also co-founded Turning Point USA in 2012, an organization that advocates for conservative policies in high schools and colleges. He is largely credited with mobilizing young voters in support of Trump during the last presidential election, in which he defeated Democrat Kamala Harris.
Trump has blamed the rhetoric of the “radical left” for Kirk’s murder. “In the most hateful and despicable way possible, for years, the radical left has compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals,” he lamented, before saying that “this type of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism we are witnessing in our country today, and it must stop immediately.”
Kirk’s murder comes amid a spate of political violence that has included the June assassinations of Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, and the April attack on the residence of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, also a Democrat.
