Media Critics Bash Trump Over ‘Disgusting’ Rant on Charlie Kirk Killing: ‘Degenerate Tyrant’

Media and political figures bashed President Donald Trump over his reaction to the shooting of activist and co-founder of the pro-Trump super PAC Turning Point USA Charlie Kirk, calling it “disgusting.”

The political and media world were stunned when news broke Wednesday afternoon that Kirk had been shot during an event at Utah Valley University. While thoughts and prayers flooded the airwaves and social media, grisly videos of the incident circulated widely and foreshadowed the news that was to come. Kirk died from the injuries he sustained in that shooting.

Although Trump FBI Director Kash Patel issued a (later-retracted) statement claiming the shooter was in custody, that turned out not to be true and the shooter remains at large as of this writing.

Trump’s first reaction was a social media post calling for people to pray for Kirk, followed by another post, after Kirk’s death was confirmed, praising the late activist and offering condolences to his family.

Several hours later, Trump addressed the killing from the Oval Office with a rant placing blame on “the radical left”:

It’s long past time for all Americans and the media to confront the fact that violence and murder are the tragic consequence of demonizing those with whom you disagree day after day, year after year, in the most hateful and despicable way possible. For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals. This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today and it must stop right now.

My administration will find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity and to other political violence, including the organizations that fund it and support it, as well as those who go after our judges, law enforcement officials, and everyone else who brings order to our country. From the attack on my life in Butler, Pennsylvania last year, which killed a husband and father, to the attacks on ICE agents, to the vicious murder of a healthcare executive in the streets of New York, to the shooting of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and three others, radical left political violence has hurt too many innocent people and taken too many lives.

Many political media figures reacted strongly and negatively to the address, some pointing the finger back at Trump, while others noted that the killer has yet to be identified.

TPM’s Josh Marshall called the speech “A disgusting and typical display by this degenerate tyrant, pledging retribution against his political foes based on nothing but his rage and desire for domination.”

Zeteo founder Mehdi Hasan wrote: “This hypocrite said Biden was running a Nazi Gestapo administration and called Harris a fascist and communist.”

He added:

“Including the organizations that fund it” – let’s be clear, Trump and his people cynically and openly plan to use this tragedy and murder to go after Democrats, the left, and their political opponents

Pod Save America host and former Obama staffer Jon Favreau was slightly more philosophical, writing:

When a white supremacist gunned down nine black parishioners in Charleston while they prayed, a black President reminded the nation that the victims’ families stood in the courtroom and offered the killer words of grace and forgiveness.

America doesn’t have to be this way.

CNN’s Karen Finney wrote:

Trump is parroting what Loomer said earlier today. And it pushes people farther into partisan corners rather than taking a stand against political violence in America. It makes every one of us less safe.

Reporter Benjamin Ryan described Trump’s address as one-sided:

Trump blames Charlie Kirk’s assassination on the “radical left” and vows sweeping vengeance and retribution. He recounts a litany of recent political violence, but only attacks directed at the right, not, for example, the assassinations of Democratic leaders in Minnesota.

Other political and media figures weighed in to criticize Trump:

https://twitterr.com/Scott_Wiener/status/1966004857137152169

https://twitterr.com/rothschildmd/status/1965948698900443219

https://twitterr.com/matthewamiller/status/1965956615095636186

https://twitterr.com/CastelliMatt/status/1965955610803056675

https://twitterr.com/AmoneyResists/status/1965950653529993463

https://twitterr.com/AhmedBaba_/status/1965949189747253263

Watch above via The White House.