Obama Uses Charlie Kirk’s Death To Attack Donald Trump

Former President Barack Obama on Tuesday described the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk as “horrific and a tragedy,” while at the same time using the moment to accuse President Donald Trump of fueling political division in America.

Speaking at the Jefferson Educational Society’s global summit in Erie, Pennsylvania, Obama said that while he disagreed with Kirk’s conservative views, he mourned for his family.

“Obviously I didn’t know Charlie Kirk. I was generally aware of some of his ideas. I think those ideas were wrong, but that doesn’t negate the fact that what happened was a tragedy,” Obama said.

But the former president quickly shifted from condolences to partisan criticism, arguing that the Trump White House was amplifying “extremist views.”

“Those extreme views were not in my White House,” Obama said. “When we have the weight of the United States government behind extremist views, we’ve got a problem.”

Obama went further, claiming Trump and his aides have stoked division: “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.”

Trump White House Fires Back

The Trump administration wasted no time calling out Obama’s remarks as hypocritical.

“Barack Hussein Obama is the architect of modern political division in America — famously demeaning millions of patriotic Americans who opposed his liberal agenda as ‘bitter’ for ‘cling(ing) to guns or religion,’” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said.

“Obama used every opportunity to sow division and pit Americans against each other, and following his presidency more Americans felt Obama divided the country than felt he united it. His division has inspired generations of Democrats to slander their opponents as ‘deplorables,’ or ‘fascists,’ or ‘Nazis.’ If he cares about unity in America, he would tell his own party to stop their destructive behavior.”

Tragedy Sparks National Debate

Kirk, 31, was assassinated Sept. 10 while speaking to a crowd of thousands at Utah Valley University. Prosecutors say 22-year-old Tyler Robinson climbed onto a rooftop, fired a single round, and struck Kirk in the neck. Robinson has been charged with aggravated murder, a crime that could carry the death penalty under Utah law.

Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, was a driving force in mobilizing young conservatives and was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Trump.

While Obama and Democrats like Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker have attempted to link the tragedy to “rising extremism” and blame Trump’s rhetoric, conservatives argue the opposite — that relentless demonization of Republicans as “fascists” and “Nazis” has radicalized violent actors like Robinson.

The divide underscores how Charlie Kirk’s assassination has become not just a personal tragedy, but a political flashpoint at the center of America’s cultural struggle.