Mary Trump, the niece of President Donald Trump, has publicly blamed her uncle for creating the political climate that led to the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Following Kirk’s death on September 10 during an event at Utah Valley University, Mary Trump directly challenged the president’s response to the violence.
Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA and a prominent right-wing figure, was fatally shot by a single gunman during a speaking event at the Utah university. The 31-year-old activist left behind his wife, Erika Lane Kirk, and their two young children.
In a televised Oval Office address following the shooting, President Trump called Kirk a martyr and accused the radical left of spreading rhetoric directly responsible for terrorism in the country. Trump vowed to find those responsible and condemned the violence, stating that his administration would locate each person who contributed to the atrocity.
Mary Trump responded sharply to her uncle’s statements in a post on her Substack publication, The Good in Us. She wrote that political violence and the rhetoric driving it stems almost entirely from the Republican Party. Mary Trump declared that “no person is more responsible for it than Donald Trump.”
The 60-year-old clinical psychologist and author accused her uncle of purposefully dividing the nation through Republican rhetoric and criticized his history of inciting violence. She specifically cited his pardoning of approximately 1,600 individuals involved in the January 6 Capitol riot as evidence of his ongoing role in enabling political violence.
Mary Trump argued that her uncle has incited violence against perceived political enemies and his own government, then pardoned those who committed violence on his behalf. She emphasized this was not a both sides issue and maintained that the political right often fails to condemn acts of violence unless directed at themselves.
She pointed to instances such as the 2022 attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, during which President Trump made jokes mocking the incident at a state party convention in 2023. During that event, Trump asked about Pelosi’s husband’s condition in what observers described as a gleeful manner.
In a Thursday interview with former CNN host Jim Acosta, Mary Trump agreed when he suggested that Trump was incapable of being a consoler-in-chief following Kirk’s murder. She stated that her uncle was pouring gasoline on a raging fire by singularly blaming the political left for Kirk’s death.
Mary Trump indicated that her uncle has been the same person for decades and has been rewarded for this behavior, making it unlikely he would change. She argued that the media was absolving the president for his role in exacerbating political divisions and suggested he was engaging in dangerous rhetoric that targeted Democrats.
The search for Kirk’s killer continued for several days following the shooting. Utah Governor Spencer Cox announced on Friday that Tyler Robinson was taken into custody in connection with the fatal shooting. Robinson allegedly fled the scene after the shooting, prompting officials to launch a multi-day search operation.
According to Cox, a family member of Robinson was interviewed by investigators. The family member reported that Robinson had become more political in recent years and had mentioned at a family dinner that Kirk was coming to Utah Valley University. The family member indicated that Robinson expressed dislike for Kirk and his viewpoints.
The FBI released security camera photos of a person of interest during their investigation. Authorities have not officially identified a motive for the killing, though the investigation remains ongoing. FBI Director Kash Patel stated at a press conference that the agency and its partners were proud to bring justice to Kirk’s family and honor his memory.
Following the shooting, tech billionaire Elon Musk wrote on social media that the left is the party of murder. Other right-wing figures have similarly cast Kirk’s murder as evidence that the country’s left is responsible for dangerous political rhetoric.
The longstanding feud between Mary Trump and President Trump is deeply personal, tracing back to disputes over family inheritance following the death of Mary’s father, Fred Trump Jr., Donald Trump’s older brother. Mary has claimed that Donald and other family members defrauded her out of her inheritance, leading to ongoing legal battles.
When asked about his grief following Kirk’s death, President Trump told reporters he was doing very good and immediately shifted to discussing construction of a new White House ballroom. Mary Trump responded to this display by noting it as quite the show of grief, criticizing her uncle’s apparent lack of emotional response to the tragedy.
