Former President Barack Obama warns: US faces a crisis like we've never seen

(Patria) - Former US President Barack Obama issued a stern warning about "a political crisis like we've never seen" following the recent murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Speaking yesterday in Pennsylvania, Obama said that while he didn't know Kirk and disagreed with many of his views, he considered the murder "horrific and tragic," writes the BBC, as reported by Index.hr.

Kirk (31) died from a gunshot wound a week ago while giving a speech at Utah Valley University in Orem.

22-year-old Tyler Robinson was formally charged yesterday with the murder and faces charges related to firearms. Prosecutors have announced they will seek the death penalty.

Utah County Attorney Jeffrey Gray revealed that Robinson allegedly sent messages admitting he shot Kirk because he "had enough of his hate."

Before Robinson's arrest, key allies of Donald Trump blamed left-wing activists and the rhetoric of Democratic politicians and their supporters for the murder.

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced measures to combat "hate speech," although there is no specific law in the US addressing this topic.

Vice President JD Vance led calls to expose those who celebrated or condoned Kirk's murder.

"Call them out, and damn it, call their employers," Vance said while appearing on Kirk's podcast.

In his speech in Erie, Pennsylvania, Obama emphasized that in times of high tension, "part of the job of the president is to bring people together." He urged Americans to "respect other people's right to say things that we deeply disagree with."

He praised the reaction of Utah Governor Spencer Cox, a conservative Republican, who, according to Obama, showed "that it is possible to disagree while still adhering to a basic code of public discourse."

He also supported the response of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat whose residence was attacked with Molotov cocktails earlier this year.

The former president contrasted these reactions with the comments of Trump and his allies. He recalled that he did not use the bloody attack by a white supremacist on a Black church in South Carolina in 2015 to attack political opponents.

He also pointed out that after the September 11, 2001 attacks, President George W. Bush "explicitly did everything he could to say, 'We are not at war with Islam.'"

"And so, when I hear not just our current president, but his surrogates, who have a history of calling political opponents 'vermin,' enemies to be 'targeted,' it speaks to a broader problem that we currently have," Obama said.

In a statement to the BBC, a White House spokesperson rejected the accusations, calling Obama "the architect of modern political division."

"Obama has used every opportunity to sow division and pit Americans against each other. His division has inspired generations of Democrats to slander their opponents as 'pathetic,' or 'fascists,' or 'Nazis,'" the spokesperson said.

Although former US presidents generally avoid criticizing their successors, Obama has become more vocal in recent months, criticizing Trump's actions against universities and judges, as well as the leaders of his own Democratic Party for what he considers insufficient resistance to White House policies.