Beshear on Charlie Kirk killing: ‘President Trump right now is missing the mark’
One week after right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk’s killing, Gov. Andy Beshear told CNN Wednesday morning he disagreed with President Donald Trump’s response to the attack.
“Leaders have a choice to condemn political violence and all violence against anyone at any time, full stop period, or to condemn violence against people that look like them, sound like them, or believe like they do,” Beshear said.
“I think President Trump right now is missing the mark.”
The two-term Democratic governor added the Trump administration has widened political divisions and rejected the opportunity to find common ground in the days after Kirk’s death, with Trump officials vowing to crackdown on left-leaning groups.
“We are going to channel all of the anger that we have over the organized campaign that led to this assassination to uproot and dismantle these terrorist networks,” Stephen Miller, deputy White House chief of staff for policy, told Vice President JD Vance Monday on an honorary episode of “The Charlie Kirk Show” podcast.
Beshear referenced numerous attacks targeted at Democratic politicians in recent years, including activist Quintez Brown who shot at Craig Greenberg, then a Louisville mayoral candidate, on Feb. 14, 2022, during a campaign meeting.
Greenberg won the 2022 mayoral election, and Brown was sentenced to 17 years and 6 months in federal prison.
Beshear also criticized the Trump administration’s failure to condemn attacks against other Democratic leaders.
Those include former Minnesota Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman, who was killed three months ago at her home; the firebombing of the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion with Gov. Josh Shapiro inside six months ago; and a scheme to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020.
On Oct. 8, 2020, the FBI announced the arrests of 13 men suspected of orchestrating a domestic terror plot to kidnap Whitmer and use violence to overthrow the state government. Half of the suspects were tied to a paramilitary militia group that called themselves the Wolverine Watchmen.
Beshear’s discussion on CNN also criticized the politicization of science in light of former CDC Director Susan Monarez’s planned Senate testimony Wednesday over her firing by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. last month.
“Science is not red or blue. It’s just science. That’s why we teach it in school. And we need the actual experts that will put it first to lead that cabinet. And certainly the CDC,” Beshear said.
Beshear told CNN that his ability to unify the nation will be a deciding factor on whether he runs for president in 2028.
“The most important thing to the United States is …to come back together as Americans, to live out that pledge of allegiance,” he said.
“We pledge that we’re not just one nation under God, but the next word is indivisible. We’ve got a lot of healing to do. And if I’m a candidate that can do that, then it’s something that we will take a close look at.”
Editor’s note: This article was updated to correct the date of Greenberg’s mayoral victory.
This story was originally published September 17, 2025 at 2:42 PM.
