President Donald Trump has justified the actions of right-wing extremists, bizarrely suggesting they are often radical simply because they don’t want crime.
In a meandering rant shortly after revealing that conservative activist Charlie’s Kirk’s killer had been taken into custody, the president once again lashed out at the left, blaming them for America’s problems.
Asked on Fox & Friends how people from the left and right could ever unite in view of the nation’s deep divisions, Trump replied: “I’ll tell you something that’s going to get me in trouble, but I couldn’t care less.
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“The radicals on the right oftentimes are radical because they don’t want to see crime. They don’t want to see crime. They’re saying: We don’t want these people coming in; we don’t want you burning our shopping centers; we don’t want you shooting our people in the middle of the street.
“The radicals on the left are the problem,” he said, “and they’re vicious and they’re horrible and they’re politically savvy.”
The president’s comments come as tensions across the country run high in the wake of Kirk’s assassination on Wednesday.
The 31-year-old founder of Turning Point USA was addressing hundreds of students at Utah Valley University when a single shot rang out and eventually killed him.
But the initial expressions of grief and shock were soon overtaken by calls for vengeance by those who viewed Kirk’s death as the culmination of years of hostility toward Trump’s Make America Great Again movement.
On social media, some also pointed to posts that appeared to celebrate Kirk’s death as evidence of conservatives increasingly being targeted.
“Whether we want to accept it or not, they are at war with us!” said Fox News host Jesse Waters on his show. “And what are we gonna do about it?”
“The Left is the party of murder,” billionaire and X owner Elon Musk posted to his 226 million followers.
“We must shut these lunatic leftists down,” said right-wing provocateur Laura Loomer.
Public records show the suspect who allegedly killed Kirk, Tyler Robinson, 22, has previously registered in Utah as an unaffiliated voter, while his parents registered as Republicans.
Political violence has nonetheless been a growing problem in America for years on both sides, ranging from the 2022 attack on then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, the attempted assassination of Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania last year, and the assassination of Minnesota Democratic state lawmaker Melissa Hortman.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said Friday that the suspected gun used in the attack came with unfired ammunition cases, one of which read: “Hey fascist! Catch!”
Trump announced on Fox & Friends that the suspect had been taken into custody after being turned in by “someone close to him.”
“I think, with a high degree of certainty, we have him in custody,” Trump said.
“I hope he gets the death penalty,” he later added.
