Charlie Kirk's widow holds back tears as she accepts Presidential Medal of Freedom on late husband's birthday
President Trump paid tribute to Charlie Kirk with a Rose Garden celebration on what would have been his 32nd birthday.
Kirk's widow Erika, gave an emotional address at an award ceremony honouring her late husband, revealing her belief that he “probably would have run for president” had he not been assassinated last month.
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President Trump described the Turning Point USA founder as a “martyr” who should be honoured with some of the most famous names in history.
Kirk's widow described her late husband's long-term dreams and goals at the ceremony, stating: “There was no limit, no limit to what he would have sacrificed to defend freedom for all.
"And if the moment had come, he probably would have run for president, but not out of ambition,” she said.
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Erika Kirk told those in attendance that her late husband usually enjoyed low-key birthdays with mint chocolate chip ice cream.
“President Trump, I have spent seven and a half years trying to find the perfect birthday gift for Charlie, and it’s so difficult,” she said.
“And those of you that have spouses or loved ones, you know how difficult it is sometimes to buy a gift for someone that you love — because he wasn’t a materialistic man, so that also did not help.
“But now I can say with confidence, Mr. President, that you have given him the best birthday gift he could ever have.”
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award that can given in the United States. Recipients can be chosen at the President's discretion.
Trump added that the activist and free speech advocate was “looking down on us right now” on a warm fall day in the nation’s capital.
“We’ve watched legions of far-left radicals resort to desperate acts of violence and terror because they know that their ideas and arguments are persuading no one. They know that they’re failing,” the president said.
“They have the devil’s ideology and they’re failing. And they know it. They feel it, and they become violent.”
Tyler Robinson, 22, is accused of murdering Kirk in September during a speaking event at Utah Valley University.
Trump told guests at the ceremony that he “raced back” from the Middle East to make the ceremony.
“I raced back halfway around the globe. I was going to call Erika and say, ‘Erika, could you maybe move it to Friday?’” said Trump, who returned to the White House around 3 a.m. Tuesday after visiting the Middle East to oversea the Israel-Hamas peace negotiations.
“I didn’t have the courage to call,” Trump said. “But you know why I didn’t call? Because I heard today was Charlie’s birthday … And I said, ‘We’re gonna have to forget about some of those very big, very rich countries that expected me to be there.’”