Charlie Kirk’s Killing Requires Trump to Soothe, Not Inflame

Co-founder and Executive Director Jeff Shesol comments on the President’s role as the nation’s “mourner in chief” in Bloomberg News.

Moments of tension and tragedy are when presidents usually try hardest to speak to, and for, the entire nation. But following the horrifying assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, President Donald Trump on Wednesday responded with angry, divisive and conspiratorial remarks that captured his distorted view of the presidency.

Instead of trying to heal a country fractured by political violence, Trump once again demonstrated that he fundamentally views himself as the leader of a faction, not a nation.