Trump honours Kirk with Presidential Medal of Freedom

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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday posthumously awarded America's highest civilian honor to Charlie Kirk, the slain activist who inspired a generation of young conservatives and helped push national politics further to the right.

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The ceremony coincided with Kirk's 32nd birthday. This comes just over a month after the founder of Turning Point USA was fatally shot while speaking to a crowd at Utah Valley University.

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A sign of Kirk's close ties to the administration, he became the first recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom during Trump's second term. The president also spoke at Kirk's funeral in September, calling him a “great American hero” and a “martyr” for freedom, while Vice President J.D. Vance escorted his body home to Arizona on Air Force Two with Kirk's widow, Erica.

“We are here to honor and remember a fearless freedom fighter, a beloved leader who inspired the next generation like no one I have ever seen before, and an American patriot of the deepest conviction, the highest quality and the highest caliber,” Trump said Tuesday afternoon.

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Of Kirk's killing, Trump said: “He was killed in the prime of his life for courageously speaking the truth, for living his faith and fighting tirelessly for a better and stronger America.”

The Presidential Medal of Freedom was established by President John F. Kennedy in 1963 to recognize individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the security of the country, the national interest, or world peace, or who have been responsible for significant cultural endeavors or public and private initiatives.

Tuesday's event followed Trump's return to the United States in the pre-dawn hours after a whirlwind trip to Israel and Egypt to celebrate a ceasefire in Israel's war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which his administration was instrumental in brokering.

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Trump joked that he almost asked to move the ceremony because of the trip.

“I've traveled halfway around the world,” Trump said. “I was going to call Erica and say, 'Erica, could you reschedule this for Friday? But I didn't have the courage to call. But do you know why I didn't call? Because I heard today is Charlie's birthday.”

In a sign of Trump's busy schedule, Argentine President Javier Miley, who had previously visited the president at the White House, remained to attend the ceremony.

Since his first term, Trump has awarded a number of presidential medals, including to golf legend Tiger Woods, former football coach Lou Holtz and conservative economist Arthur Laffer, as well as Yankees Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera and conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, the latter of which he received during his 2020 State of the Union speech. He presented posthumous medals to Babe Ruth and Elvis.

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TRUMP PLANS TO GIVE MEDAL TO RUDY GIULIANI

This term, Trump also announced his intention to present medals to Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York and his close former adviser, as well as Ben Carson, who served as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in Trump's first term.

Kirk founded Turning Point USA in 2012. Trump praised Kirk as one of the key reasons for his re-election.

But Kirk's policies were also often controversial. He has sharply criticized gay and transgender rights while stoking racial tensions. Kirk also repeated Trump's false claims that former Vice President Kamala Harris was responsible for policies that encourage immigrants to come to the U.S. illegally and called George Floyd, the black man whose killing by a Minneapolis police officer sparked a national debate over racial injustice, a “scumbag.”

Trump posted on social media hours before the event that he was moving the ceremony from the East Room of the White House to the Rose Garden to accommodate the crowd, which he said would be “so large and enthusiastic.”

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