Schwarzenegger condemns Kirk assassination: ‘It’s just unbelievable’

Arnold Schwarzenegger called the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk “unbelievable” on Monday. 

“I was very, very upset that someone’s life was taken because they have a different opinion. I mean, it’s just unbelievable,” Schwarzenegger said Monday, during an event at the University of Southern California. 

During the discussion, Schwarzenegger called Kirk a “great communicator” for conservative causes, and praised Kirk for traveling to campuses around the country and debating politics with students “that agreed or disagreed with him.”

The conservation was held at USC’s Schwarzenegger Institute, with Schwarzenegger also speaking out against Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom backing a ballot measure that would eliminate the state’s independent redistricting commission.

Kirk, 31, was shot and killed last Wednesday at an event on the campus of Utah Valley University. The accused gunman, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, was taken into custody by the FBI Thursday evening. 

Kirk is survived by his wife, Erika, and two children. 

“It’s a human being, a human life is gone,” Schwarzenegger said. “And he was a great father, a great husband and I was thinking about his children. They will only be reading about him now, instead of him reading to them bedtime stories.”

Schwarzenegger, who entered politics after a prominent career as a bodybuilder and actor, served as governor of California from 2003 to 2011. He and former California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner are the most recent Republicans to hold statewide office in the Golden State. 

Schwarzenegger also chaired the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports from 1990 to 1993, under Presidents Bush and Clinton.