Trump blames the 'radical left' for Charlie Kirk's killing, before a suspect is identified

While many politicians stuck to unifying themes, Trump put out a message decrying incidents against Republican leaders and going after the left.

WASHINGTON — While politicians of both parties largely coalesced to mourn Charlie Kirk after he was shot and killed Wednesday at a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University, President Donald Trump blamed the "radical left" for the conservative activist's death.

"For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world's worst mass murderers and criminals," he said in a video message Wednesday night. "This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we're seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now."

Trump called 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" — but he then called out "radical left political violence," without paying tribute to any Democratic politicians who have been targeted.

"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 health care 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," Trump said.

Officials have not announced a motive for Kirk's killing; Utah's governor called it "a political assassination."