President Donald Trump has called for national healing following the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, while at the same time blaming the tragedy on what he described as “radical left lunatics.”
Speaking to NBC News on Saturday, Trump said left-wing ideologies remain the main obstacle to unity in the United States. “I’d like to see [the nation] heal,” Trump said. “But we’re dealing with a radical left group of lunatics, and they don’t play fair, and they never did.”
Trump’s claim that the suspected gunman, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, was motivated by left-wing beliefs does not align with the known facts. Robinson’s family is a vocal supporter of the MAGA movement, though reports indicate he did not share their ideology. Public records show he is an unaffiliated voter and has not participated in the last two general elections.
Investigators discovered writings on bullet casings at the scene. Some included anti-fascist slogans, while others contained internet slang and cultural references, making the intent difficult to determine. Although some early reports suggested Robinson had leftist leanings, several outlets have since retracted or corrected those claims.
Other accounts alleged he may have been involved with a far-right faction that previously targeted Kirk. In a video released by the White House on Wednesday night, Trump intensified his criticism, accusing the “radical left” of fueling political violence. He said their rhetoric was “directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today.”
Kirk, 31, was assassinated on Wednesday while addressing students at Utah Valley University. His killing has sparked fierce political debate across the nation. On social media, prominent MAGA figures and elected officials have vowed to publicly identify and condemn individuals accused of celebrating his death.
As tensions rise, Utah Governor Spencer Cox urged restraint and reflection. He framed Kirk’s death as a critical moment for the nation’s future. “Is this the end of a very dark era, or is this just the beginning of something far, far worse?” Cox asked Anderson Cooper on CNN on Friday.
“It‘s incumbent on every single one of us to look into our souls and decide: Do we want this to continue, or are we going to try something different?” Trump, asked again about the issue Saturday, reiterated his stance while pointing to his own political victories. “We’ll see what happens. They [the left] don’t like what’s been happening. We’ve been winning very big,” he told NBC News.