Joe Rogan was captured reeling in stunned silence the moment he learned conservative influencer Charlie Kirk had been assassinated during a live taping of his latest podcast episode with actor Charlie Sheen.
The podcaster clutched his head in disbelief after his producer told him that the 31-year-old Turning Point USA founder had been shot dead during the Wednesday recording of his latest episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” which aired Thursday.
“So this just happened, we just found out that Charlie Kirk got shot,” a visibly rattled Rogan said before asking if the right-wing activist was dead.
The media personality was left speechless and exhaled sharply when his producer confirmed that Kirk had succumbed to his wounds, and later asked if the gunman had been caught.
“It’s a f–ked up time. People are so divided in this country,” Rogan said.
Sheen called the heinous act of violence “f—ing awful,” adding that Kirk was “murdered for having a different opinion from somebody else, different ideology from somebody.”
Rogan, who never interviewed the conservative firebrand on his show, recalled meeting him once at a gun range, praising Kirk as a nice, intelligent guy who was simply speaking to students on college campuses.
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“He’s not a violent guy, he’s talking to people on college campuses,” Rogan said.
“He wasn’t even particularly rude, tried to be pretty reasonable with people. He’s a very intelligent guy, whether you agree with him or don’t, and there’s a lot of stuff that I didn’t agree with him on.”
Here’s the latest on the Charlie Kirk shooting in Utah
- The 31-year-old Turning Point USA creator was shot dead at Utah Valley University.
- The event was a stop on his American Comeback Tour.
- The conservative influencer had just answered a question about transgender shooters when he was shot.
- Kirk, a rising MAGA star, is survived by his wife and two young children.
- The shooter is still at large.
Kirk was killed Wednesday afternoon by a single shot fired by a sniper atop the Losee Center, a building on the Utah Valley University campus, about 200 yards from where he was speaking to thousands as he kicked off his multi-city “American Comeback” tour.
The married father of two was fatally shot in the neck while speaking on stage at the outdoor event, creating instant chaos.
Students in the crowd ducked, screamed and ran for their lives as blood poured from Kirk’s wound and he fell off his chair.
Two individuals were taken into custody for questioning but later released after the horrific attack, while the real killer remains at large, with the multi-agency manhunt intensifying.
The FBI — which released surveillance camera photos of a lanky “person of interest” wearing dark clothing, wrap-around sunglasses and a T-shirt bearing an eagle and an American flag — is offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to his identification and arrest.
During the episode, Rogan blasted now-fired MSNBC contributor Matthew Dowd’s twisted comments on the network, claiming the hateful slaying could have been a supporter firing off bullets in “celebration” and Kirk only had himself to blame for being targeted.
“What a crazy take, like it might not have been someone assassinating someone for the wrong opinion,” Rogan pressed, condemning those in the public and media “celebrating” Kirk’s death.
“What the f–k. There’s gonna be a lot of people celebrating this. It’s so dangerous to celebrate or in any way encourage this kind of behavior from human beings. You’re allowed to disagree with people without celebrating the fact they got shot.”
While lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle immediately spoke out against political violence, some Democrats and liberal pundits blamed Kirk and the conservative movement he championed for his own death within hours of his life being taken.
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