Obama on Kirk killing, political violence: U.S. at 'inflection point' [View all]
Former President Barack Obama called the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and other recent acts of political violence "horrific" during a speech on Sept. 16, while criticizing President Donald Trump for using the tragedy to stifle debate critical to democracy.
In his first public comments outside of social media about Kirk's killing at Utah Valley University last week, Obama, the two-term president who remains one of the most influential forces within the Democratic Party, said Americans should condemn political violence when it occurs but also be free to debate the ideas espoused by the victims of such violence.
"It is important for us at the outset to acknowledge that political violence is not new," he told Steve Scully, the Erie native and veteran broadcast journalist best known for his tenure at C-SPAN. "It has happened at certain periods in our history, but it is something that it is anathema to what it means to be a democratic country. And regardless of where you are on the political spectrum, what happened to Charlie Kirk was horrific and a tragedy. What happened, as you mentioned, to the state legislators in Minnesota ‒ that is horrific. It is a tragedy. And there are no ifs, ands, or buts about it."
Obama told a crowd of 8,000 people at the Erie Insurance Arena that a central premise of democracy is being able to disagree, and at times engage in "really contentious debate without resorting to violence."
"And then when it happens to somebody, even if you think they're quote unquote 'on the other side of the argument,' that's a threat to all of us and we have to be clear and forthright and condemn it," Obama said.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/09/17/obama-erie-pa-charlie-kirk-killing-condemnation/86195895007/
Hr said it all.
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