in-town pool report #13 - POTUS on Kirk + shutdown
- From
- John Bennett
- Sent
- Tuesday, October 14, 2025, 4:57 PM
POTUS called Charlie Kirk’s assassination a “demonic” act of murder after noting this was the first official event in the resigned and resurfaced Rose Garden.
A few minutes into his remarks, POTUS noted that “October 14 is Charlie's birthday, and he should have been turning 32 years old that day. I never when I first met him, he was like 22 and I said, Boy, he's awfully young, but I thought he was older than that. You know, he looked a little bit older than his age. That's okay. You know, that's not good when you're old, but when you're young, it's great.”
POTUS to Mrs. Kirk: “Your love and courage have been an inspiration to all of us, and we will always be here for you, and we're always going to be here for your gorgeous, beautiful children — and we'll never forget what your family has sacrificed for our country.”
POTUS on Charlie Kirk having been alive to help end the government shutdown with a march on the Capitol: “We're dealing with some radical left lunatics, and I would just wish Charlie was here to fight us. I think the fight would have been over already. He would have had a march on the Capitol by people whose average age is about 21 because there's nobody that had that relationship with young people, right?”
On Charlie Kirk’s political efforts: “In everything he did, he put America first. He became the leader of historic movements all over the country. There were movements, individual movements, one movement, but it was historic. … And with his help, in 2024 we won more young people than any Republican, by far, in the history of our country, and we won the popular vote, we won the swing states all seven of them, remember.”
POTUS is still speaking as event enters its 16th minute.
CBS’s Jennifer Jacobs also spotted Kash Patel, as well as Argentine President Milei; the latter was seated in the front row. More TK.
**
John T. Bennett
White House Correspondent & Editor-at-Large
Roll Call & CQ | FiscalNote publications