Young voters who supported President Donald Trump in last year\u2019s election were shaken by conservative activist Charlie Kirk\u2019s assassination, detailing in new focus group conversations how his death affected their own senses of safety \u2014 and, in some cases, their personal relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI felt like I kind of knew him,\u201d said Shana S., a 27-year-old Republican from Nevada. \u201cI followed him pretty much from the start, have, at least to my knowledge, have watched pretty much every video he\u2019s put out, listened to most of his podcasts. \u2026 Nobody deserves that to happen to them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All but one of the 14 swing-state Trump voters, ages 18 to 29, said they had heard of Kirk before he was killed. The focus groups were observed by NBC News as part of the 2025 \u201cDeciders\u201d series produced by Syracuse University<\/a> and the research firms Engagious<\/a>\u2002<\/a>and\u2002Sago<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Five of these voters said they were deeply and profoundly impacted by his assassination last month. (Unlike a poll, which uses statistical methods to demonstrate how a larger population feels, focus groups dig deeper into how individuals exemplifying certain characteristics view key questions facing the country.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhile none of these young voters was involved with Turning Point USA before Charlie Kirk\u2019s murder, and none said they\u2019d gotten involved since, Kirk was such a ubiquitous presence in their social and media ecosystems that for many his assassination felt personal,\u201d said Margaret Talev, director of Syracuse University\u2019s Institute for Democracy, Journalism & Citizenship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tim P., a 29-year-old Republican from Arizona, described Kirk as an \u201cup-and-coming voice in the Republican Party\u201d and a potential future presidential candidate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt did impact me in a way where I felt like it affected the future. A \u2018what if\u2019 for sure,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Richard B., a 22-year-old Republican from Pennsylvania, said he had supported Kirk and listened to some of his podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWith Charlie Kirk, it felt like it was someone that was actually talking about what he believed in going out of his way to talk to people and then being assassinated for that,\u201d Richard said. \u201cSeems like anyone could be just hurt over just talking about what they believe in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Richard and Shana were also among the young Trump voters who were surprised at how some of their friends reacted to Kirk\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCouple people that were friends in university that I actively saw rejoicing about his death, and I pretty much didn\u2019t stand for it and I kind of called him out on that,\u201d Richard said. \u201cAnd as of right now, we\u2019re not really friends.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shana said a friend she had known since kindergarten \u201cwas posting celebrations on Facebook.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to associate with somebody who\u2019s happy that somebody got murdered when you have kids the exact same age that are Charlie\u2019s kids. \u2026 I unfriended him and blocked him,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Aanu D., a 23-year-old self-identified independent from Georgia, said, \u201cI do have some friends that are Democrats, and so I had an idea that maybe they might have knew of him, but I just wasn\u2019t expecting the amount of hate that they had for him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor some of these young adults, they were shocked to find friends\u2019 hostile or caustic comments about Kirk\u2019s assassination unexpectedly rupturing what had been perfectly fine relationships,\u201d said Rich Thau, president of Engagious<\/a>, who moderated the sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Political violence and personal safety<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n But some of the panelists were not as deeply affected by Kirk\u2019s killing, with one voter saying he is becoming \u201cnumb\u201d to the frequent violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s sad, but I am almost starting to feel numb to all of these large assassinations and killings. And I almost feel numb to the point where this didn\u2019t surprise me,\u201d said Nicholas S., a 24-year-old Republican from Wisconsin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Others said that Kirk\u2019s assassination, which took place at an event on a college campus, rattled their own senses of safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s a little scary. It kind of instills fear,\u201d said Ruben T., a 20-year-old Georgia Republican. \u201cYou see someone who\u2019s just peacefully speaking out, assassinated in broad daylight. And as someone who lives in a state where open carry or concealed carry is allowed on university campuses, it\u2019s a little scary.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nearly all of the voters said they were concerned about increasing levels of political violence. Several said they were afraid to attend an in-person political event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ruben recalled feeling safer at an indoor Trump campaign event in Georgia because of the sizable security that surrounds presidential candidates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But, he said, \u201cIf it was a senator or congressman, I don\u2019t think I\u2019d feel as safe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The focus group participants were split on the question of which party was more to blame for political violence and inflammatory rhetoric. Some said they viewed people who committed violence as not aligned with either party, while some said they saw political violence and inflammatory rhetoric driven by the left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Half of the young Trump voters said they hear inflammatory rhetoric from both Democrats and Republicans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Weighing Kimmel and free speech<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The young voters were also asked to weigh in on broad freedom of speech issues in America, as well as the specifics of ABC\u2019s decision to briefly suspend talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, amid public pressure from the Trump administration, for his comments after Kirk\u2019s killing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n