President Donald Trump has made it clear that uniting the political spectrum in the US is not a priority for him, as he stated he ‘couldn’t care less’.
Following the death of right-wing political activist and podcaster Charlie Kirk on September 10, political tensions have escalated significantly.
Kirk was tragically shot during a college debate at Utah Valley University. Authorities confirmed on September 12 that 22-year-old Tyler Robinson had been arrested in connection with the 31-year-old’s death.
Trump announced Kirk’s passing on Truth Social and has since paid tribute to him, including ordering flags to be flown at half-mast until Sunday in his honor.
During an interview on Fox News’s Fox & Friends on Friday, Trump revealed that the suspect in Kirk’s death was in custody. Co-host Ainsley Earhardt asked how he intends to bridge the nation’s divide.
Earhardt questioned: “Because we have radicals on the right as well. We have radicals on the left. People have gotten are watching all of these videos and cheering. Some people are cheering that Charlie was, was killed. How do we fix this country? How do we come back together?”
Trump responded: “I’ll tell you something that’s going to get me in trouble, but I couldn’t care less. The radicals on the right oftentimes are radical because they don’t want to see crime. They don’t want to see crime. Worried about the border. They’re saying, We don’t want these people coming in. We don’t want you burning our shopping centers. We don’t want you shooting our people in the middle of the street.”
He further claimed that the ‘radical left’ is the main issue, stating: “They’re vicious and they’re horrible and they’re politically savvy, although they want men and women sports, they want transgender for everyone, they want open borders.”
Trump has previously criticized the ‘radical left’, and in a video message following Kirk’s death, he promised to take action against those he believed were responsible for political violence, mentioning attacks on Republicans but not Democrats.
In his message, he declared: “My administration will find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity and to other political violence, including the organizations that fund it and support it, as well as those who go after our judges, law enforcement officials, and everyone else who brings order to our country.”
While speaking to reporters on the White House lawn, Trump stated the need to confront ‘radical left lunatics’: “We have to be brave in life, in all fairness, we have a life. I probably shouldn’t be out here talking to you, in all fairness, but we will be brave. And we have a great country.
“We have radical left lunatics out there, and we just have to beat the hell out of them.”