Trump says 'you don't replace Charlie Kirk' in wake of assassination

As President Trump was departing the Pentagon on Thursday morning following a 9/11 ceremony, in which he announced that he would be posthumously awarding Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Trump told the press pool, "You don’t replace a Charlie Kirk."

Per CNN White House correspondent Katilan Collins, Trump was asked how people can be brought together in the wake of Kirk’s assassination, to which Trump replied, "We will be discussing…You don’t replace a Charlie Kirk. He was unique, as you all know, as well as I do. He was a unique man. But we’ll do the best we can."

The president said he plans to speak with Kirk’s family in the evening, describing Kirk’s wife, Erika, as a "wonderful woman."

When asked about the ongoing FBI investigation into the assassination, Trump said he had been told "pretty much what you’re seeing in the news is what it is. They have a virtual manhunt out there, so we’ll see what happens. But we hope we get him."

Authorities on Thursday morning said that they have "good video footage" of the suspected shooter, but were not releasing it at this time. "We’re working through some technologies and some ways to identify this individual. If we are unsuccessful, we will reach out to you as the media, and we will push that publicly to help us identify them."

Authorities said the shooter is college-aged and that the shooting was "targeted." An internal email obtained by Louder with Crowder revealed that bolt action rifle was found in a wooded area near the scene of the shooting, and "all cartridges have engraved wording on them, expressing transgender and anti-fascist ideology.”