Putin: Charlie Kirk assassination ‘disgusting atrocity’
Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk on Thursday, calling last month’s shooting in Utah a “disgusting atrocity.”
“You know, this disgusting atrocity, and even more so, live,” Putin said at a forum held by the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi, Russia. “In fact, we all saw it, but I don’t know, that’s really disgusting. It looked horrible.”
“I first of all, of course, offer my condolences to the family of Mr. Kirk and all his loved ones,” the Russian leader continued. “We sympathize and empathize, especially since he defended those traditional values.”
He added that the fatal shooting is a sign of a “deep rift in society,” according to Reuters.
“In the United States, I don’t think there’s any need to escalate the situation externally because the country’s political leadership is trying to restore order domestically,” Putin said.
Kirk, the co-founder of Turning Point USA — a nonprofit organization that promoted conservative values in schools — died Sept. 10 after being shot during a campus visit to Utah Valley University.
Videos of the incident circulated online but were eventually restricted or taken down following outcry from several Republican officials. President Trump, who considered Kirk a key ally, and administration officials spoke out against speech that seemingly praised the assassination.
The move raised concern across the U.S. about rising political violence and the protection of free speech.
Though Putin acknowledged the Trump administration’s attempts to “restore order” following Kirk’s death, he also criticized the president during the forum for casting doubt on the Kremlin’s power amid its war with Ukraine.
Trump previously posted late last month to Truth Social that Moscow had been “fighting aimlessly” for over three years against Ukraine and looked like “a paper tiger.” Russian leaders, including Putin, have pushed back on this characterization.
“Russia has not been fighting the Armed Forces of Ukraine or Ukraine itself these past years, but effectively the entire NATO bloc,” Putin said, according to a transcript of his forum remarks.
“Yet if we are combating the entire NATO alliance, advancing thus with unwavering confidence, and are deemed a ‘paper tiger’ — what does that make NATO itself?” he said later.
Putin also warned that the U.S. sending long-range missiles to Kyiv could put the U.S.-Russia relationship at risk.