A day after the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) expressed pessimism about the possibility of healing America's political divisions, even as he acknowledged lawmakers' responsibility to try.

       "It is our responsibility, but when we start talking too much peace, then you'll see that person get voted out," Burchett told ABC News Live on Thursday. "You never see the left talk about compromise until they're in the minority. And the same with the conservatives. I just don't see it changing. "

       He added, "I know that sounds pitiful, and you want somebody to come up here and give you some good words to change. But I just don't see it happening until this country has a complete turnaround, and I don't see that happening in the near future."

       Burchett, who described Kirk as a close friend, recalled their last conversation following the passage of President Trump's comprehensive tax and immigration legislation.

       "The last time I talked to him was on the night we passed the 'Big, Beautiful Bill,'" Burchett said. "He called me and said, 'Hey, Tim.' And I talked about my strategy and he laughed ... and we said we're going to get together. And then, of course, that won't happen now, I guess."

       The congressman painted a stark picture of the current political landscape, describing America as "in a tailspin," pointing to deep division in Congress.

       "We have become so divided and it's click bait, it's selling memberships is really all we're doing," Burchett said. "It's the ... lowest common denominator."

       When asked about ways to heal the political divide, Burchett, a Baptist, turned to faith rather than legislation.

       "In the Baptist church, we talk about this all the time, that we need to ask Jesus just for some help, because that's what it's going to take," he said. "I don't think it's gonna be anything legislatively, or anybody is going to make a speech up here, or tell everybody to tone it down. And that's the only time it's ever going to change, in my position."

       Despite his own cross-aisle friendships, including with Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), whom he described as his ideological polar opposite, Burchett remained pessimistic about broader change.

       "We're a broken America, and we're just sending folks up here that are representative of that America right now," he said.

       The interview came as federal investigators intensified their search for Kirk's killer. The FBI had recovered what they believed to be the murder weapon -- a "high-powered bolt action rifle" -- in a wooded area near the university, according to Salt Lake City FBI Special Agent Robert Bohls.

       The agency released images of a person of interest on Thursday, showing an individual wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses in a stairwell, and offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

       President Donald Trump released a video Wednesday night condemning the shooting. In the message, he singled out "radical left political violence" and did not acknowledge recent threats, violent attacks and killings of Democrats.