The presidential historian contrasts instant social media clips with the film Zapruder by JFK which has remained invisible for more than a decade

When President John F. Kennedy was murdered in 1963, it took more than a decade before the Americans saw the famous Zapruder film.

Today, the murder of the brands of conservative fire Charlie Kirk can be replayed in dozens of high definition clips on social networks, reshaping how the nation confronts political violence in real time.

“You will never have any assassination that we no longer have any sequences,” the presidential historian and former secretary for health and social services under the Bush administration told Fox News.

“I have an image in my head of what Lincoln’s assassination might look like, but each assassination from the Kennedy era, or even assassination attempts, there will generally be images on this subject, and that’s just a very difficult thing,” he said.

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The assassination images of political figures changed the perception of the public at the time and now. (Trent Nelson / The Salt Lake Tribune)

Zapruder’s images of Kennedy’s assassination remained largely invisible by the public until 1975, when he broadcast on national television more than a decade after his death. Her grainy frames shocked viewers. The Americans, at the time, were “much more dependent on what the cultural guards would put on television,” said Troy, and if a program was missed, there was often no second chance to see him.

Troy added: “The guards controlled what you saw.”

In the minutes that followed Kirk in the neck on his “American Comeback Tour” at the University of Utah Valley on Wednesday, graphic video clips captured by passers-by using flooded phones of social platforms like X, Facebook, Tiktok, Instagram and Youtube.

The traditional outlets prevented the moment of impact, but social media users shared several angles, including real -time reruns and slower segments – many content warnings or publishing.

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The Arizonans mourn the founder of Turning Point USA, Charlie Kirk, outside the USA turning point seat on September 12, 2025 in Phoenix, Arizona. President Donald Trump announced on Friday that the suspect had been placed in police custody on the murder of right -wing activist Charlie Kirk after a huge manhunt. (Charly Triballeau / AFP via Getty Images)

“Desensitization is the right word … It’s not good for you,” said Troy when asked what impact of these high -speed graphic images could make the public.

“It’s not good for your soul. It is not a question of not being available-it’s available. Then you have to make an effort not to see it,” he said.

Troy noted that following the murder of Kirk, some voices on the left seemed to rationalize or minimize violence, while others rushed to supervise the suspect’s history in a manner that has minimized political benefits for their side. He called the “Macabre exercise” reaction.

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The founder of Turning Point USA, Charlie Kirk, is seen during an event during which he was killed by bullet. (Trent Nelson / The Salt Lake Tribune via Reuters)

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“There is a horrible tragedy where this person who wants to have political conversations has been murdered with three young children,” said Troy. “But that’s where we are today. If there is political violence, they want to make sure that it is framed in such a way that it does not drop their team.”

The founder and commentator of Turning Point, Kirk, 31, was killed Wednesday by the alleged shooter Tyler Robinson while he answered a question at the University of Utah Valley. He leaves behind his wife and two children, aged one and three.