As conservatives commemorated the life of Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk over the weekend, a number of members of Congress took the opportunity to reflect on Kirk’s enduring impact as an activist and Christian evangelist.
“I went to many of Charlie Kirk’s rallies, my wife spoke at his rallies, I spoke on campus with him,” Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said in an interview Sunday on NBC. “He was an incredible young man, I think—articulate, thoughtful. And if you really see the people who came up to him who had a different viewpoint, he would hear them out… He’ll be remembered for that and also be remembered [as] a guy that was trying to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., personally attended Kirk’s memorial service in Phoenix, Arizona, and remembered him with an X post which cited Psalm 37:5-6: “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn.”
Kirk, a towering figure within the conservative movement, has however, been criticized even after his death by his detractors.
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who joined 57 other Democrats in voting against a resolution to honor Kirk, said on CNN that she finds it jarring “that there are so many people willing to excuse the most reprehensible things that he said.”
Omar added that his legacy “should be in the dustpan of history and we should hopefully move on and forget the hate that he spewed every single day.”
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, responded to Omar on X, writing that “The Cross – and those who carry it – are never left in the dust bin of history. Those who hate America, on the other hand, have a history of ending up there.”
Although Kirk was known primarily as a political figure, many in Congress have paid homage to his involvement in religious life.
“He was evangelizing not only the Christian faith, but a belief in America to young people, and there was obviously fertile ground there,” Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., said Sunday.
Harris, who is Catholic, likened Kirk to Pope John Paul II in his ability to reach the young.
“There was a need for what faith brings and there’s a need in young people and I think they have a yearning for it, and they found it in Charlie Kirk,” said Harris.
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- Members of Congress Remember Charlie Kirk in Capitol Prayer Vigil
- House Moment of Silence Honors Slain ‘Dear Friend Charlie Kirk’
- Mike Lee Offers ‘Tribute to the Amazing Legacy of Charlie Kirk’ With Senate Resolution