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This is a breaking news update from Bloomberg instant reaction and analysis from our three thousand journalists and analysts around the world. I'm Joe Matthew alongside Credie Gupta in Washington, where we come to you with breaking news.
This evening.
Conservative activist Charlie Kirk has been confirmed dead by the President of the United States. President Trump's posting quote, the great and even legendary Charlie Kirk is dead unquote.
Kirk was speaking at Utah Valley University when he was shot on stage, prominent Republican Jason Chaffitt saying he only heard a single shot ring out. The shot that presumably struck and according to the President.
Killed Kirk.
Moments before the President confirmed his death, House Speaker Mike Johnson said this from Capitol Hill.
This is the testable what's happened. Political violence has become all too common in American society, and this is not who we are. It violates the core principles of our country. Are Dude Juday of Christian heritage, our civil society, our American way of life, and it must stop. We need every political figure, we need everyone who has a platform
to say this loudly and clearly. We can settle disagreements and disputes in a civil manner, and political violence must be called out and it has to stop.
This is a fast moving story, and we have our reporters covering it with much more. Tonight, Bloomberg's Kate Sullivan joins us from the White House, and Bloomberg's Mike Shepherd
is with us here in our Washington bureau. Sheppe, let's start with you right now, as someone who's covered politics for a long time around here in the element of political violence that has crept back into our culture over the past couple of years, something hard to ignore with regard to this young man, someone who started a movement as a teenager and helped to lift Donald Trump into the White House.
What do we make of this latest turn.
Well, this is Joe As who pointed it really does point to this fear many have had about an increase in political violence. We've seen the rhetoric over the past decade or so really intensify and an edge creep into the conversation comes to the core cultural and political and social and policy issues that surround daily life in the US and we've seen flashes of this violence actually manifest itself.
Of course, more than a year ago then candidate Donald Trump himself was the target of two assassination attempts, the one, of course in Butler, Pennsylvania, that was so high profile when he emerged to say fight, fight, Fight. But then more recently in June of this year, we saw two Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota who were targeted in their homes at night by a gumman who was politically motivated, according
to authorities there. So this is the kind of incident that stokes the concern that the rhetoric and the intensified back and forth between the various and quite divided sides here in this country can spill over into violence. And that's something that we just heard the House Speaker address moments ago.
Mike, I think I'm.
Asking you the question that a lot of people around the country are asking, which is is there a policy response and policy fallout that we can expect off the back of this.
Well, for the immediate moment, there will be calls for prayer for Charlie Kirk and for his family in the wake of this terrible incident, and the calls from both sides really to step back from the brink of violence. But then the actual policy steps that always gets more tricky and sad to say, in many respects, it is to be expected that each side will fall back on the norm, with Democrats perhaps urging more control of firearms and access to firearms, and Republicans pointing to questions about
extremism on the left left. And so when it comes to a policy prescription emerging from this or for example, the incident in Minnesota just weeks ago, the school shooting at a Catholic school in Minnesota, it is more of
the same that we're likely to hear on this. And really the whole issue, Quitty is the question of political rhetoric and people now willing to take that next step and follow on their worst instincts and urges as we have seen fomented and promoted on social media for several years now.
Blomerus, Mike Shephard, we thank you so much for bringing us up to speed. I want to go to Kate Sullivan, who's.
At the White House for us.
Kate, just bring us up to speed on the reaction where you are.
So we're seeing an outpouring of messages of prayer and condolences from across the White House and the broader Trump administration. If a president called Charlie Kirk legendary, he said, nobody understood or have the heart of the youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. You know, Charlie Kirk was a fixture on the campaign trail. I saw him at countless events across many different battleground states when
I was covering the Trump campaign last year. The President has credited him with really boosting his voter his turnout among young people, and getting young people excited about his campaign. You know, he founded Charlie Kirk founded Turning Point USA, which specifically advocates for conservative politics on high school and college campuses. So we saw Charlie Kirk post many, many events across college campuses, particularly during the campaign season. You know,
before news came out that he had actually died. Jd Vance posted three different times on social media, you know, posting a photo of himself and Kirk, saying Kirk would answer any question and talk to everyone. So you're seeing, you know, the close ties that Kirk has with many people in the White House, many different Republican officials. We're all just reacting to this horrific news right now.
Somewhat unusual to have this announcement come from the President of the United States himself. Kate, is the Press Office or Communications office saying anything about the fact that the commander in chief told us this as opposed to Kirk's family.
No, and that's a that's a great point in question. All we know is what Trump has posted, and we're seeing, you know, after he posted, then Jdvan's posted, and so a lot of people are of course taking cues from the President and reacting to this news that as you're completely correct that Trump broke.
On true social himself.
Bloomberg's Kate Sullivan at the White House, Kate, thank you. As always, we just heard from the President again on social media. He was typing while we were talking. In honor of Charlie Kirk. He writes, a truly great American patriot. I am ordering all American flags throughout the United States lowered to half mast until Sunday evening at six pm.
Our political panel is with us here in studio.
Christin Hahn, our democratic strategist partner at Rock Solutions, joins us alongside Marigi Lespie, Blue Stack strategies.
It's great to see both of you.
A Republican strategist, I'll start with you in this case, Moura, talk to about the significance of what this means for the Republican movement, if not the MAGA movement, and why the White House is so deeply involved. Wy did we learn this from the President?
Well, I think that's no surprise.
The President feels pretty strongly about his loyalists, those who have been his champions. And I think that the biggest takeaway for me is to say that this isn't about being Republican, this isn't about being democrat. This is about political violence in this country and why it's so prevalent here.
That's a problem, and.
I don't know how we screen for it. I don't know how you can't really necessarily see hate in someone's heart. And so we have a bigger conversation to have here because this is a man, whether you agreed with him or not, or viet really.
Disagree with him.
This is a husband, a father, someone's son. And I just think that we have lost sight of really our humanity when it comes to our political discourse in this country. Whether it was from Gabby Giffords, to steve'scalise to happen in Minnesota, to the President himself, and to watch this now, and for anyone who has been on social media and those videos are playing, whether you wanted to see it or not, it is truly. I mean, I was sitting here.
I'm sure you're all feeling the same, but stick to my stomach about what this means, but also just seeing it. But we have to get a handle on it. And I don't know what that answer is, but it's not Republican or Democrat. It is us as Americans, and we have a problem here.
Kristen, just way in your immediate reaction, I.
Mean this obviously, I totally agree. This is not a one party problem or the other, as we've clearly seen throughout the years. And you know, I was on Capitol Hill working for the Bluetdog Coalition, of which congress Woman Gifford's was a member, and you know you're a communications person trying to write statements. I remember just breaking down, crying and them trying to gather myself and pull myself together.
I think an element, you know, it's hard to figure out exactly how to get at this, but an element is the rhetoric that's coming out of you know, besides the isisle sometimes and toning that down, treating people like humans and your leaders and the present starts with the President of the United States. People listen to what he's saying, and you know, I mean, and members of Congress and members of the Senate and having an honest dialogue that's civil with you know, your next door neighbor.
I think, you know, is really important.
I don't think that maybe fixes everything, because like you said, you can't see hate in somebody's heart. You can't necessarily tell what they're going to do, but you know, it can definitely start there.
More reminds us of the Steves police shooting that was years ago. The Capitol police shooting was what nineteen ninety nine. This has been a conversation in Washington three years and whether we should provide more security for lawmakers who in many cases are dipping into allowances to find private security and protection for themselves. You worked for a former speaker in John Bayner Mara.
Does that need to happen?
You know, I think it's a conversation to be had about how much members make currently. You know, I know that that's not necessarily a popular conversation, but when you look at their salary, if they are, you know, in a situation where they need to get security, their salary is not really going to cover that plus their housing here in DC. So you think about that, that may be a conversation to have some built in funding for
security needs. But I think it's Christian's point there about talking and how we use our words referring to our
political opponents as enemies. That's a problem, right, We can do better, and I think that for every member of Congress, anyone who's running for office, and anyone who sits, you know, talking on politics on TV, should should try and do better and make a promise to try and do that, because I think that our words have impact, and how we talk to one another as a Republican talking to a Democrat and be on a panel together, that makes I do think that people at home watch that, and
how we handle our discourse here really could make an impact at home well.
And as far as the security needs go, just look at the members of the January sixth committee. Right they started getting they didn't have a secret service or Capitol Police security twenty four to seven until they all started getting death threats, a lot of them on both sides of the aisle, And people were going to their houses at home when they were here in Washington, d C. And going to their kids' schools, and so, you know, we afforded them the protection of the Capitol Police, who
do such a wonderful job at protecting our officials. But you know, this is all members of Congress. I think, you know, the move to give them a little bit of money to you know, out of their current allotment to provide some of that security for theirselves and their family.
Was probably think the result is unfortunately, fewer people wanting to run for elected office right when we're having conversations like these. Kristen Haunt and Morigi Espie, I thank you so much for the immediate response.
Now as we turn to Capitol.
Who joining us now live from the Capitol Republican Senator Mike ground So, South Dakota, member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Senator, it's good to have you here. It's not what we expected that we would be talking about this. Can you weigh in on this, your reaction to what took place, how we got here, and whether we need to have a serious conversation about capital police security for lawmakers like yourself.
Well, let me begin just by offering my condolences, my thoughts, my prayers to Charlie's.
Family, to his spouse, and to their children.
This is not something that any of us on either side of any political I don't want to see happen. Ever, and so this is simply very very unfortunate, and we offer our thoughts and our prayers, and you know, look, this is just a bad, bad message from what we would hope otherwise would have been an opportunity for peaceful discussion on specific issues, talking about you know, our differences in a.
Very very normal way, a way in which.
People can have a discussion, having differences, having different points of view, and still remaining as friends and as colleagues.
And so to see Charlie Kirk in.
This particular method, I mean, this is just a terrible, terrible day for America. And once again it is something that I think with regard to what we do here in the capital of the United States and the way that we treat one another is something that should be an example that you don't have to have violence in the middle of political discussions.
CenTra reums do we need to hear from the President in a call for unity to end some of this political violence. Is that what we're waiting for.
You know.
I think the first thing that the President did was to offer his thoughts, his prayers, his condolences to Charlie's family. I think that's, you know, the first thing that we all want to do. And then along with that, it is an opportunity for us to once again tell the rest of America and the rest of the world that we can have different points of view.
And not be violent about it.
And so anything that any of us can do to offer as an example the way that we should treat one another with respect, that's a positive thing. I think that's what Charlie Kirk would have wanted to have had happen, And most certainly.
That's something that I think we should continue to carry on, which.
Is peacefully discussed, have your different points of view, argue, debate it.
It's healthy for America.
But our founding fathers wanted that to be done in such a fashion that we could still be one strong, unified nation even if we have different points of view. And there's nothing wrong with having differing points of view.
Well, I appreciate your point of view on that, Senator. We were looking at some pulling from ipsos from back in July that asked voters about political extremism and threats to our democracy. This poll with Reuters showed twenty seven percent of Americans ranked political extremism as the most important problem facing the US.
How about you.
I can just tell you from personal experience. Here in Washington, we work across some of the most polarized areas in terms of ideas and ideologies. But if you talk to members of the Senate, Republican and Democrat.
Alike, we get along with one another. We have business with one another.
We go to lunch together, we have a prayer, breakfast together, we have Bible studies together.
We are not enemies.
We may have different points of view, but that doesn't get across very often. And so the example that we should be able to offer is one of unity in terms of making America better than what it is today. Our founding fathers said that they wanted to create a more perfect union. They didn't say our union was perfect to begin with. They wanted it more perfect. That's what we should be focused on here and sometimes in the
middle of our strong emotions. Here we forget to finish with that particular part of the message, which is regardless of our points of view, we're Americans first. We treat each other with respect and with dignity. And here in the Capital, in the offices that we have, I can tell you personally and that behind closed doors, Republicans and
Democrats alike get along. We respect one another, we consider each other as colleagues and friends, and we would hope that across to America, whether it's a coffee clotch, or whether it's a political meeting, a city council meeting, or a state legislative body, that we remember that we are all Americans and that we have a whole lot more in common than we'll ever disagree on.
Senator, it's great to have you, and I appreciate your candor in talking about this very sensitive issue because I've been on that roatanda and I have seen Republican members like yourself get along quite well with Democrats, and I wish more people saw that side of the Capitol. Mike Grounds of South Dakota, thank you for being with us.