President Trump called Charlie Kirk one of “America’s greatest patriots” in an impassioned speech at the conservative icon’s Arizona funeral.
“Today, America is a nation in grief and a nation in shock, and a nation in mourning,” Trump told the cheering crowds who gathered at State Farm Stadium in Arizona on Sunday.
“He died doing what was right for our nation,” Trump said of Kirk, who was fatally gunned down on September 10 while speaking at Utah Valley University.
“Our greatest evangelist for liberty became immortal,” the president added.
Trump was the last of more than two-dozen people who spoke at Kirk’s funeral, which drew a crowd of about 200,000 mourners to Glendale, where the packed the NFL stadium, the NHL arena next door and nearby resturants and bars.
The crowd-loving president was quick to point out Kirk’s impressive numbers.
Follow live updates from Charlie Kirk’s funeral Sunday in Arizona
“He could always draw a big crowd – look at this today, look what’s gone on. This is a big crowd,” Trump said as he listed off the powerful names who came out to pay their respects to Kirk – which included Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, among numerous others conservative leaders.
Trump recalled how he was even in a meeting with such people — “the biggest people” — when he heard about Kirk’s murder, and that he immediately told them they had to leave so he could focus on the tragedy.
“It was like a surreal experience. Terrible, terrible,” he said.
The president also joined nearly every speaker in calling Kirk a “martyr” for the nation.
“He’s a martyr now,” Trump said. “None of us will ever forget Charlie Kirk. And neither now will history.”
Trump later spoke glowingly of Kirk’s work ethic, and told how he never allowed his success to get in the way of his humility.
“He was a giver much more than a taker,” Trump said, telling how Kirk once invited a fourth grader onto his radio show, even though the child’s parents were likely to be the only ones to tune in.
“No matter how big Charlie became, no one was too small for him to notice,” Trump said. “As he liked to say, ‘We have a country to save.’”
“A great American hero, that’s what he is.”
