Arnold Schwarzenegger was asked to respond to the assassination of Charlie Kirk while speaking at an event at the University of Southern California on Monday.
“I was very angry that someone’s life was taken away because someone has different opinions. It’s incredible,” the actor and former California governor told USC interim president Beong-Soo Kim. “This was a great communicator and a great advocate for the Republican right to a cause. He had a great way to communicate with students who agreed or opposed to him.”
Kirk was filmed on September 10th and was discussed by Utah Valley University students as part of his “prove and get wrong” campaign. The conservative critic and the leader of Turning Point USA were rushed to the hospital and declared he died about 90 minutes later. Tyler Robinson, 22, the suspect in the shooting, was charged with aggravated murder after prosecutors sought the death penalty on Tuesday.
“It’s human. Human life is gone,” Schwarzenegger said of Kirk. “And he was a great father and a great husband. I was thinking about his children. They’re just reading about him now, not reading them bedtime stories.”
Schwarzenegger said he was “shocked” when he saw the news of Kirk’s death, and he paid attention to the debate about how the US could end political violence.
“We have to admit that all of these causes are social media companies that are splitting us up. “Participants: Democrats who are leaving us out, Republicans who are splitting us up. We’re hit from so many different angles. We have to be very careful not to get close to that cliff.
Schwarzenegger spoke to a room full of college students, highlighting the power of individuals to take action and joining people on the other side of the political aisle. “People can turn this around,” he said.
Check out Schwarzenegger’s “Democracy Day Dialogue” conversation below.
