President Donald Trump posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to conservative youth leader Charlie Kirk in a ceremony at the White House on Tuesday.
The event, which was held outside in the Rose Garden after a rainy morning unexpectedly yielded to clear skies, coincided with what would have been Kirk’s 32nd birthday and brought together key figures from Trump’s political movement.
The ceremony took place less than 24 hours after Trump returned to Washington from Israel and Egypt having negotiated the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners as part of a ceasefire deal in Gaza, while he is also facing the impact of a federal government shutdown over a budget dispute between Republicans and Democrats.
Kirk was fatally shot while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, at the start of what was intended to be a tour of college campuses to debate students on political topics. “It was a horrible heinous demonic act of murder,” Trump said after walking out into the Rose Garden holding the hand of Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk’s widow. “He was assassinated in the prime of his life for boldly speaking the truth, for living his faith and restlessly fighting for a better and stronger America.”
“Today we are here to honor and remember a fearless warrior for liberty, beloved leader who galvanized the next generation like nobody I’ve ever seen before,” Trump added.
A provocative figure with a massive following, Kirk courted controversy by needling liberal ideas. He helped spread false rumors that Haitian migrants in Ohio were eating people’s pets, called the Civil Rights Act a “huge mistake,” and said gun deaths were a reasonable price to pay for maintaining Second Amendment rights. Turning Point USA, the powerhouse organization he founded, has chapters on college campuses across the country.
“He’s gonna make heaven,” Trump said of Kirk. “I said I’m not sure I’m gonna make it. But he’s gonna make it.”
Kirk’s death came at a time of rising political violence in the U.S. Trump supporters violently rammed through lines of police officers to stop the certification of a presidential election results on Jan. 6, 2021, an assailant attacked Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul with a hammer, a suspected arsonist set fire to the Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s mansion while the governor and his family were asleep, Minnesota House Democratic leader Melissa Hortman was killed in her home, and Trump faced two assassination attempts on the campaign trail last year.
Read more: The Killing of Charlie Kirk and the Political Violence Haunting America
Trump and his allies have cited Kirk’s killing as a reason to push for a crackdown on left-leaning groups they say promote political violence. When Vice President JD Vance hosted a special episode of Kirk’s podcast last month, he called for a sweeping government effort to investigate and dismantle left-wing organizations in the country that he says encourage violence. On Sept. 22, Trump designated “Antifa” as a domestic terrorist organization even though the term antifa does not refer to a specific group and is used broadly by anti-fascist protestors that do not have an organized structure.
In the Rose Garden ceremony, Trump continued to paint his political opponents on the left as evil. “They have the devil’s ideology. They are failing and they know it. They feel it and they become violent. They seem to become very violent on the left.” Trump repeated his vow to send more troops to American cities as he has previously done in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles. “We’re done with the angry mobs. We’re not going to let our cities be unsafe.”
Speaking at Kirk’s memorial service last month inside the packed State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, Trump said history would never forget Kirk and “his name will live forever in the eternal chronicle of America’s greatest patriots.”
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is often given to individuals to recognize “a lifetime of significant achievements in the arts, public service, science, or other fields,” according to a description of the award by the Congressional Research Service. Previous recipients of the medal include Babe Ruth, Elvis Presley, Tiger Woods, Rush Limbaugh, Pope Francis, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Anna Wintour, Michelle Yeoh, and Denzel Washington.
Read more: Kash Patel Faces Questions Over His Leadership of Charlie Kirk Investigation
