(WDNews) – President Donald Trump on Tuesday posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist killed last month while speaking at Utah Valley University.
Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, accepted the award during a White House ceremony on what would have been his 32nd birthday. Fighting back tears, she thanked Trump for honoring her husband’s legacy.
“Your support of our family and the work that Charlie devoted his life to will be something I cherish forever,” she said.
Trump praised Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, as a “fearless warrior for liberty” who “was assassinated in the prime of his life for boldly speaking the truth.”
Kirk was a key ally of the Trump movement and credited by the president as helping his reelection. His outspoken activism drew both admiration and controversy for his hardline stances on immigration, race and LGBTQ issues.
The Medal of Freedom, created in 1963 by President John F. Kennedy, is the nation’s highest civilian honor. Kirk is the first recipient of Trump’s second term.
Trump said he nearly postponed the ceremony after returning from a Middle East peace trip but kept the date because it was Kirk’s birthday. Argentine President Javier Milei attended the event.
Erika Kirk said her husband might one day have run for president “if he believed his country needed him,” adding, “To live free is the greatest gift, but to die free is the greatest victory.”
