He also declared Kirk's birthday (yesterday, October 14th) a National Day of Remembrance of Kirk.
President Donald Trump honored the late conservative leader Charlie Kirk with the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Tuesday, calling him a "martyr for truth and for freedom" during a moving Rose Garden ceremony held on what would have been Kirk's 32nd birthday.
Standing beside Kirk's widow, Erika, Trump said the Turning Point USA founder's courage and conviction placed him among the greats of history. "From Socrates to Saint Peter, from Abraham Lincoln to Martin Luther King, those who change history the most--and he really did--have always risked their lives for causes they were put on Earth to defend," Trump said. He added that Kirk was "looking down on us right now," calling his assassination "a reminder of how far the radical left will go when their ideas fail." The president condemned the political violence gripping the country, pointing to the murder of Kirk on September 10 during a campus speaking event in Utah. "We've watched legions of far-left radicals resort to desperate acts of violence and terror because they know that their ideas are persuading no one. They have the devil's ideology, and they're failing," Trump said.
The president recounted how he "raced back halfway around the globe" from the Middle East--where he had just finalized the Israel-Hamas peace deal--to attend the ceremony. "I didn't have the courage to call Erika and say, 'Can you move it to Friday?'" he said. "But I heard it was Charlie's birthday, and I said, 'We're going to have to forget about some of those very big, very rich countries that expected me to be there.'"
Now we know why Trump immediately hopped on Air Force One to race back to the States.
Trump spoke warmly of meeting Kirk as a young man, recalling, "When I first met him, he was 22, and I thought he was older. He was special." He continued, "Instead of turning 32, Charlie is attaining a far more important milestone--we're entering his name forever into the eternal roster of true American heroes."
...
Erika Kirk, standing beside a portrait of her late husband, thanked the president and spoke through tears about Charlie's humility and purpose. "I have spent seven and a half years trying to find the perfect birthday gift for Charlie," she said. "He wasn't a materialistic man, so that made it difficult. But now I can say with confidence, Mr. President, that you've given him the best birthday gift he could ever have."
It is important to remember and celebrate Charlie Kirk, not just to honor the man and his message, but to send a warning to future left-wing assassins: Your bullets will not stop your enemies. It will immortalize them.
That's the only way to push back against the left's constant justification and valorization of political assassins. If the left is allowed to continue normalizing violence, assassinations of rightist figures will increase. Unless we make it clear that the assassinations will result in blowback to the left.
The left is further encouraging assassins by insisting that Charlie Kirk be forgotten and that the right stop talking about him. The left is, essentially, demanding that its leftwing assassin be delivered a Double Victory -- not only is Kirk dead, but so too is his legacy.
That's what they want. And every lefty griping that "we're still talking about Charlie Kirk" is in fact creating the circumstances for the next murder by telling their fellow extremist left-wingers that they can have the Perfect Victory of 1, eliminating an important and persuasive voice on the right, plus 2, insulating the left from any blowback or political damage from the assassination.
And the only way to push back against the left's incitement and justification of murder is to make it clear their murders will result in the further destruction of the left.
Sorry, Gabe: We're not going to let you and your left-wing assassin allies score your Perfect Victory.
MXM hints at that:
How are you all? It's a beautiful day in America, as Craig Ferguson used to say.