California Gov. Gavin Newsom made his first public remarks on camera Tuesday about Charlie Kirk since the conservative activist was assassinated.

The Democratic governor was at Florin High School in south Sacramento, talking about a mentorship program for men and boys and highlighting it as a way to combat what he called "an epidemic of loneliness."

Newsom connected that crisis to the fatal shooting of Kirk.

"You can never unsee what you saw," Newsom said. "I asked all these young men just a moment ago upstairs, I said, 'How many of you have heard of Charlie Kirk?' Every single one of them. [Then I asked,] 'How are you processing that?' They said, 'it's been difficult,' but it's universal condemnation."

On Monday, former Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger spoke about the country's political divide and what he described as inflammatory political rhetoric surrounding Proposition 50 that Newsom has recently used.

"'How you not see the other side as the enemy,' or to 'fight fire with fire' like they are saying today," Schwarzenneger said.

Newsom was asked if his rhetoric would change in response to the Kirk assassination.

"I don't know," Newsom said. "Because I'm the same guy that walked on the tarmac with Donald Trump. I'm the same guy that will pick up his phone call, the same guy that sat down, not just with Charlie Kirk, with Steve Bannon."

Newsom interviewed Kirk in March on his podcast and referenced his own 13-year-old son wanting to meet Kirk. The governor said his son called him from school the day Kirk was shot. 

"He wanted to know 'is he alive, is he alive,' and so it was very impactful," Newsom said.

The governor also criticized fellow Democrats for not reaching out to young male voters the way Kirk did. He said many did not want him to host Kirk on that podcast.

"The response from my party was rather mixed or muted, and I thought that was a mistake and I still do," Newsom said.

On Tuesday, Newsom said his staff had stayed in contact with Kirk's staff up until recent weeks, but he did not go into details about whether they had more events planned.