Donald Trump Honors Charlie Kirk at Memorial Service Following Tragic Assassination in Utah

[00:00] [Applause]

[00:28] [Music]

[00:34] My soul with my soul

[00:40] is

[00:48] my soul. Please welcome to the stage the 45th and

[00:54] 47th president of the United States, Donald J. Trump.

[01:03] [Applause] [Music]

[01:12] If tomorrow all the things were gone, I'd work for all my life

[01:18] and I had to start again. Just my children and my wife.

[01:26] Thank my lucky stars to be living here today.

[01:32] But the flag still stands for freedom. And they can't take that away.

[01:43] And I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free. And I won't

[01:51] forget the men who died, who gave that right to me. And I gladly stand up next

[01:59] to you and defend her still today. Cuz there ain't no doubt I love this

[02:07] land. God bless the USA.

[02:19] for America. Fort Charlie Kirk. [Music]

[02:25] From the lakes of Minnesota to the hills of Tennessee,

[02:31] [Music] across the plains of Texas, from sea to

[02:36] shining sea shining, from Detroit to Houston,

[02:42] wo in New York to LA, there's pride in every American heart.

[02:49] And it's time we stand and say

[02:55] [Music] that I'm proud to be an American where

[03:00] at least I know I'm free and I won't forget the men who died who

[03:07] gave that right to me. And I gladly stand up next to you and defend her

[03:15] still today. Cuz there ain't no doubt I love this

[03:21] land. Sing it. God bless the USA.

[03:26] [Applause]

[03:32] And I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free.

[03:40] And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me. And I gladly

[03:47] stand up next to you and defend her still today.

[03:55] Cuz there ain't no doubt I love this land.

[04:00] God bless the way.

[04:11] Hey. [Applause]

[04:33] Well, I want to thank you very much, Lee. You've been there from the beginning with us, Lee, and we

[04:39] appreciate it. Nobody can sing that song like Lee Greenwood. Thank you very much, Lee, very much for being here.

[04:49] And his voice has not changed, you know, pretty amazing.

[04:54] And a special thank you to Erica cuz today

[05:00] America is a nation in grief, a nation in shock, and a nation in mourning.

[05:07] Less than two weeks ago, our country was robbed of one of the brightest lights of

[05:13] our times. A giant of his generation, and above all, a devoted husband,

[05:18] father, son, Christian, and patriot.

[05:23] Charles James Kirk was heinously murdered by a radicalized,

[05:30] cold-blooded monster for speaking the truth that was in his heart.

[05:36] He was violently killed because he spoke for freedom and justice, for God,

[05:42] country, for reason and for common sense.

[05:47] He was assassinated because he lived bravely. He led boldly and he argued brilliantly

[05:55] without apology. He did what was right for our nation.

[06:02] And so on that terrible day, September 10th, 2025, our greatest

[06:08] evangelist for American liberty became immortal.

[06:13] He's a model now for American freedom.

[06:18] I know I speak for everyone here today when I say that none of us will ever forget Charlie Kirk,

[06:26] and neither now will history.

[06:38] Because while Charlie has been reunited with his creator in heaven, his voice on

[06:44] earth will echo through the generations and his name will live forever in the

[06:51] eternal chronicle of America's greatest patriots. He will live forever.

[06:58] To Charlie's incredible and beautiful widow, Erica,

[07:04] we know the weight of this monumental loss is almost unbearable. But even in the midst of heartache and

[07:11] pain too great to even fathom, you have somehow found the strength and

[07:17] deep faith to be a comfort to millions and millions of people.

[07:23] And thank you very much, Erica. Thank you very much.

[07:35] Today, an entire nation wraps its loving arms around you and your beautiful children. We share in your immense and

[07:43] overwhelming sorrow. And we vow that we will do everything we can to ensure that

[07:48] your children grow up in a land where their father is honored and revered as a

[07:54] great American hero. That's what he is.

[08:02] To Charlie's parents who lost their beloved son. And to the entire Kirk

[08:08] family, we know that no words can ever be enough to fill the void he leaves behind. That's a void that just can't be

[08:15] filled. But I hope the extraordinary outpouring of emotion over these past 11

[08:22] days has comforted you with the knowledge that your son brought more good and love into this world in his 31

[08:28] short years than most people, even very very successful people

[08:34] can bring in a lifetime.

[08:42] Charlie Kirk loved America with everything he had. And as we can see so clearly today, America loved Charlie

[08:50] Kirk.

[09:00] And he could always draw a big crowd. Look at this today. Look at what's gone

[09:06] on. This is a big crowd. Here

[09:14] today we have the Vice President of the United States, JD D. Vance. We have the

[09:20] Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Mike Johnson. We have countless members of the United States

[09:27] Senate, and I'm sorry, I'm not going to introduce you, but I'll be up here. They're all over the place.

[09:33] And likewise, the House of Representatives. They're all over this big

[09:38] stadium. This is not an arena. This is a stadium, our great cabinet, and this stadium

[09:45] packed with rafters of people. Not to mention the

[09:51] one across the street that also has tens of thousands of people and they're watching

[09:58] us on screen right now.

[10:05] And I'm sorry we couldn't get you in. If anybody would like to give up your seat, please walk across the street.

[10:14] But this is like an oldtime revival, isn't it? An oldtime revival.

[10:24] For millions of Americans, especially young people, it is agonizing and

[10:29] unthinkable to say goodbye to a patriot whose heart still had so much to give.

[10:35] It's so much. Raised in the suburbs of Chicago, Charlie was filled with a patriotic

[10:42] spirit from his youth. And he was an all-American in everything he did. And

[10:47] one of the last things he said to me is, "Please, sir, save Chicago.

[10:53] We're going to do that. We're going to save Chicago from horrible crime.

[11:02] In high school, he was the quarterback of the football team and the captain of the basketball

[11:09] team. He was a good athlete. A lot of people don't know that about Charlie. He was an Eagle Scout who spent his school

[11:15] lunch breaks listening to another champion for Liberty. Somebody that he greatly admired, Rush

[11:23] Limbaugh.

[11:31] But what was even more important to Charlie than politics and service was the choice he made in the fifth grade,

[11:38] which he called the most important decision of his life to become a Christian and a follower of his savior

[11:46] Jesus Christ.

[11:55] Inspired by faith and his love of freedom, Charlie did something remarkable when he was just 18 years old

[12:03] on the advice of a mentor who told him to put off going to college because he was doing so well. He devoted his life

[12:11] to converting young people to the conservative cause. How did he do? Take

[12:16] a look. How did he do?

[12:23] In 2012, two days after graduating high school, and with just $1,800 in his

[12:29] pocket, the young man from Illinois, who no one had ever heard of, started an

[12:36] organization whose grand ambitions were captured in its name, Turning Point USA.

[12:43] Great name.

[12:49] And I have a feeling it's going to be bigger and better than ever before. Does that make sense? It's going to be bigger

[12:55] and better than ever before. Look at what's happening.

[13:03] 12 years ago, Charlie walked onto his first college campus, the very liberal

[13:09] University of Wisconsin at Madison. He set up a card table and put up a sign

[13:15] with three words. Big government sucks. Can you believe that? That's Charlie.

[13:21] That day, Charlie talked to every student who approached him, most of whom

[13:26] were probably quite a bit older than he was. Finally, after many hours, he found

[13:33] the first ever Turning Point chapter leader. His first year out of

[13:38] high school, Charlie traveled 300 days raising money and taking his message to

[13:43] campuses all over the country. He lived out of his parents' basement and they

[13:50] actually loved having him there. They loved they loved Charlie. Everybody loved Charlie. And on the couches of

[13:59] friends and supporters, he lived off couches for two years, three years. Then life

[14:06] started getting a little bit different, but he was always the same. For five years, he refused to take a paycheck.

[14:13] But day after day, he worked from 5:00 a.m. in the morning till 11 p.m. in the

[14:20] evening. Always his staff remembers that he wore Walmart jeans and t-shirts from the Goodwill

[14:28] store. Remember the Goodwill store? It wasn't easy, but Charlie wasn't in it

[14:35] for money at all. Never has been. Money was never his thing. He was always in it

[14:40] for the mission as he liked to say even back then. We have a country to save.

[14:48] We this is what he did. He would call me all the time, sir. We have a country to save. I said, Charlie, thanks very much

[14:55] for telling me that. I appreciate it. Charlie volunteered for my 2016 campaign

[15:02] and traveled the nation with my son Don and Eric.

[15:09] I got to know him very well and saw immediately that Charlie was actually a

[15:15] master builder, master builder of people. It was Charlie who first started

[15:20] organizing young black conservatives hungry for support and leadership.

[15:26] It was Charlie who stood up for persecuted Christians and Jews on college campuses. It was Charlie who

[15:33] helped bring online censorship, free speech, and cancel culture to the four

[15:39] of our political debate. He was right up there with me. It was Charlie who helped

[15:45] unite MAGA. And you know what MHA is? That's right.

[15:51] Make America healthy again. And tomorrow we're going to have one of the biggest

[15:58] announcement really medically I think in the history of our country. We're going to be doing it with Bobby and Oz and all

[16:08] of the professionals. I think you're going to find it to be amazing. I think we found an

[16:14] answer to autism. How about that? Autism. Tomorrow we're going to be

[16:20] talking in the Oval Office, in the White House

[16:25] about autism, how it happens so we won't let it happen

[16:31] anymore, and how to get at least somewhat

[16:37] better when you have it so that parents can help their child, their beautiful child. That's a big one. I've been I've

[16:45] been bugging Everybody over there get the answer to

[16:51] that. You know, uh 20 years ago, one in 10,000

[17:00] were born with autism. 20 years ago, the most recent survey

[17:06] says 1 in 12. How bad is that?

[17:12] That's for young boys, baby boys, but also uh girls a little bit better. It's

[17:20] about one in 20. But we can't is obviously there was something really wrong and we think we know what that is.

[17:28] It's going to be I think it's going to be one of the most important news conferences I'll ever have and I look so

[17:34] forward to it.

[17:42] And you know who else looked forward to it because he knew I tell him a little bit about what was going on was Charlie.

[17:48] He would have been front row center. Believe me, we'll be missing him tomorrow. It was such a big deal for

[17:53] him, too. He brought together Donald Trump, Bobby Kennedy right here

[18:01] in the great state of Arizona one year ago. Remember that? What a what a night.

[18:07] What a day that was. And it was Charlie who was among the

[18:13] first to speak to me about a man from Ohio by the name of JT Vince. Have you ever

[18:20] heard of him? He's doing a good job.

[18:28] But Charlie would often call me sometimes the night before a big event

[18:35] the other side of the country and he'd ask me and say, "Uh,

[18:40] do you think you could come and speak at the event the following day, right?" I'd say, "Charlie, I give me a I'm the

[18:47] president of the United States. You want me to travel four hours by

[18:52] plane?" And you know, sometimes I did it. He was a very good guy. He was a

[18:57] very convincing guy. He didn't stop. But he would ask for things like that. Sir, could you be tomorrow in California?

[19:05] They said, "Charlie, give me a break, please." He just wouldn't stop. And he succeeded.

[19:12] But I almost always went because you never wanted to let Charlie down. He he

[19:18] worked so hard. You just didn't want to let him down. I felt guilty. He'd make me feel very guilty.

[19:25] As president, many people asked me for things, but Charlie was one of the few who always gave more than he took. He

[19:32] was a giver, much more than a taker.

[19:41] And no matter how big Charlie became, no one was too small for him to notice. He

[19:46] was good to everybody. Didn't matter. Several years ago, a fourth grader asked

[19:52] Charlie to appear on his podcast, which was probably only watched by the parents

[19:57] of that fourth grader. And Charlie, who was actually pretty hot at the time to

[20:03] be honest, he agreed. And the boy asked for advice. Charlie replied, "The

[20:11] left. The left. I call it the radical left. I call it sometimes the radical left lunatics."

[20:18] But Charlie didn't say that. He called it the left. He was probably right, but I can't help

[20:25] it. I can't help.

[20:30] [Applause] So he said, "The left radical left lunatics may have all the money in the

[20:37] world, but they could never outwork me. I will wake up as early as I need to

[20:42] about himself. I will stay up as late as I need to. and I will never stop fighting for our country. And he did

[20:49] this until his dying breath. That's what he was doing.

[20:55] That's what he was doing. Think of it. Wow.

[21:00] What a horrible moment. I was in the Oval Office when I heard they came in and I it was like a surreal experience.

[21:07] a terrible terrible I had some very big people in the Oval Office

[21:12] and I was in the midst of a very important conversation for our country big people the biggest and I said you

[21:20] have to leave now when they told me that they told me in front of a group of very powerful people I said you have to leave

[21:28] now right now please right now you have to leave go

[21:35] by his own determination and skill Charlie Kirk built Turning Point from his humble

[21:41] beginnings, the beginnings that nobody believed could ever end up something like this into a great movement and a

[21:47] juggernaut of American politics. And you know, we have a massive stadium loaded up with people. But he got tremendous

[21:54] crowds before he had this kind of horrible news and before we had to hear what

[22:01] happened so terribly. He delivered more than 250 speeches a year at over 200

[22:07] colleges and universities. And that was

[22:12] at a time when it was not really vogue to go to colleges and universities if

[22:19] you were a conservative. It really took great courage. And we used to talk and I

[22:25] said, you know, I think they're much more conservative than we know. And he agreed. But it just wasn't something

[22:30] that was happening because the radical left would do very bad things, very dangerous thing. But Charlie set up

[22:37] chapters on 2,200 campuses and spoke at more than 1,000

[22:44] churches. He launched a podcast and radio show that grew to an audience of 1 million

[22:51] Americans a day, one of the bigger shows on radio.

[22:57] And Charlie didn't just bring young people into the movement. All of a

[23:02] sudden, it started to grow by leaps and bounds. By 2024, we won more young

[23:07] people than any Republican candidate in the history of our country, including for the first time a majority of males

[23:15] under 30. Can you believe it?

[23:20] Remember when Republican presidential candidates would get 4%?

[23:26] No, we did unbelievably with young people and he was a big big factor.

[23:32] Unbelievable. But he made me work for it. Sir, you have to make a speech here. You have to make a speech there.

[23:39] But we did it and we won. And our country is doing unbelievably well now.

[23:44] We had a country that was dead one year ago and now we have the hottest country anywhere in the

[23:51] world and Charlie helped us make it that one of one of the great people.

[24:02] But through it all, the core of Charlie's message and his basic method

[24:07] never changed. It never really changed. He stayed the same person also at every campus event. Charlie asked the people

[24:13] who disagreed with him to come forward and instead of silencing them, he handed

[24:19] them a microphone and let them speak. And he'd convinced so many of them. It

[24:24] was pretty amazing thing to watch. Actually, shortly before Charlie arrived on campus the day he was assassinated, a

[24:31] staff member texted him that there were many critics and students who were opposed to his views and rather

[24:38] strenuously in the crowd. And that actually made him feel good because he

[24:43] he wanted to convince them he understood. He really did. He understood what was right. And he was right about

[24:49] that. A lot of it was based on common sense. By the way, Charlie wrote back to

[24:56] the staff member saying, "I'm not here to fight them. I want to know them and love them, and I

[25:03] want to reach them and try and lead them into a great way of life in our country.

[25:10] In that private moment on his dying day, we find everything we need to know about

[25:16] who Charlie Kirk truly was. He was a missionary with a noble spirit and a

[25:22] great great purpose. He did not hate his opponents. He wanted

[25:28] the best for them. That's where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponent.

[25:34] And I don't want the best for them. I'm sorry. I am sorry, Erica. But now Erica can talk to me and the

[25:41] whole group and maybe they can convince me that that's not right. But I can't stand my opponent.

[25:47] [Applause] Charlie's angry looking down. He's angry at me now.

[25:53] He wasn't interested in demonizing anyone. He was interested in persuading

[25:58] everyone to the ideas and principles he believed were good, right, and true.

[26:05] Before each appearance, he prayed these words. God, use me for your will. Always

[26:12] said the same thing. Use me for your will.

[26:20] And that is exactly what God did. When you think that's exactly what he did,

[26:26] the more success Charlie had, and he was getting more and more successful,

[26:31] the more dangerous his mission became. On campuses all over the country, his

[26:36] quest for open dialogue was met with menacing hate.

[26:42] There were bomb threats, pulled fire alarms, and countless ragefilled

[26:47] radicals who tried to shout him down. It was nasty. I used to say, Charlie, this

[26:52] is nasty stuff you're doing. At one event, police had to build barricades to

[26:58] protect students from an angry mob of thugs. Many of these people, by the way,

[27:04] are paid a lot of money to do this. They're agitators. They're paid agitators. Remember that. When you see

[27:10] they all have the same beautifully printed sign, every sign is identical. Comes out of a

[27:15] top level print shop. That's not the signs that are made in somebody's basement. Those are paid for by very bad

[27:23] people. And hopefully we're going to be finding out through the DOJ who those people are.

[27:34] At another college, Antifa terrorists shattered windows, threw rocks, and

[27:39] tried to storm the building where Charlie was speaking. It was a really bad one. Often dozens of police officers

[27:46] were needed to prevent left-wing violence. And the violence comes largely from the

[27:52] left. You don't hear that from too many people, do you? And virtually every day

[27:58] for years before he was murdered, Charlie received these horrible death threats. People

[28:05] don't know. I used to talk to him about it. He said, "I got some threats." He always felt that when they actually made

[28:12] the threat, they were not the ones to worry about. The ones to worry about were the ones that don't make the threats.

[28:19] And I think you know what I mean. He knew the risk, but he and I shared a

[28:24] certain motto. Never back down and never ever surrender. Just don't surrender. Never back down. He believed in it so

[28:30] strongly. So strongly. And he's right. He's totally he's totally right. The radicals

[28:37] and their allies in the media, sometimes referred to as my son said,

[28:43] the fake news media, tried to silence Charlie for a simple reason, because he

[28:51] was winning. And he was winning big. He was taking over college campuses. Colleges that had

[28:58] in theory only very liberal or as they like to say progressive. I call them liberal, but they like to call

[29:04] themselves, it's such a beautiful word, progressive. They're the opposite of progressive if you think about it. But

[29:10] they were really nasty. And he would go into these colleges, all of a sudden within two

[29:15] years, three years, they turn into bastions of conservatism. It was really quite amazing to see. They lied about

[29:22] him because they did not want you to listen to him or to learn from him because what he was talking about and

[29:30] even preaching made so much sense everywhere he went. He won the debates.

[29:35] He won the hearts. He won the minds. And yes, he won the elections for people. He helped us. He helped other people. We

[29:41] won the biggest election in the history of our country. I believe

[29:51] Charlie Kirk was without a doubt among the most influential figures and the most important election in the history

[29:57] of our country. The election of Oh, that beautiful day, November 5th, 2024. Do

[30:04] you remember that day? It was nine months ago. What a day that was.

[30:14] I mean, we had a pretty good day on the first one. And I must tell you, on the second one, we had a phenomenal day, but

[30:22] a lot of bad things happened. And now that's not even questioned. They

[30:27] cheated like dogs. But we got them back, didn't we? Huh? Got them back.

[30:36] But we owe Charlie a profound and eternal debt of gratitude. Now, just

[30:42] like Charlie and Erica made turning point hot, we are looking at a country that has the

[30:49] chance to attain a level like never before.

[30:54] Tariffs are making us rich again, richer than anybody ever thought was possible.

[31:00] And the only one challenging them are people that hate our country or foreign countries that are paying a price

[31:07] because they did the same thing to us for years. They took advantage of us. But we're we're making money. We're

[31:15] becoming richer and richer and we're taking care of our people better and

[31:20] better when we do that. And we can take care of other countries better and better. But we're doing unbelievably

[31:26] well. The tariffs have really been a hold. The election was big, but the tariffs because of the election came in.

[31:33] And remember, other nations do that to us. And Charlie understood that. He saw the money. He saw what was coming into

[31:40] our country and we can use that for Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, all

[31:45] of these things that we fight so hard for. And that's exactly what's happening. The numbers are incredible.

[31:52] When the news finally came out on election night last November, that the race was officially won. Came out pretty

[31:59] early in the night. Charlie was live on camera. In that

[32:05] moment, he was overcome with emotion. I've never seen him like this. He was so happy for a long while he said nothing.

[32:12] His eyes were filled with tears and then he buried his face in his hands and he started crying. That

[32:19] wasn't the Charlie I knew. But in thinking about it, it actually was the Charlie I knew because he had a

[32:24] tremendous heart. He just wanted what was good for our country and he saw us going in such a horrible direction.

[32:31] Lovingly, Eric, and this was so beautiful. Erica put a MAGA hat on to

[32:37] cover his bowed head. I like that very much. MAGA. We love Does everybody love

[32:43] MAGA? Make America great again.

[32:50] When Joe Biden used to get up, remember the speeches, we will stop MAGA. We will

[32:56] stop MAGA. You know, he could barely get the words out. We will stop. I said,

[33:01] 'Could somebody inform him the magam means make America great again? How do

[33:06] you say you're going to stop it? And Charlie understood that when Charlie finally looked up and spoke, he smiled

[33:13] through the watery eyes and simply said, "I am humbled by God's grace." That was

[33:19] his statement that night. I w I was watching him and I was very impressed actually.

[33:26] It showed he had a big heart. Every single American should take a long hard look at the twisted soul and dark spirit

[33:34] of anyone who would want to kill a young man as good as Charlie. To kill anybody,

[33:40] but to kill a man like this, he didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve this. Our country didn't deserve this. And

[33:46] anyone who would make excuses for it are just out of

[33:52] their mind. Charlie's murder was not just an attack on one man or one movement. It was an

[34:00] attack on our entire nation. That was a horrible attack on the United

[34:06] States of America. It was an assault on our most sacred liberties and God-given

[34:11] rights. The gun was pointed at him, but the bullet was aimed at all of us. That bullet was aimed at every one of us.

[34:18] Indeed, Charlie was killed for expressing the very ideas that virtually everyone in this arena and most other

[34:25] places throughout our country deeply believed in. But the assassin failed in

[34:31] his quest because Charlie's message has not been silenced. It now is bigger and

[34:37] better and stronger than ever before. And it's not even close.

[34:46] And it's rare that such a thing happens. But Charlie is bigger today than he was,

[34:52] think about it, just two weeks ago. He's bigger today than he was two weeks ago.

[34:57] Now, that may not help his friends and loved ones of which there are so many.

[35:02] It may not help Erica and those beautiful children who have to suffer so

[35:08] horribly through this moment. But they know it's true. He's bigger now than

[35:13] ever before. And he's eternal. He's eternal. And I just want to say we love

[35:20] him. And he's looking down at us right now and he's saying, "Wow, that's a great crowd."

[35:26] He said, "That's a great crowd."

[35:33] And it's a great crowd of patriots. But that's why I will soon award Charlie

[35:40] the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. It's the

[35:46] highest civilian honor

[36:00] and we will do the ceremony at our beautiful White House in a very safe Washington DC.

[36:07] A place that Charlie truly revered. You know, we stopped the crime in Washington. Took 12 days.

[36:15] Now you can go to restaurants. You can walk down the middle of the street with your wife. You can have your wife walk

[36:22] alone down the middle of the street. She's going to be in good shape. What a difference. What a difference good

[36:28] management really makes. But it's I'm so proud of that. Washington DC. You know,

[36:33] it was one of the worst in the nation in the world and now it's considered a very

[36:38] safe city and uh it's also I passed it yesterday. I went through it and the the

[36:45] lawns are good. The it's like a different place. It's like the tents are gone, the threats are gone, the gangs

[36:51] aren't there. We got rid of, you know, we took out 1,500 career criminals.

[36:58] 1500. If you have three career criminals, that can make a a big difference. But I'm so proud of

[37:04] Washington DC. And now we're going into Memphis, and we'll get that one straightened out fast. And then we're

[37:11] going into some others, but we're going to go to Chicago, and we're going to have Charlie very much in mind when we

[37:17] go into Chicago. And we'll get that one straightened out. You have an incompetent governor who he thinks it's

[37:24] okay when 11 people get murdered over the weekend. He thinks you don't have any crime when

[37:29] 11 people get murdered and 28 people get shot. He says he's got crime. No, they

[37:36] they don't have it under control, but we'll have it under control very quickly. So, we're going to be doing that. And Charlie loved what we were

[37:43] doing. He was so proud of what happened. He was there to see it. He so proud of what happened in Washington DC.

[37:50] As you know, the depraved assassin who planned and executed Charlie's killing has been arrested and

[37:57] charged with capital murder. God willing, he will receive the full and ultimate punishment for his horrific

[38:04] crime. It's a terrible thing because you can't let that happen. You

[38:11] can't let that happen. Can't let it happen to a country. The Department of

[38:17] Justice is also investigating networks of radical left maniacs who fund

[38:22] organized fuel and perpetrate political violence. And we think we know who many

[38:29] of them are. But law enforcement can only be the beginning of our response to

[38:35] Charlie's murder. Over the last 11 days, we have heard stories of commentators,

[38:42] influencers, and others in our society who greeted his assassination with sick approval, excuses, or even

[38:50] jubilation. You've heard that. So have I. Couldn't believe it. Some of the very same people who spent the last eight

[38:56] years trying to sit in moral judgment of anyone who disagreed with them about politics suddenly started cheering for a

[39:04] murder. Incredible. You know the names. They're

[39:10] uh major losers, by the way. They'll be that will be proven out in a short

[39:15] period of time. Some of the very people who call you a hater for using the wrong

[39:21] pronoun were filled with glee at the killing of a father with two beautiful

[39:26] young children. And the same commentators who this week are screaming fascism over a cancelled late night TV

[39:34] show where the anchor had no talent and no ratings.

[39:41] Last week were implying that Charlie Kirk deserved what happened to him.

[39:47] No side in American politics has a monopoly on disturbed or misguided

[39:52] people. But there's one part of our political community which believes they have a monopoly on truth, goodness, and

[39:59] virtue and concludes they have also a monopoly on power, thought, and speech.

[40:04] Well, that's not happening anymore. We've turned that corner very quickly. Tragically, atrocities of this kind and

[40:13] kind that we saw in Utah of all places are the eventual consequence of that

[40:18] kind of thinking. If speech is violence, then some are bound to conclude that

[40:24] violence is justified to stop speech. And we're not going to let that be justified. The tradition of reason and

[40:31] open debate that Charlie practiced is not a pillar of our democracy. In many

[40:37] ways, it's the basis of our entire society. It's the right and inheritance of every

[40:44] free American, the greatest legacy of the Enlightenment and among the most treasured achievements of civilization.

[40:52] We will defend it at all costs and we will carry forward the torch of liberty that Charlie Kirk held so proud and so

[41:00] high. He was so proud and he did hold that torch high. We will never ever let

[41:06] it fail. We will never let it fail. But we're going to raise it higher than ever

[41:14] before. It's going to be raised. And this is the beginning perhaps. It should be no surprise that Charlie, who spent

[41:20] his life speaking with the critics of these traditions, ultimately became convinced that we needed not just a

[41:26] political realignment, but also a spiritual reawakening. We did. And we

[41:32] have to bring back religion to America because without borders, law and order, and religion, you really don't have a

[41:38] country anymore. We want religion brought back to America. We want to bring God back

[41:46] into our beautiful USA like never before. We want God back.

[41:55] Charlie would have been so pleased to hear his friends and colleagues today giving testimony and giving glory to

[42:02] God. Within minutes of the gunshot in Utah, millions of Americans, young and old,

[42:09] heard the news and dropped to their knees and started praying. Even many who rarely prayed asked God for a miracle.

[42:16] Please God, save Charlie. But although Charlie's time with us on earth has

[42:22] ended, those prayers for a miracle have already been answered. Look at what's

[42:28] happening. Look at what's happening. In the days since Charlie's death, we have

[42:33] seen how his legacy has touched so many millions around the world.

[42:39] In Calgary, Canada, thousands gathered at city hall to sing the American national anthem and raise up posters

[42:48] with the name Charlie Kirk. In Soul, South Korea, crowds gathered to wave

[42:53] American flags and shout, "We are for Charlie Kirk." His memory has been

[43:01] honored in the streets of Berlin, Warsaw, Vienna, Sydney, Madrid, London,

[43:06] Tel Aviv, and all over the world.

[43:11] So beautiful to watch. A man as far away as rural Australia

[43:19] texted a pastor, "I'm going to come to church tomorrow for the first time ever." The pastor is, "Why is that?" The

[43:26] man replied, "Because of Charlie Kirk." Can you imagine? The lesson of Charlie's life is that you

[43:33] should never underestimate what one person can do with a good heart, a

[43:39] righteous cause, a cheerful spirit, and the will to fight, fight, fight.

[43:46] Have to fight. We're saving our country.

[43:54] And Charlie's a big factor. Such a big factor. Charlie Kirk started with only an idea to change minds on college

[44:01] campuses and instead he ended up with a far greater achievement changing

[44:07] history. He changed history. Today Charlie Kirk rests in glory in heaven

[44:14] for all eternity. He has gone from speaking on campuses in Wisconsin to

[44:20] kneeling at the throne of God where he is right now.

[44:28] We grieve for the friend and leader that we have lost. But we go forward strengthened by

[44:36] his faith and bolstered by his courage and inspired by his example to defend

[44:41] the country he lived for. For the freedoms he died for and the values in

[44:47] which he so deeply believed. He believed in values that we should all believe in. Charlie

[44:54] created something very special. It's called Turning Point USA. And under the leadership and love of Erica, it will

[45:02] become bigger and better and stronger than ever before.

[45:12] So, Charlie, we all want to thank you. We want to say a very loud God bless

[45:18] you, Charlie. God bless you for what you've done is credible.

[45:23] And God bless Erica and the children. God bless the United States of America.

[45:29] And could I ask Erica, please come out? Erica, please come out. Thank you.

[45:46] [Applause] And the praise of praise

[45:53] forest. [Applause] [Music]

[46:01] [Applause]

[46:21] God.

[46:27] [Music] [Applause]

[46:36] Thank you very much everybody. Thank you very much and good luck. God be with you. Thank you.

[46:43] [Applause]

[46:49] [Music] will be across the river.

[47:00] Americana. [Music]