Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) condemned President Donald Trump for not seeking to unify the nation after conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s murder, saying “both sides of the political spectrum” are victims of political violence.
Kelly said Kirk’s murder will have a “long-term impact” on people and said he hopes people will ask themselves if they are getting information trying to “exploit” or “unify” the United States. He credited Gov. Spencer Cox (R-UT) for doing the latter after Kirk’s shooting.
“We have not seen that from the president of the United States, and I don’t think we can expect to. I’ve seen it from my Senate colleague in Utah, John Curtis, who is very thoughtful about how he’s approaching this,” Kelly said on NBC’s Meet the Press.
“So my hope is that people go to those individuals that are not trying to exploit this tragic event,” Kelly said.
Kelly also said both Democratic and Republican lawmakers are on the receiving end of political violence, spotlighting the murders of Democratic Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband. He added that political violence is a “pervasive issue” in the United States and warned that the nation’s division “can get worse” if it is not addressed.
Kelly’s wife, former Democratic Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords, survived an assassination attempt in a 2011 mass shooting, and the senator said his wife was “hit pretty hard” by Kirk’s murder. He said his wife has “had a tough week” after seeing the video of Kirk’s shooting and said most mass shootings aren’t seen “as graphically as this one.”
WHAT CHARLIE KIRK’S ASSASSINATION MEANS FOR THE FUTURE OF CAMPUS SPEECHES
The senator said he hopes social media companies will remove the graphic video from the internet, saying children should not see the video. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) led the call Wednesday to remove the video from X and other platforms and confirmed Thursday that TikTok had obliged.
Kirk’s widow, Erika, vowed Friday she will continue her late husband’s work on Turning Point USA. She said this will include continuing the campus tour he was on as well as his radio and podcast show.
