The View’s Co-Hosts Mourn Charlie Kirk: ‘Taken Out’ Because of His ‘Beliefs’

The View co-hosts mourned the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at the age of 31 for speaking his beliefs on a Utah college campus Wednesday.

“It’s just beyond devastating,” Whoopi Goldberg said to open Thursday’s show. “Our hearts, of course, go out to the family of Charlie Kirk…I mean, isn’t a fundamental part of being an American that we are able to express our opinions to each other without fear? Without this kind of horror happening? And it seems to be something we’re seeing more and more of. And it’s not even left or right; it’s just people being taken out because of their beliefs.”

Alyssa Farah Griffin, who worked for the first Trump administration, said she knew Kirk over the years, although not well.

“Today, my heart just breaks for his young wife Erika, their two kids…Listen, regardless of your politics, we have got to get to a place in this country where we see people we disagree with not as our enemies, but as fellow Americans with different viewpoints that we are willing to engage…I hope it doesn’t have a chilling effect, whether you’re left or right, on the ability to speak your mind.”

Sara Haines added, “And, also, even though we don’t all align with his views, what I deeply aligned with was he said, ‘When we stop talking, that’s when things get bad.'”

“This country, there’s just no place for this kind of violence in this country,” Sunny Hostin said. “I am heartbroken over it. I cannot believe that someone would kill another person because they were speaking their beliefs. This is antithetical to who we are as Americans…we should be able to voice whatever opinions we have.”

Joy Behar recounted living through the 1960s assassination of prominent Civil Rights activists.

“We did get out of it; the country survived it,” Behar said. “We got better, I think we will again. We’re having a traumatic period right now.”

“This is not the way we do it,” Goldberg said. “And we say this every time. But somehow, it’s not resonating. And I hope that young Republicans never forget that they have a voice.”

Watch the clip above via The View on ABC.