Featured Image Credit: FOX News
Topics: Charlie Kirk, Donald Trump, Politics, US News, Jimmy Kimmel, Social Media
Dan Seddon
Topics: Charlie Kirk, Donald Trump, Politics, US News, Jimmy Kimmel, Social Media
US president Donald Trump is in hot water on social media following comments made about Charlie Kirk's death.
Nine days ago, right-wing activist Kirk was assassinated while addressing the crowd at Utah Valley University during the first leg of his 'American Comeback Tour'.
He was just 31-years-old, and left behind wife Erika Frantzve and their two young kids.
Sitting down with Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum after this horrific killing, Trump seemingly made light of his compatriot's demise, which has since been branded 'worse' than Jimmy Kimmel's on-air monologue.
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In a reshared clip of Trump's Fox News interview by X user Richard Hanania - who captioned it "This is more insensitive than Kimmel" - MacCallum tells the president: "Charlie said, you know, that there was no such thing as hate speech. Um, he obviously, no-one anticipated what would happen to Charlie..."
Butting in, the 79-year-old noted: "Yeah, he might not be saying that now."
People watching this footage for the first time couldn't get their heads around Trump's nonchalance, despite Kirk's fervent support for the Trump administration's ideologies arguably costing him his life.
"Lmao proof that they don't even care about the dude or his ideas they just found a catalyst to enact their fascist agenda and move towards authoritarianism," wrote somebody in the comments.
"Guy who mourned Kirk by playing golf and waxing about his White House ballroom has strong ideas about what Kirk would think if he was alive," was one sarcastic viewpoint.
"Wild how cracking jokes gets people suspended but the guy running for president can drop lines like this on live TV," added another, referring to the indefinite freezing of talkshow Jimmy Kimmel Live!
A fourth social media user went on to argue: "Putting words in dead man's mouth for political gains is disgusting. I'd say even more disgusting than simply not mourning his death."
Meanwhile, Trump has also recalled the last phone conversation he had with Kirk before the Turning Point USA co-founder was fatally gunned down on stage.
"So the last time I spoke to him, he said 'Sir,' then he goes 'Phoenix,'" said the president, alluding to a Turning Point USA event.
"'Sir could you, er, get to Phoenix,' this was like in a day. I said, 'Charlie, I'm the President of the United States, you've called me, asking me if I could speak tomorrow in Phoenix? You can't do that to me, Charlie'.
"But I usually ended up going," he chuckled. "He was great. He was a great guy and he didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve this, believe me."
This coming Sunday (September 21), State Farm Stadium in Arizona, which has a capacity of more than 60,000, will hold a memorial service for Kirk, where Trump and several other government officials are tipped to attend.