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

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. The president instinctively assumed the petty job of mobilizing his base for retribution against another group of Americans — the “radical left” — whose rhetoric he blamed, before anything was known about the shooter’s identity or motives, for the murder and for political violence in general: