Erika Kirk Honors Charlie Kirk's Presidential Medal of Freedom on His Birthday Legacy

[00:00] part of our turning point USA family.

[00:03] But I want you guys all to see the medal

[00:05] of freedom and be able to look at it in

[00:08] the back of it.

[00:11] All you guys are all part of the legacy.

[00:14] Thank you for praying for us and for

[00:18] believing in what Charlie believed in.

[00:21] And to our Turning Point USA staff and

[00:24] the Charlie Kirk Show staff, we love you

[00:28] more than you could ever know.

[00:32] And to the Turning Point USA chapters

[00:34] that are watching

[00:36] all across America right now,

[00:40] you are the heartbeat of this future and

[00:43] of this movement.

[00:47] Everything that Charlie built,

[00:49] you guys are the legacy holders of that.

[00:52] You are living proof that his mission

[00:54] did not die with him.

[00:57] It lives through you. And Charlie always

[01:00] said, "The next generation will decide

[01:02] whether freedom endures.

[01:04] And because of you, I know that freedom

[01:07] will endure." It will.

[01:10] And today we're gathered not only to

[01:14] celebrate Charlie's birthday, but to

[01:16] honor a truth that he gave his entire

[01:19] life to defend, and that's freedom.

[01:22] The very existence of the Presidential

[01:25] Medal of Freedom reminds us that the

[01:27] national interest of the United States

[01:30] has always been freedom.

[01:33] Our founders etched it into the preamble

[01:35] of our Constitution. And those words are

[01:37] not relics on parchment.

[01:42] They are a living covenant.

[01:44] The blessings of liberty are not man's

[01:47] invention. They are God's endowment.

[01:51] Charlie lived for those blessings, not

[01:53] as abstract words, but as sacred

[01:56] promises.

[01:58] He used to love to journal about this

[02:00] topic all the time and and with such a

[02:04] heart postured of gratitude and he

[02:08] believed that liberty was both a right

[02:10] and a responsibility.

[02:12] And he used to say freedom is the

[02:14] ability to do what is right without

[02:18] fear.

[02:20] And that's how he lived. He was free

[02:23] from fear.

[02:25] He was free from compromise.

[02:28] free from anything that could enslave

[02:30] his soul.

[02:34] His name Charles literally means free

[02:36] man.

[02:38] And that's exactly who my husband was.

[02:40] He was a free man.

[02:43] And from the time I met him, sitting

[02:46] across from him, being interviewed

[02:51] on politics and philosophy and theology,

[02:54] anything that Charlie loved, any topic

[02:56] he loved,

[02:58] and

[03:01] I just saw the fire in his soul and

[03:03] there was this

[03:06] divine restlessness within him that came

[03:08] from knowing God placed him on this

[03:10] earth to protect something very, very

[03:13] sacred

[03:15] for all of us. And he never stopped

[03:17] fighting for people to experience

[03:19] freedom. He didn't.

[03:22] Charlie often said that without God,

[03:25] freedom becomes chaos.

[03:28] And he believed liberty could only

[03:29] survive when anchored to truth.

[03:33] And I remember in one of his speeches

[03:38] he told the audience that the opposite

[03:40] of liberty

[03:42] isn't law.

[03:44] He said it's captivity

[03:47] and that the freest people in the world

[03:48] are those whose hearts belong to Christ.

[03:52] But what's so powerful is that Charlie

[03:54] had the ability

[03:56] to communicate so brilliantly across all

[04:00] generations.

[04:02] And he reminded us that in a world that

[04:04] tells us freedom is

[04:07] doing whatever you want to do, the real

[04:10] freedom

[04:11] is the power to live freely and to do

[04:14] what is right.

[04:16] And in one of his journal entries, he

[04:18] wrote that he wanted everyone to know

[04:19] that you can't have liberty without

[04:22] moral responsibility.

[04:25] Freedom divorced from faith eventually

[04:28] just destroys itself.

[04:31] And what's so fascinating about all of

[04:33] this is looking back these past 12 years

[04:37] of Turning Point USA and his mission,

[04:41] there's almost this veil of of

[04:43] sacredness.

[04:46] Because what I realized is that while he

[04:48] was building an organization, he was

[04:51] also building a movement.

[04:54] One that called people back to God,

[04:58] back to truth, and a movement that was

[05:01] filled with courage.

[05:05] It's such an honor and the recognition

[05:08] of

[05:10] a life lived for defending freedom. And

[05:12] that's what Charlie fought for until his

[05:15] last breath.

[05:17] And it was written across his chest in

[05:19] those final moments on one of his simple

[05:22] t-shirts that always carried a message.

[05:26] And this one

[05:28] bearing a single word, freedom.

[05:31] That was the banner over his life. And

[05:33] that shirt was a declaration.

[05:36] The same declaration he made in every

[05:38] speech, every campus visit, every time

[05:41] he shared the gospel at a church,

[05:44] every sleepless night that he would

[05:46] spend praying for the youth of this

[05:48] nation

[05:49] and planning for the future of our

[05:51] country and just oppressing upon them

[05:53] that when we defend liberty, we defend

[05:56] the soul of our nation.

[05:59] My husband never told anyone what to

[06:01] say. He never did. He never told anyone

[06:04] what to say. He would just encourage

[06:06] them to think. He would encourage them

[06:09] to think outside of the traditional

[06:11] political labels.

[06:14] He would want them to think in a way

[06:16] that was anchored in wisdom and truth.

[06:20] But he would never tell anyone what to

[06:22] say.

[06:25] Charlie wasn't content to simply admire

[06:28] freedom. He wanted to multiply it. He

[06:30] wanted to multiply freedom. He wanted

[06:33] young people to taste it and to

[06:35] understand it

[06:36] and defend it. He wanted them to see

[06:39] that liberty isn't self-indulgence. It's

[06:42] self-governance

[06:44] under God.

[06:46] He wanted them to see that. And every

[06:48] day I'd see him getting ready for work.

[06:51] He'd put on his cross necklace. He'd put

[06:53] his ring on his finger.

[06:56] And the the boldness in his demeanor was

[06:59] oh his fearlessness. He wasn't afraid.

[07:02] He was never afraid.

[07:04] And his daily actions, whether in office

[07:06] or on campus or at a church,

[07:09] it was always without fear. That was his

[07:12] creed. That is that is how he lived out

[07:14] every single day. He didn't fear being

[07:16] slandered. He did not he didn't fear

[07:19] losing friends. I can tell you that he

[07:21] didn't he didn't care. He stood for

[07:24] truth and sto for freedom. And he did

[07:26] not everything else was just a noise to

[07:29] him.

[07:31] And it's because his confidence in

[07:32] Christ was absolute.

[07:34] That's why

[07:37] there was no limit. No limit to what he

[07:41] would have sacrificed to defend freedom

[07:43] for all. And if the moment had come, he

[07:46] probably would have run for president,

[07:47] but not out of ambition. He would only

[07:50] have done it if that was something that

[07:52] he believed that his country needed from

[07:54] a servant's heart standpoint.

[07:57] And Charlie lived only 31 short years. I

[08:00] was 32, but on this side of heaven, but

[08:07] he lived. He lived every single second.

[08:10] He lived.

[08:12] Filled every single day with purpose.

[08:14] And he fought for truth when it was

[08:15] unpopular.

[08:17] And he stood for God when it was costly.

[08:19] But that's what we're called to do.

[08:23] Surprisingly enough, he did pray for his

[08:24] enemies, which is very hard. But he did.

[08:28] He did. I He did.

[08:36] No one else. I mean, I saw him do it.

[08:38] No, he never did it in front of anyone

[08:39] else, but I can attest to that.

[08:42] But he also loved people when it was

[08:44] inconvenient.

[08:46] And he ran his race with endurance, and

[08:47] he kept the faith. And now he wears the

[08:50] crown of a righteous martyr.

[08:53] And for me and for our children,

[08:57] the the truth really studies our grief

[08:59] because

[09:02] heaven gained what earth could no longer

[09:04] contain.

[09:06] A free man made fully free.

[09:11] To all watching, this is this is not a

[09:14] ceremony.

[09:16] This is a commissioning.

[09:19] And my message is simple.

[09:22] I want you to be the embodiment

[09:25] of this medal.

[09:27] I do. I want you to free yourself from

[09:30] fear.

[09:32] I want you to stand courageously in the

[09:34] truth.

[09:35] Listen for the still small voice of God.

[09:40] And remember that while freedom is

[09:43] inherited in this country, each of us

[09:46] must be intentional stewards every

[09:48] single day.