More than 200,000 mourners gathered for the funeral of assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk on Sunday in Arizona — a five-hour affair at times as fiery as it was somber, as dozens of people spoke steadfastly about carrying on his legacy.
A capacity crowd of people dressed in red, white and blue packed the Arizona Cardinals’ Glendale stadium to hear the slain right-wing influencer’s widow, Erika Kirk, President Trump, Vice President JD Vance and others eulogize the influential Turning Point USA founder.
A striking composite image shared by Trump’s assistant and White House Director of Communications Steven Cheung shows the live broadcast of Charle Kirk’s funeral taking over network television:
“God bless the United States of America,” Trump said to end his remarks.
“Could I please ask Erika to come out?” he added. Charlie Kirk’s widow complied, and the two shared a hug onstage.
She closed her eyes, bowed her head and gave the “I love you” sign in American Sign Language.
Charlie Kirk’s widow Erika wore large, gold statement rings with “M” and “G” spelled in diamonds, in an apparent tribute to the two children she shared with the late conservative activist.
The Kirks have never revealed the names or even shown the faces of their son, 1, and daughter, 3, online — sharing sweet family photos only of their little heads turned away from the camera.
Turning Point USA senior advancement director Stacy Sheridan came under fire earlier in the ceremony after she mentioned both kids by name in her remarks, with many on social media angrily claiming she violated the family’s privacy.
Charlie Kirk was killed “for one reason, and for one reason only: he was winning,” Trump said.
“He was winning on college campuses” when he took his “Prove Me Wrong” pop-up tents to liberal “or as they like to call them, ‘progressive'” schools for open debate, Trump recalled.
Trump was meeting with the nation’s “biggest people” when he heard about Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
“I was in the midst of a very important conversation,” Trump said.
The last thing Charlie Kirk said to President Trump was a request that the White House send the National Guard to Chicago.
“Please sir, save Chicago,” Trump said Kirk told him.
President Trump pointed out how Kirk was able to draw enormous crowds in both life and death.
“This is like an old-time revival, isn’t it?” Trump said.
“He could always draw a big crowd — look at this today, look what’s gone on. This is a big crowd,” Trump added, listing off the leading names in US government who came out to pay their respects to Kirk.
