3 hours agoObama: US faces political crisis following the murder of Charlie Kirk
Periskopi(9 months ago)
(9 months ago)Former American President Barack Obama has warned of a political “crisis of the kind we have not seen before --” following the murder of Charlie Kirk. Speaking at a event in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, Obama said he does not recognise Kirk and does not agree with much of his stances, but called the killing a terrible “ [...]
According to the BBC, he criticised Donald Trump's remarks to his political opponents and cited past republican presidents who, according to him, have stressed national unity in moments of high tensions.
In response, the White House called Obama “architext of modern political division”. Kirk, 31, died of a single bullet during a speech at Utah Valley University in Orem on September 10th. On Tuesday, Tyler Robinson, 22, was officially charged with the Kirk murder. Prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty.
Utah County prosecutor said Robinson had sent messages saying he killed Kirk because “had a lot of his hatred”. Before Robinson was caught, senior Trump allies charged the murder of left-wing activists and rhetoric by democratic lawmakers and their supporters.
General prosecutor Pam Bond has suggested that the administration will react to the “hate speech”, though there is no specific federal law on US hatred. Vice President JD Vance has called for those who celebrated to be exposed, approved the murder, or were critical of Kirk, following the event.
In Erie, Pennsylvania, Obama said: I think in times like this, when tensions are high, part of the president's work is to unite people.
He called for Americans to respect the right of others to say things that we do not deeply agree with”.
Obama commended the republican governor of Utah, Spencer Cox, for the correctness he showed in response, saying he has shown “that it is possible to disagree, while we respect a code for how public debate should be carried out”.
He also cited the reaction of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat whose house was attacked with a fire bomb earlier this year in what police said was a deliberate attack.
Former President Obama compared this to reactions in previous cases: after a massacre in a church in South Carolina in 2015, and after the attacks on September 11, 2001, where George W. Bush stressed that the United States is not at war with Islam.
And when I hear not only our current president, but his assistants, who call political opponents Krimbaı, enemies that need to be occupied, it tells of a more general problem we now have and something that we should all face”, Obama said./Periscopi/
