Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington emailGet our free Inside Washington emailPresident Donald Trump and his Cabinet called for prayers for conservative activist Charlie Kirk after he was shot in the neck during an event at Utah Valley University Wednesday. “We must all pray for Charlie Kirk, who has been shot,” Trump wrote on Truth Social moments after the shooting was confirmed. “A great guy from top to bottom. GOD BLESS HIM!”Kirk, 31, co-founded Turning Point USA – a nonprofit dedicated to engaging with conservative youths and promoting conservative policies on high school and college campuses.Members of Trump’s cabinet, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., offered prayers for Kirk. “Prayers for Charlie Kirk. An incredible Christian, American, and human being. May the healing hand of Jesus Christ be upon him,” Hegseth wrote. open image in galleryCharlie Kirk, a prominent conservative activist, was shot while speaking at an event in Utah (AFP via Getty Images)Noem wrote on X, “Byron and I are lifting up Charlie, Erika, and their family in our prayers right now.”“We love you Charlie Kirk. Praying for you,” Kennedy wrote on X.Attorney General Pam Bondi asked the public to “PRAY FOR CHARLIE” while announcing that the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives were on the scene. Other Republicans, including former Vice President Mike Pence, conservative media personality Candace Owens, and right-wing commentator Ben Shapiro, also called for prayers.Donald Trump Jr., a good friend of Kirk, called him “one of the finest humans I know.”“Everyone please lift him and his family up in prayer,” Trump Jr. said.House Speaker Mike Johnson led a moment of silence for Kirk on the House chamber floor on Wednesday, calling the shooting “detestable.”open image in galleryKirk, pictured with President Donald Trump in 2019, has become a prominent Republican (AFP via Getty Images)Prominent Democrats also sent prayers to Kirk. “I am deeply disturbed by the shooting in Utah,” former Vice President Kamala Harris wrote on X. “Doug and I send our prayers to Charlie Kirk and his family. Let me be clear: Political violence has no place in America. I condemn this act, and we all must work together to ensure this does not lead to more violence.”California Governor Gavin Newsom called the attack on Kirk “disgusting, vile, and reprehensible.”Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the shooting “horrifying” and said “political violence has no place in America.”Speaker emeritus Nancy Pelosi called the shooting “reprehensible” and urged Americans to “pray for Charlie Kirk’s recovery and hold the entire UVU community in our hearts as they endure the trauma of this gun violence.”“The scourge of gun violence and political violence must end,” New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said. “The shooting of Charlie Kirk is the latest incident of this chaos and it must stop. We cannot go down this road. There is no place for it in America and we wish for his recovery.”open image in galleryKirk, pictured with Vice President JD Vance and Senator Josh Hawley in 2022, has helped campaign for Republican candidates (Getty Images)Anti-gun violence activists, who typically butt heads with Republicans who advocate for the Second Amendment, also offered thoughts and prayers to Kirk while calling for gun control. David Hogg, a survivor of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting and former vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, said it was “horrifying news” that Kirk had been shot. “Gun violence and political violence have to fucking stop. Charlie, his family, and all the students who had to witness the shooting are in my thoughts. We have disagreements, but we all agree something has to change,” Hogg wrote. Gabrielle Giffords, a former representative who became a gun violence prevention advocate after surviving an assassination attempt, said political disagreements should never include violence. “I’m horrified to hear that Charlie Kirk was shot at an event in Utah,” Giffords wrote. “Democratic societies will always have political disagreements, but we must never allow America to become a country that confronts those disagreements with violence.”More follows…
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Trump, MAGA commentators and political leaders offer prayers after Charlie Kirk shot in the neck at Utah event
