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WASHINGTON — “In shock.”
“Simply sick.”
“Devastated.”
These have been the preliminary reactions of White Home officers who watched as stories began to flood in that conservative activist Charlie Kirk had been shot at an occasion at Utah Valley College on Wednesday afternoon.
Aides briefed President Donald Trump in actual time as occasions unfolded, assembly together with his group within the Oval Workplace as different officers monitored developments from the State of affairs Room.
Senior communications officers instantly huddled in an space within the West Wing generally known as Higher Press, the place an expletive may very well be heard as a door shut behind them.
Staffers are deeply shaken by the tragedy, with lots of them pointing to their very own private connections to Kirk from the 2016 marketing campaign and within the decade since. Some labored, by tears, as cable channels performed within the background, noting that the shooter was nonetheless at giant.
Messages of solidarity poured out on social media from all ranges of the administration, together with from Trump — who was the first to announce Kirk’s dying — and Vice President JD Vance, who known as for prayers for Kirk and his household.
Vance was shut associates with Kirk. In 2022, Kirk campaigned alongside Vance within the closing days of his aggressive Ohio Senate major, and Kirk was one of many individuals he credited together with his win.
Kirk’s group, Turning Level USA, was a significant power within the Trump universe, and it helped drive the Trump marketing campaign’s get-out-the-vote efforts final yr.
“Everybody was crushed,” stated an adviser to the administration who was on the White Home when information of Kirk’s dying began to unfold.
For a lot of of these officers, Kirk’s killing was private, each as a result of he was so well-known by staffers and since it introduced again painful reminiscences of the 2 assassination makes an attempt on their boss simply over a yr in the past.
Donald Trump Jr. launched a prolonged, heartfelt message Wednesday night time on X, saying Kirk was “like somewhat brother to me.”
“Moments like this remind us simply how fragile life is,” he wrote. “We are able to’t wait to inform individuals how a lot they imply to us — we are able to’t admire them in silence. Charlie knew he was beloved, however I wish to say it once more: he was a brother to me, and I’ll carry that with me endlessly.”
Within the early night, flags on campus have been lowered to half-staff. Not less than one senior White Home official was seen watching the solemn gesture outdoors the West Wing doorways, wiping away tears.
Amanda Terkel and Vaughn Hillyard contributed.
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