Former President Barack Obama has spoken out following the tragic assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, taking what appeared to be a subtle swipe at former President Donald Trump. Kirk was fatally shot during an event at Utah Valley University on September 10, while speaking at an event organized by his company, Turning Point USA. The suspect, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, has been charged with aggravated murder and obstruction of justice.
Obama addressed the situation during a speech at an event in Pennsylvania on September 16, admitting that the United States faces a “political crisis” in the wake of Kirk’s assassination. According to CNN’s transcript of the event, Obama said, “Look, 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 and that I mourn for him and his family.”
He continued, “He’s a young man with two small children and a wife who obviously—and a huge number of friends and supporters who cared about him. And so, we have to extend grace to people during their period of mourning and shock.”
Obama has seemingly criticised Trump (RICKY CARIOTI/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
However, Obama seemed to indirectly criticize Trump’s handling of tragedies, referencing how the former president responded to the 2015 mass shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Dylann Roof, the gunman in that case, killed nine Black churchgoers. Obama said, “When I was president in the aftermath of tragedies… my response was not ‘who may have influenced this troubled young man to engage in that kind of violence and now let me go after my political opponents and use that.’”
Obama then remarked, “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.” He added that such rhetoric is a major issue that needs to be addressed across all political spectrums, stating, “Whether we’re Democrats, Republicans, Independents, we have to recognize that on both sides, there are people who are extremists and who say things that are contrary to what I believe are America’s core values.”
In contrast, Obama emphasized that these extreme views were “not in my White House.”
The White House has responded to Obama’s remarks, dismissing them as divisive. A spokesperson told the BBC, “Obama used every opportunity to sow division and pit Americans against each other. His division has inspired generations of Democrats to slander their opponents as ‘deplorables,’ or ‘fascists,’ or ‘Nazis.’”
