White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is stirring fresh controversy after sharing a social media post that tied last week’s Utah earthquake to divine wrath over the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. In an Instagram story, Leavitt, a self-described devout Christian, reposted a message that framed the tremor’s magnitude and timing as a biblical signal.
The post read, “On the night Charlie was shot, a 4.1 earthquake struck Utah. In scripture, 40 represents trials, 41 signifies a shift. It hit at 5:57 local time, 7:57 Eastern,” then pointed to Acts 7, verse 57, which describes the crowd silencing Stephen before his stoning.
Karoline Leavitt shared this tweet explaining how an earthquake (very common in Utah) demonstrated God’s anger after Charlie Kirk’s death pic.twitter.com/Omm8m7rrEr
— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) September 17, 2025
Seismologists did record a magnitude 4.1 quake near Maeser, in Utah’s Uintah County, just before 6 p.m. local time. University of Utah Seismograph Stations and U.S. Geological Survey logs put the event at 5:57 p.m. MDT, lining up with the timestamp Leavitt’s shared post seized on. The quake’s depth and location made it widely felt but not damaging, according to local reports.
The biblical verse Leavitt’s post invoked is stark. Acts 7:57 recounts how the crowd “covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him,” moments before Stephen was killed, a passage often cited as an example of silencing a witness. That textual tie-in, paired with the quake’s timing, fueled a wave of online reactions ranging from support to mockery.
Kirk, 31, was shot and killed during a Utah Valley University event last week, a killing that has rocked national politics. Prosecutors have charged 22-year-old Tyler Robinson and said they will seek the death penalty, alleging the murder was premeditated and politically motivated. Charging documents also describe texts about motive and efforts to delete messages after the shooting.
EMOTIONAL TRIBUTE: Karoline Leavitt honors Charlie Kirk’s legacy during a vigil at the Kennedy Center: “When so many influential voices in our society are brainwashing young people to abandon our faith, to stay single, not to have children and to bash our country, Charlie Kirk… pic.twitter.com/KcJApXIOjH
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 15, 2025
Inside the administration, grief has been public and raw. Vice President J.D. Vance guest-hosted The Charlie Kirk Show from his office in the White House complex, praising Kirk as “the smartest political operative I ever met” and a “joyful warrior for our country,” while urging a national reckoning over political violence. The episode doubled as both a eulogy and a statement of intent, with allies vowing to push back on extremism.
Leavitt herself has spoken warmly of Kirk’s influence on her career in recent days, echoing that he helped lift a generation of younger conservatives. Her shared post about the quake, however, drew immediate fire from critics who accused the White House’s top spokesperson of peddling superstition.
When I ran for Congress at 23 years old, Charlie Kirk was one of the first people to believe in me and endorse my grassroots campaign.
That’s because Charlie Kirk believed in the potential and promise of young people across our country, and he inspired millions of them to get… pic.twitter.com/EzDIyVpt9e
— Karoline Leavitt (@karolineleavitt) September 11, 2025
Supporters countered that people of faith often read meaning into providential timing, especially in times of mourning. The press secretary has not issued a separate formal statement expanding on the Instagram share, and the story format means the content is ephemeral and can be difficult to verify beyond screenshots circulated by media monitors.
Experts caution that earthquakes happen regularly in and around Utah, and that coincidence does not prove causation, but symbolism travels fast online, particularly when it taps scripture and a nation’s emotions after a killing.
What is not in doubt is the timeline. A public figure was gunned down at a university event, the suspect now faces capital charges, and a measurable quake hit the state the same evening, landing at 5:57 p.m. local time, 7:57 p.m. on the East Coast. The meaning, if any, is being fought over in the court of public opinion while the legal case heads to an actual court.
Or maybe God was mad that Charlie didn’t get better security like he was advised.