Mark Kelly’s wife was shot for politics. Here’s his message in SC after Kirk death
When U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat, was told about the Charlie Kirk shooting death, the memory of his wife being shot came to his mind.
Kelly’s wife, former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords, was shot in the head in 2011 while meeting with constituents, and now is an advocate for greater gun violence prevention.
“It changed Gabby’s life forever, she nearly died,” Kelly said while speaking Friday during an appearance in Columbia. “When I heard about Charlie Kirk being murdered, immediately thought about his wife, his kids, his parents, his siblings and his friends.”
Kelly visited Columbia on Friday, his second visit to South Carolina this year, which will add to the speculation he is preparing a run for president in 2028. However, he said he is focusing on the 2026 elections instead. His town hall organized by the South Carolina Democratic Party on military families and veterans issues was planned before Wednesday’s assassination of Kirk, a conservative activist.
“He has also been a voice for protecting our democracy and rejecting violence as a tool of politics,” said S.C. Democratic Party Chairwoman Christale Spain.
Security at Kelly’s appearance was visible two days after Kirk’s assassination. Two uniformed police officers stood inside of 701 Whaley, while one was stationed outside of the town hall. The party would not comment on security measures.
“I’m on a different island politically from Charlie Kirk,” Kelly said. “There’s not much that he stands for that I agree with, but there is one thing that unites us, and I think probably unites everybody in this room, because you are all veterans or a family member of a veteran, and that was his right to be there on that campus, speaking to people about issues.”
He called the political violence un-American and cautioned the immediate divide that appeared after the assassination will be used by actors such as China, Iran, North Korea and Russia against the U.S.
“I‘ll tell you one thing our adversaries are going to use this kind of stuff to try to further divide us, and even people here at home in the United States, people in political office will often look at this as a chance to divide us,” Kelly said.
Kelly echoed calls to tone down the rhetoric.
“What matters is that we use this kind of this opportunity right now to try to get us on a better trajectory as a country, because I think the one we’re on is not sustainable,” Kelly said.
“We have differences in policy and differences in opinions on how we should accomplish things, and that’s okay,” Kelly said. “We have disagreements. We should be able to debate these disagreements, but it is never acceptable that somebody resorts to violence, especially this kind of violence.”
But in the hours after Kirk’s death blame was being hoisted on the left by conservative voices, including President Donald Trump. It was that type of statement that keeps Kelly from having any faith the president can tone down the rhetoric.
“I do occasionally have a little hope that maybe he’ll change his tune on this,” Kelly told reporters after the town hall. “Hey, we know who he is. We’ve seen four years of his presidency, and now another eight months. He’s got the exact opposite instinct of every other president who’s ever served this nation, and that is to use every opportunity to try to divide us. Every other president before him would use this opportunity to try to bring the country together, to try to unite us.”
But Kelly has some hope.
“Having said that there are a lot more people in this country than just him,” Kelly said. “We’ve got 100 senators. We’ve got 435 House members, 50 governors. We’ve got the press. We’ve got folks in other leadership positions, CEOs of companies, the rest of us can work on trying to unite the country,” Kelly said. “I’ve seen that from other colleagues on both sides of the aisle, so maybe we don’t need him.”
