Charlie Kirk Posthumously Honored with Presidential Medal of Freedom

[00:00] President Donald Trump honored Charlie

[00:03] Kirk at the White House yesterday,

[00:05] awarding the nation's highest civilian

[00:07] honor to the conservative activist and

[00:09] outspoken Christian who was assassinated

[00:11] about a month ago. The president called

[00:13] Kirk's political and religious influence

[00:15] on young people unmatched. Supporters

[00:18] say the movement he built is only

[00:20] growing stronger. CVN's Brody Carter

[00:22] reports.

[00:24] Today, we're here to honor and remember

[00:26] a fearless warrior for liberty, beloved

[00:29] leader who galvanized

[00:31] the next generation like nobody I've

[00:33] ever seen before, and an American

[00:36] patriot of the deepest conviction, the

[00:39] finest quality and the highest caliber,

[00:42] the late great Charlie Kirk. President

[00:45] Trumpostumously awarded Charlie Kirk the

[00:48] Presidential Medal of Freedom. On what

[00:50] would have been his 32nd birthday,

[00:52] members of Congress passed a resolution

[00:54] declaring it a national day of

[00:55] remembrance to honor the conservative

[00:58] activist and outspoken Christian.

[01:00] >> Charlie always said the next generation

[01:02] will decide whether freedom endures.

[01:05] And because of you, I know that freedom

[01:07] will endure.

[01:09] >> Kirk, the co-founder of Turning Point

[01:11] USA and its faith-based arm, Turning

[01:13] Point USA Faith, was fatally shot during

[01:15] a Q&A session at Utah Valley University.

[01:18] His work debating and educating young

[01:21] people built a strong movement credited

[01:23] for helping get President Trump elected.

[01:25] It was something that Donald Trump just

[01:27] loved about Charlie Kirk. He loves

[01:29] people with talent and Charlie Kirk

[01:32] oozed talent and that was an attraction

[01:34] of President Trump and then they became,

[01:37] if you will, much closer kind of like a

[01:39] father-son bond uh because not just of

[01:41] the talent but because they spent a lot

[01:43] of time together. That bond helped

[01:45] cement Kirk's role as one of the most

[01:47] influential voices in the conservative

[01:49] youth movement. His death has sparked

[01:51] what's being called the Charlie Kirk

[01:53] effect. A surge of young adults

[01:55] testifying that Charlie's courage in

[01:58] standing up for his faith has them going

[02:00] back to church for the first time in

[02:02] years. People that didn't even know

[02:04] Charlie Kirk were moved by this. And you

[02:08] wonder why that was exactly. Well, look,

[02:10] I think we're in a spiritual battle and

[02:12] I think people are searching for the

[02:14] truth and I think Charlie Kirk was

[02:16] speaking about things of God. There are

[02:18] signs this effect is tangible as pastors

[02:21] in several states reported attendance

[02:23] spiking by as much as 30% the weekend

[02:26] after his assassination. The signs of

[02:28] spiritual revival may be most visible

[02:30] among young women with Erica Kirk now

[02:33] emerging as a key figure. But there's a

[02:35] lot of young females trying to find

[02:37] their identity, trying to find their

[02:38] self in a culture gone haywire. And all

[02:41] of a sudden, God has put Erica Kirk in

[02:43] this situation, dare I say, for such a

[02:46] time as this. So, we have the young male

[02:48] demographic covered with Charlie. The

[02:50] young female demographic seems to be

[02:52] starting to be covered by Erica Kirk as

[02:54] they move forward. It's the way God

[02:56] operates. Turning Point USA says it's

[02:58] seeing an unprecedented wave of

[03:00] engagement, reporting more than 37,000

[03:02] new requests to start high school and

[03:05] college chapters with tens of thousands

[03:07] of more students signing up nationwide.

[03:09] >> And to the Turning Point USA chapters

[03:11] that are watching

[03:13] all across America right now,

[03:17] you are the heartbeat

[03:20] of this future and of this movement.

[03:25] Brody Carter, CBN News.

[03:30] >> His life is why the president honored

[03:32] him with the nation's highest civilian

[03:34] honor. Gordon,

[03:35] >> it's welld deserved. The book of

[03:37] Proverbs says that the memory of the

[03:40] righteous is a blessing. And so here

[03:43] Charlie Kirk, his memory uh may it be

[03:46] remembered for years, decades in the

[03:48] future as a rallying cry for an entire

[03:51] generation that yes indeed righteousness

[03:55] exalts a nation.