President Donald Trump posthumously awarded Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the highest civilian honor — in a ceremony on Tuesday, just over a month after Kirk was assassinated during a public appearance at a Utah university.
The ceremony took place on Kirk’s 32nd birthday, which was also designated a National Day of Remembrance for Kirk via congressional resolution.
Kirk’s wife, Erika, attended the award ceremony in the Rose Garden and accepted the award on her husband’s behalf. Created in 1945, the Medal of Freedom is given to individuals who have significantly contributed to American security or national interests, influential cultural endeavors, or world peace.
“Five weeks ago, our nation was robbed of this extraordinary champion,” Trump said in the Rose Garden. “It was a horrible, heinous, demonic act of murder.”
Trump said because of Kirk’s faith and love of country, he is honored to present Kirk with this award.
“October 14 is Charlie’s birthday, and he should have been turning 32 years old. When I first met him, he was like 22,” Trump said. “Instead, Charlie is attaining a far more important milestone, entering his name into the eternal roster of American heroes.”
Erika Kirk also spoke at the ceremony and said Trump’s “support of our family and the work that Charlie devoted his life to will be something I cherish forever.”
She thanked First Lady Melania Trump and her office for putting together the event. She also expressed gratitude to Vice President JD Vance, and Second Lady Usha Vance, specifically, for her friendship.
“Everything that Charlie built, you guys [Turning Point chapter members] are the legacy holders of that,” Erika Kirk said. “Charlie always said the next generation will decide if freedom will endure, and because of you, I know that freedom will endure.”
Trump has said that Kirk was a close friend and the president was the first to announce the conservative activist’s death.
“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us.,” Trump said on Truth Social, immediately after Kirk’s assassination. “Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!”
Kirk was shot and killed on Utah Valley University’s campus on September 10. It was the first stop on his American Comeback Tour, an event put on by his conservative youth organization Turning Point USA. Kirk was known for his lively debates on college campuses. Tyler Robinson, 22, has been arrested and charged with Kirk’s assassination. Robinson was in a romantic relationship with a transgender-identifying man at the time of the shooting and etched anti-fascist messages on the ammunition he allegedly used in the attack.
Tuesday’s designation as a National Day of Remembrance is not a national holiday, but rather a call for Americans to “observe this day with appropriate programs, activities, prayers, and ceremonies that promote civic engagement and the principles of faith, liberty, and democracy that Charlie Kirk championed,” the resolution reads.
Trump also attended Kirk’s televised and highly attended memorial service in Glendale, Ariz., last month. He called Kirk a “great American hero” during his remarks, and offered a heartfelt hug to Kirk’s widow.
“Charles, his name, literally means ‘free man,'” Erika Kirk said in the Rose Garden Tuesday. “And that was the man my husband was.”