Charlie Kirk Posthumously Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom

President Donald Trump posthumously awarded Turning Point USA (TPUSA) founder Charlie Kirk the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, on Tuesday at the White House.

Kirk’s assassination shocked the nation just over a month ago, after he was killed while debating students and others at Utah Valley University. Trump held the ceremony Tuesday in the White House Rose Garden, with members of TPUSA, as well as friends and Kirk’s widow Erika Kirk attending.

“Today, we’re here to honor and remember a fearless warrior for liberty, a beloved leader who galvanized the next generation like nobody ever seen before, and an American patriot of the deepest conviction, the finest quality and the highest caliber, the late, great Charlie Kirk,” Trump said. “Five weeks ago, our nation was robbed of this extraordinary champion.”

Just a day after Kirk’s assassination, Trump announced he would award his friend the Medal of Freedom.

The award, given on Kirk’s birthday, was accepted by Erika Kirk, who delivered an emotional speech reflecting on her husband’s legacy.

“But now I can say with confidence, Mr. President, that you have given him the best birthday gift he could ever have,” Erika Kirk said. “It’s such an honor and the recognition of a life lived for defending freedom, and that’s what Charlie fought for until his last breath. It was written across his chest in those final moments on one of his simple T-shirts that always carried a message, and this one bearing a single word, freedom.”