Trump says he told Charlie Kirk ‘you have a good chance at being president’

President Trump once told conservative activist Charlie Kirk he had “a good chance of being president” because of the Turning Point US co-founder’s skill at capturing the attention and imagination of young voters.

“I actually said, ‘Charlie, someday I think you have a good chance at being president, I think you will be president maybe,’ and I think he would’ve had a great chance. He was very compelling,” Trump told Fox News host Martha MacCallum in an interview that aired Thursday.

“I’ve never seen anybody capture a group of people like he captured youth. He captured youth, it was incredible,” the president said of the slain conservative icon.

“You know when I say he was a young guy, but I’m talking about the 20-year-olds and the 18-year-olds, it was like he had a following that was incredible.”

Kirk, a strong supporter of the president, was shot and killed while speaking at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10.

Lefty gay-rights trade-school student Tyler Robinson, 22, is charged with his murder, and Utah prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty.

The president had called Kirk a “great American” during a press conference in the UK on Thursday.

He also mentioned the conversation he had with Kirk about his potential to reach the White House.

“Some people said he might be president someday. I told him, I said, ‘Charlie, I think you have a good shot someday at being president,’” Trump said, adding, “I’ve never seen anyone relate to youth like Charlie, and they related to him, and they’re devastated.”

A funeral service for Kirk will be held at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., where he lived with his family, on Sunday. It is expected to be an American-theme remembrance and starts at 11 a.m. local time.

Trump and Vice President JD Vance are expected to be in attendance.