President Donald Trump on Sunday hailed assassinated conservative leader Charlie Kirk as a martyr for American freedom and a giant of his generation, promising his legacy will endure through history and pledging to award him the nation’s highest civilian honor.
“Charles James Kirk was murdered by a radicalized, cold-blooded monster for speaking the truth that was in his heart,” Trump said at Kirk’s memorial service in Arizona. “Our greatest evangelist for American liberty became immortal. He’s a martyr now for American freedom.”
Trump said Kirk, who was killed Sept. 10 at age 31, embodied faith, courage, and patriotism.
“Charlie Kirk loved America with everything he had, and as we can see so clearly today, America loved Charlie Kirk,” he told the tens of thousands who packed the stadium and an arena nearby.
The late Turning Point USA co-founder, Trump said, will forever be remembered as a man who lived boldly and argued brilliantly.
“None of us will ever forget Charlie Kirk, and neither now will history,” Trump declared.
Addressing Kirk’s widow, Erika, Trump offered comfort on behalf of the nation.
“Today, an entire nation wraps its loving arms around you and your beautiful children,” he said. “We vow that we will do everything we can to ensure that your children grow up in a land where their father is honored and revered as a great American hero.”
Trump also spoke to Kirk’s parents and family, acknowledging a grief that words cannot fill. “Your son brought more good and love into this world in his 31 short years than most people can bring in a lifetime,” he said.
Trump traced Kirk’s life from his Chicago youth, his decision in fifth grade to become a Christian, and his early admiration for Rush Limbaugh.
In 2012, just out of high school with $1,800 to his name, Kirk founded Turning Point USA.
“He set up a card table with three words: Big Government Sucks,” Trump recalled.
Living out of basements and couches, Kirk worked 18-hour days without pay, focused only on the mission, he added.
“He was always in it for the mission, as he liked to say, ‘We have a country to save,'” Trump said.
Over time, Kirk built a national movement, organizing conservatives on 2,200 campuses, speaking at more than 1,000 churches, and reaching millions daily through his radio show and podcast.
Kirk, Trump said, was instrumental in energizing youth support for his campaigns.
“By 2024, we won more young people than any Republican candidate in the history of our country … and he was a big, big factor,” the president said.
He remembered Kirk’s persistence in persuading him to attend events, sometimes on a day’s notice. “He was one of the few who always gave more than he took. He was a giver, much more than a taker,” Trump said.
Despite years of threats, protests, and violence from radical activists, Kirk insisted on open dialogue. Hours before his death, he texted a staff member: “I’m not here to fight them. I want to know them and love them.”
“He knew the risks, but he and I shared a certain motto: Never back down and never, ever surrender,” the president said.
Trump announced he will posthumously award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House. “Charlie Kirk started with only an idea to change minds on college campuses, and instead he ended up with a far greater achievement: changing history,” he said.
Around the world, Trump noted, Kirk’s death sparked vigils from Canada to South Korea and across Europe.
“The lesson of Charlie’s life is that you should never underestimate what one person can do with a good heart, a righteous cause, a cheerful spirit, and the will to fight, fight, fight,” the president said.
Closing his remarks, Trump declared: “Charlie Kirk rests in glory in heaven for all eternity. We grieve for the friend and leader that we have lost, but we go forward, strengthened by his faith and inspired by his example to defend the country he lived for, for the freedoms he died for, and the values in which he so deeply believed.”
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