'A dark moment for America: Trump addresses nation after Charlie Kirk murder, vows to find the culprits

President Donald Trump addressed the nation on Wednesday from the Oval Office after the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University in Orem.

Visibly affected, Trump called the event a "heinous act" and assured that his administration will pursue and find all those responsible for political violence in the country.

"I am filled with grief and anger at the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk on a college campus in Utah. Charlie inspired millions, and tonight, all who knew him and loved him are united in shock and horror," Trump said at the beginning of his message.

The Republican president highlighted Kirk's career, describing him as a man dedicated to open debate and a defender of freedom and democracy. "He’s a martyr for truth and freedom, and there’s never been anyone who was so respected by youth," he said.

Trump also aimed the rhetoric of the radical left, claiming it has contributed to a climate of extreme political violence in the country. "For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals. This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now."

In that vein, Trump promised a firm response from his administration, "My Administration will find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity and to other political violence, including the organizations that fund it and support it, as well as those who go after our judges, law enforcement officials, and everyone else who brings order to our country."

The president further linked the attack on Kirk to other recent episodes of violence: "From the attack on my life in Butler, Pennsylvania last year, which killed a husband and father, to the attacks on ICE agents, to the vicious murder of a healthcare executive in the streets of New York, to the shooting of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and three others. Radical left political violence has hurt too many innocent people and taken too many lives."

Finally, the president called on Americans to rally around the values that defined Kirk's life: "Tonight, I ask all Americans to commit themselves to the American values for which Charlie Kirk lived and died: the values of free speech, citizenship, the rule of law, and the patriotic devotion and love of God."

In parting, Trump assured that the activist's legacy will live on: "An assassin tried to silence him with a bullet, but he failed, because together we will ensure that his voice, his message, and his legacy will live on for countless generations to come. Today, because of this heinous act, Charlie’s voice has become bigger and grander than ever before—and it’s not even close. May God bless his memory. May God watch over his family. And may God bless the United States of America."