Obama says Trump deepened US divide in rush to ‘identify enemy’ after Charlie Kirk shooting

Ex-president says US in dangerous moment', after White House response to killings of Kirk and Melissa Hortman

Barack Obama addressed the recent killing of Charlie Kirk and told a crowd in Pennsylvania on Tuesday the country was at an inflection point", but that political violence is not new" and has happened at certain periods" in US history.

Obama added that despite history, political violence was anathema to what it means to be a democratic country".

This article was amended on 17 September 2025. A previous version misspelled the name of Melissa Hortman.