President Trump, VP Vance speak in honor of friend Charlie Kirk at massive memorial for slain conservative leader

The ceremony began with evangelical worship songs, filling the stadium with prayer and communion, bringing people together in faith. Kirk was just 31 years old when he was shot and killed while hosting an open debate with students at Utah Valley University.

Many people who worked with Kirk spoke of his legacy, sharing personal memories and moments they had spent with him over his short life. Those in attendance flew in from across the country.

The White House sent two planes full of staffers and administration officials to the memorial. Members of the Cabinet were in attendance, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and many others.

President Trump, a dear friend of Kirk, spoke at the service alongside Vice President JD Vance, who had accompanied Kirk’s body home from Utah aboard Air Force Two. Kirk was one of Vance’s earliest supporters when he first ran for Senate, and the two became close friends.

As the last speaker, Trump offered a lengthy tribute to Kirk’s life and faith. “Americans, especially young people, it is agonizing and unthinkable to say goodbye to a patriot whose heart still had so much to give,” Trump said. He recalled Kirk’s upbringing in suburban Chicago, calling him “an All-American in everything he did,” and noted that Kirk had been a quarterback, a basketball captain, an Eagle Scout, and a young listener of Rush Limbaugh. Most importantly, Trump said, “what was even more important to Charlie than politics and service was the choice he made in the fifth grade, which he called the most important decision of his life — to become a Christian and a follower of his savior, Jesus Christ.”

Trump described Kirk’s final day, when he received a warning about hostile students in the crowd at Utah Valley University. “Charlie wrote back to the staff member saying, I’m not here to fight them. I want to know them and love them, and I want to reach them and try and lead them into a great way of life in our country. In that private moment on his dying day, we find everything we need to know about who Charlie Kirk truly was. He was a missionary with a noble spirit and a great, great purpose. He did not hate his opponents. He wanted the best for them.”

In an unscripted quick aside, Trump admitted, “That’s where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponent. And I don’t want the best for them. I’m sorry. I am sorry, Erika. But now Erica can talk to me and the whole group, and maybe they can convince me that that’s not right, but I can’t stand my opponent. Charlie’s angry. Look at that. He’s angry at me now.”

“He wasn’t interested in demonizing anyone. He was interested in persuading everyone to the ideas and principles he believed were good, right, and true. Before each appearance, he prayed these words, God, use me for your will. Always said the same thing. Use me for your will.”

In one of the most emotional moments of the service, Trump called Erika Kirk on stage and gave her a long embrace before pointing to the sky in remembrance of her husband.

Earlier in the evening, Vice President Vance reflected on Kirk’s death in his own remarks. “He was taken from us by those who despise the virtues that actually made our civilization great to begin with. Dialogue, truth-seeking, family, and faith. In the wake of his death, we have seen some of the very worst parts of humanity. We have watched people slander him. We have watched people justify his murder and celebrate his death. I know that this makes you angry just as it has made me angry. But it is easy in these moments to see only the worst of our fellow man.”

“I think he would encourage me to be honest that evil still walks among us,” Vance continued. “Not to ignore it for the sake of a fake kumbaya moment, but to address it head on and honestly as the sickness that it is. But I also think he would encourage me, he would encourage all of us to focus on the good... He would tell me to put on the full armor of God and get back to work. He would tell us to commit ourselves to telling the truth and to fight for that truth each and every single day. He would tell us to talk about God’s love and the fact that that love applied to everybody across the whole human family.”

“Charlie suffered a terrible fate, my friends. We all know it. We all saw it. But think, it is not the worst fate. It is better to face a gunman than to live your life afraid to speak the truth. It is better to be persecuted for your faith than to deny the kingship of Christ. It is better to die a young man in this world than to sell your soul for an easy life with no purpose, no risk, no love, and no truth. Christ told us in the Gospel of John, I have said these things to you that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world. Charlie took heart, and now we must do the same.”