The memorializing of Charlie Kirk around the country this week has been astonishing in its breadth: from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to NFL games, from hundreds of churches and synagogues to city and town parks. It culminated in his official memorial on Sunday, which brought together more than a hundred thousand people at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona (with tens of thousands more outside), including President Donald Trump, his entire Cabinet, many other high-ranking members of his administration, Elon Musk and various far-right figures, including the white supremacist Jack Posobiec. The federal government devoted enormous resources to the event: It deployed nearly 800 Secret Service agents and the Department of Homeland Security gave it the highest threat designation.
In eulogies delivered by leaders of Kirk’s Turning Point USA organization, Trump administration officials, Kirk’s widow Erika and others, the slain far-right activist was lauded as simultaneously a staunch conservative, a champion of the First Amendment with a zest for democratic debate, a compassionate head of his household — and, most of all, a Christian martyr for America. Indeed, Christian demonization of the left was the most potent message.
From behind bulletproof glass, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller shouted, “You thought you could kill Charlie Kirk! You have made him immortal! And now millions will carry on his legacy!” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth described Kirk as “a warrior for country, a warrior for Christ.” Vice President JD Vance angrily excoriated those who had shown so much “hate” and admonished us to remember that Kirk was “a hero to the United States of America” and “a martyr for the Christian faith.”
Befitting her new role as head of Turning Point USA, Erika Kirk gave what became an ideological sermon about Christian marriage and the future of the nation. In his ambling speech, Trump praised Kirk for his character and for the critical role he played in securing the president’s 2024 victory.
Read the full article at: https://newlinesmag.com/spotlight/the-autumn-of-charlie-kirk
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