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Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel criticized President Donald Trump on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Thursday over his response to the assassination of Turning Point USA (TPUSA) founder Charlie Kirk.
Kimmel took issue with the president for blaming Democrats over their rhetoric in the wake of Kirk’s murder, accusing Trump of escalating political tensions over the last decade.
“The man who told a crowd of supporters that maybe the Second Amendment people should do something about Clinton. The man who said he wouldn’t mind if someone shot through the fake news media. The man who unleashed a mob on the Capitol and said Liz Cheney should face nine barrels shooting at her for supporting his opponent, blames the radical left for their rhetoric,” he charged.
Jimmy Kimmel on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” Sept. 11, 2025. (Screenshot/ABC)
Kirk, a husband and father of two, was shot and killed during a campus event at Utah Valley University Wednesday. He was 31.
The TPUSA founder was shot in the neck as he spoke to the large crowd from under a white pop-up tent. He was rushed to the hospital and pronounced dead later Wednesday afternoon.
Kimmel opened his show by condemning Kirk’s “senseless” assassination and criticizing the “extraordinarily vile responses” to the TPUSA founder’s killing from “both sides” of the political aisle.
“With all these terrible things happening, you would think that our president would at least make an attempt to bring us together, but he didn’t,” he said.
Showing the audience reactions to Kirk’s murder on X from past presidents, Kimmel noted, “President Obama did. President Biden did. Presidents Bush and Clinton did. President Trump did not.”
“Instead, he blamed Democrats for their rhetoric,” the late-night host added.
CHARLIE KIRK PAINTED AS ‘CONTROVERSIAL,’ ‘PROVOCATIVE’ IN MEDIA’S ASSASSINATION COVERAGE
Charlie Kirk speaks at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, 2025 in Orem, Utah, prior to the assassination. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images)
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson responded to Kimmel and told Fox News Digital, “President Trump speaks the truth. Every single night Jimmy Kimmel gets on TV and divides the American people by fueling hatred and spreading lies about the President, his supporters, and any American who doesn’t agree with his worldview. The only thing he should be doing on air is apologizing for his divisive rhetoric — and Kimmel is an absolute ghoul for pointing fingers at President Trump following the tragic assassination of his dear friend, Charlie Kirk.”
In a statement posted to Truth Social on Wednesday, Trump issued a strong warning about the dangers of political rhetoric that fuels violence:
“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.”
Trump added that for years, those on the radical left have compared “wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals.”
CHARLIE KIRK MOURNED BY WORLD LEADERS AFTER SHOCKING UTAH ASSASSINATION
Attendees hold candles during a Seattle vigil for Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, who was shot dead earlier that day while speaking at Utah Valley University. (David Ryder/Getty Images)
Although Kimmel did not address Kirk’s assassination on his show Wednesday, most likely due to the murder taking place too close to the time the show was taped, the late-night host posted his reaction to Instagram before the show aired.
“Can we just for one day agree that it is horrible and monstrous to shoot another human?” he wrote. “On behalf of my family, we send love to the Kirks and to all the children, parents and innocents who fall victim to senseless gun violence.”
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