Trump vows to ‘find each and every one’ responsible for Charlie Kirk assassination, slams ‘radical left’ rhetoric

“Today, because of this heinous act, Charlie’s voice has become bigger and grander than ever before,” Trump said in a video message on Truth Social.

President Donald Trump vowed to “find each and every one” responsible for the assassination of Charlie Kirk in a video message in which he blamed the “radical left” for contributing to the tragedy.

“It’s a long past time for all Americans and the media to confront the fact that violence and murder are the tragic consequence of demonizing those with whom you disagree day after day, year after year, in the most hateful and despicable way possible for years,” said Trump from the White House inside the Oval Office.

“Those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals. This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now.”

Trump, a friend of 31-year-old Kirk, who was fatally shot in the neck on Wednesday during a tour stop on the campus of Utah Valley University, called him a “martyr for truth and freedom.” He vowed that his administration would “find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity and to other political violence.”

President Trump, who survived two assassination attemps on his own life during the 2024 election, said, “From the attack on my life in Butler, Pennsylvania last year, which killed a husband and father, to the attacks on ICE agents to the vicious murder of a health care executive in the streets of New York, to the shooting of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and three others, radical and political violence has hurt too many innocent people and taken too many lives.”

The president did not mention the political assassination of Democratic Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, who were assassinated inside their home in June. He also did not mention the attempted assassination of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, whose home was set ablaze while he and his family were sleeping in April.

During remarks at the Pentagon commemorating the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Trump announced that Kirk would posthumously receive a Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor bestowed by the Executive Office of the President.

Trump called on all Americans to “commit themselves” to the American values that Charlie Kirk “lived and died” for, including free speech and suggested that the conservative firebrand’s voice will not be silenced in death.

“Charlie was the best of America, and the monster who attacked him was attacking our whole country. An assassin tried to silence him with a bullet, but he failed. Together, we will ensure that his voice, his message and his legacy will live on countless generations to come,” said the president.

“Today, because of this heinous act, Charlie’s voice has become bigger and grander than ever before.”