Barack Obama has torched Donald Trump for refusing to bring the nation together after the shocking assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Speaking days after the 31-year-old MAGA star was gunned down while addressing students at Utah Valley University, Obama called Trump’s dismissive response “the opposite of what an American president should do.”
Trump, who told Fox News last week that he “couldn’t care less” about unifying the country in the aftermath of the Utah shooting, quickly faced backlash for appearing indifferent to a national tragedy. Obama seized on those remarks, saying Trump had failed a basic test of leadership.
Source: The New York Times
https://t.co/14PB0HppSj— Unlikely Buddha (@Unlikely_Buddha) September 17, 2025
“I think George W. Bush believed that,” Obama said, recalling to The New York Times how past Republican leaders handled moments of national crisis. “I believe that people who I ran against, I know John McCain believed it. I know Mitt Romney believed it. What I’m describing is not a Democratic value or Republican value. It is an American value. And I think at moments like this, when tensions are high, then part of the job of the president is to pull people together.”
Obama pointed to his own record, citing the 2015 massacre at a Black church in Charleston, South Carolina, when white supremacist Dylann Roof murdered nine parishioners.
“As president of the United States, my response was not: Who may have influenced this troubled young man to engage in that kind of violence? And now let me go after my political opponents and use that,” Obama said.
Obama: “Imagine if I did what Trump is doing.” pic.twitter.com/luN7C8Vc3Q
— ᗰᗩƳᖇᗩ (@LePapillonBlu2) September 15, 2025
He made clear that restraint, not finger-pointing, was key to preventing a cycle of violence. His words stood in stark contrast to Trump’s immediate attempt to link Kirk’s killing to “radical left-wing ideology,” despite a string of violent attacks this year targeting Democrats.
The Trump White House wasted no time blasting back. Spokesperson Abigail Jackson accused Obama of hypocrisy, calling him “the architect of modern political division.” She claimed Obama had spent years “demeaning millions of patriotic Americans who opposed his liberal agenda as ‘bitter’ for ‘cling[ing] to guns or religion.’”
“Obama used every opportunity to sow division and pit Americans against each other,” Jackson said. “If he cares about unity in America, he would tell his own party to stop their destructive behavior.”
Schumer: Trump should be bringing America together like Obama would’ve done in a time like this.
Chuck tells a lot of egregious lies, but this one may be near the top of the list. pic.twitter.com/fRtaKn21Pq
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) September 17, 2025
Meanwhile, prosecutors in Utah have charged 22-year-old Tyler Robinson with aggravated murder and multiple other offenses. Authorities say Robinson admitted to his roommate, who is transgender, that he had “enough of [Kirk’s] hatred” before allegedly carrying out the attack. Officials confirmed Robinson is being held without bail as the investigation continues.
The killing has further exposed America’s bitter divide. Obama’s call for unity highlights what many see as a sharp contrast between past leaders who sought to ease tensions and Trump’s posture of confrontation.
With the MAGA movement mourning a fallen icon and Democrats condemning Trump’s rhetoric, the fight over what leadership should look like in times of tragedy is now front and center. For Obama, the message was simple: “At moments like this, the president’s job is to pull people together.”
