{"id":243509,"date":"2025-09-21T08:58:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-21T08:58:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/243509\/"},"modified":"2025-09-21T08:58:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T08:58:15","slug":"trump-will-honor-charlie-kirk-at-arizona-memorial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/243509\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump will honor Charlie Kirk at Arizona memorial"},"content":{"rendered":"

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump<\/a> and prominent members of his \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d movement will pay tribute Sunday to conservative activist Charlie Kirk<\/a>, whose slaying<\/a> has marked a signal moment<\/a> in America\u2019s fraught political atmosphere.<\/p>\n

The memorial service for Kirk, whom Trump credits with playing a pivotal role in his 2024 election victory, is expected to draw tens of thousands of mourners, including Vice President JD Vance, senior White House officials and young conservatives shaped by the 31-year-old firebrand.<\/p>\n

Kirk\u2019s assassination at a Sept. 10 appearance on a Utah college campus has set off a fierce debate about violence<\/a>, decency and free speech<\/a> in an era of deep political division. The shooting also has stirred fear among some Americans that Trump is trying to harness outrage over the killing as justification to suppress the voices<\/a> of his critics and political opponents<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The service will take place at State Farm Stadium<\/a>, the home of the NFL\u2019s Arizona Cardinals west of Phoenix, where Kirk\u2019s Turning Point organization is based. Security is expected to be tight, with a similar level of federal law enforcement presence as for the Super Bowl or other high-profile event.<\/p>\n

Comments about Kirk have become a Trump administration target<\/p>\n

Trump has blamed the \u201cradical left\u201d<\/a> for Kirk\u2019s death and threatened to go after liberal organizations and donors or others whom he feels are maligning or celebrating Kirk\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

He criticized House Democrats who voted against a House resolution that praised<\/a> \u201cthe life and legacy\u201d of Kirk, which passed the Republican-controlled House on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho could vote against that? All (Republicans) were saying was \u2018Please condemn the assassination of a human being,\u2019\u201d Trump told reporters. \u201cAnd (Democrats) said, \u2019No, no, we\u2019re not going to do that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Dozens of people, from journalists to teachers, already have lost their jobs<\/a> as prominent conservative activists and administration officials target comments about Kirk that they deem offensive or celebratory. The retaliation has in turn ignited a debate over the First Amendment as the Trump administration promises retribution against those who air what are seen as disparaging remarks in the wake of Kirk\u2019s death. <\/p>\n

ABC pulled Jimmy Kimmel\u2019s late-night show<\/a> off the air indefinitely following backlash from affiliated broadcasters and the Trump-appointed head of the Federal Communications Commission over the comedian\u2019s remarks about Kirk.<\/p>\n

The State Department also has warned it would revoke the visas of any foreigners who celebrated Kirk\u2019s assassination.<\/p>\n

A 22-year-old Utah man, Tyler Robinson<\/a>, has been charged with killing Kirk<\/a> and faces the death penalty if convicted of the most serious charges. Authorities have not revealed a clear motive in the shooting, but prosecutors say Robinson wrote in a text to his partner following the shooting that he \u201chad enough\u201d of Kirk\u2019s hatred.<\/p>\n

Kirk\u2019s legacy of conservative political influence <\/p>\n

Turning Point, the group Kirk founded<\/a> to mobilize young Christian conservatives, became a multimillion-dollar operation under his leadership with enormous reach. <\/p>\n

The tens of thousands expected to fill the stadium in Glendale for Kirk\u2019s memorial is a testament to the massive influence he accumulated in conservative America.<\/p>\n

Kirk was a provocateur who at times made statements that some called racist, misogynistic, anti-immigrant and transphobic. That has drawn backlash from conservatives<\/a> who view the criticism as cherry-picking a few select moments to insult the legacy they see of an inspirational conservative leader.<\/p>\n

Kirk was a MAGA celebrity with a loyal following that turned out to support or argue with him as he traveled the country for the events like the one at Utah Valley University,<\/a> where he was fatally shot. Kirk grew the organization, in large part, through the force of his personality and debating chops.<\/p>\n

Arizona is the adopted home state of Kirk, who grew up outside Chicago and founded Turning Point there before moving the organization to Phoenix. Vance, who has said Kirk\u2019s advocacy was a big reason Trump picked him to serve as vice president, transported Kirk\u2019s casket from Utah to Arizona aboard Air Force Two<\/a> the day after his death, and he later served as a guest host of Kirk\u2019s podcast.<\/p>\n

Scheduled speakers at the service include Trump, Vance, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. Donald Trump Jr., right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson and White House aides Stephen Miller and Sergio Gor also are slated to speak.<\/p>\n

Longtime worship leader Chris Tomlin will provide music, along with other big names in contemporary Christian music, including Brandon Lake, Phil Wickham, and husband-and-wife duo Kari Jobe Carnes and Cody Carnes.<\/p>\n

Kirk\u2019s widow, who has been named Turning Point\u2019s new leader, also will speak. Erika Kirk pledged in an emotional speech days after his death that \u201cthe movement my husband built will not die.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Madhani reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Tiffany Stanley in Washington contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump and prominent members of his \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d movement will…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":243510,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5643,119587,45326,11029,411,19719,129830,413,129831,1226,69,120792,14414,57,51,118,2066,11171,63,8591,50,6986,129833,80,15010,129832,11203,52,20965,120674,61,436,424,93],"class_list":{"0":"post-243509","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-arizona","9":"tag-assassination-of-charlie-kirk","10":"tag-assassinations","11":"tag-az-state-wire","12":"tag-censorship","13":"tag-charlie-kirk","14":"tag-chris-tomlin","15":"tag-civil-rights","16":"tag-cody-carnes","17":"tag-conservatism","18":"tag-donald-trump","19":"tag-erika-kirk","20":"tag-funerals-and-memorial-services","21":"tag-general-news","22":"tag-headlines","23":"tag-human-rights","24":"tag-jd-vance","25":"tag-jimmy-kimmel","26":"tag-jobs-and-careers","27":"tag-jr","28":"tag-news","29":"tag-pete-hegseth","30":"tag-phil-wickham","31":"tag-politics","32":"tag-robert-f-kennedy-jr","33":"tag-sergio-gor","34":"tag-stephen-miller","35":"tag-top-stories","36":"tag-tucker-carlson","37":"tag-tyler-robinson","38":"tag-u-s-news","39":"tag-ut-state-wire","40":"tag-utah","41":"tag-washington-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243509\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}