Reuters
[Photo Credit: Reuters]
President Donald Trump hailed slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk as a “martyr for American freedom” on Sunday and vowed at his memorial service to carry on the activist’s work while again suggesting the “radical left” was responsible for Kirk’s murder.
“The violence comes largely from the left,” Trump said, without citing any evidence, in remarks that often turned starkly partisan in contrast to the more solemn tone that most other speakers adopted.
Trump’s messaging reflected the dual nature of the event, which had the feel of a religious revival mixed with a “Make America Great Again” rally.
The memorial, organized 11 days after he was assassinated by Kirk’s conservative youth advocacy organization Turning Point USA, drew tens of thousands of mourners dressed in red, white and blue who filled State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
Kirk’s friends and fellow conservatives praised him as an inspirational Christian leader who founded a political movement they vowed to nurture.
His wife, Erika, who has taken the helm of Turning Point, delivered an emotional tribute to her late husband, looking up at the heavens and mouthing, “I love you,” before speaking about his devotion to Christianity, his family and his activism. The Kirks have two young children.
She also offered forgiveness to the 22-year-old man who has been charged with Kirk’s murder, citing the Bible’s account that Jesus Christ urged his followers to forgive his tormentors while on the cross.
Some political figures cast Kirk’s death as a pivotal moment in the conservative movement, exhorting followers to finish the work he began in sometimes aggressive language.
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