WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump presented the Medal of Freedom posthumously to Charlie Kirk, a conservative advocate who was killed during a rally in Utah.

The White House Rose Garden ceremony Oct. 14 coincided with what would have been Kirk’s 32nd birthday. Shortly after his assassination, both chambers of Congress approved resolutions making the date a National Day of Remembrance.

“We’ll never forget what your husband has sacrificed for our country,” Trump said. “Today we’re here to honor and remember a fearless warrior for liberty, a beloved leader who galvanized the next generation like nobody I’ve ever seen before, and an American patriot of the deepest conviction, the finest quality and the highest caliber: the late, great Charlie Kirk."

Trump presented the award to Kirk's widow Erika, who has since become CEO of Turning Point USA, the group Kirk cofounded. She wiped tears from her eyes as she stood next to Trump while the citation was read aloud.

"Charlie always said the next generation will decide whether freedom endures," Erika Kirk said. "Freedom is the right to live without fear."

She said her husband preferred a quiet birthday, one of two days a year he would indulge in mint-chocolate-chip ice cream. (The other day was the Fourth of July.)

"Now I can say with confidence Mr. President that you have given him the best birthday gift that he could ever have," Erika Kirk said. “There is no limit to what he would have sacrificed for freedom."

The president's son, Donald Trump Jr., who worked with Kirk on mobilizing young voters, attended the event. Vice President JD Vance and members of Trump's Cabinet were also there, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Attorney General Pam Bondi. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, also attended.

Who was Charlie Kirk?

Kirk founded Turning Point USA in 2012 when he was 18. The nonprofit advocates for conservative politics on high school and college campuses.

A gunman on Sept. 10 killed Kirk while he was speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.

“It was a horrible, heinous demonic act of murder. He was assassinated in the prime of his life while boldly speaking the truth," Trump said. “Charlie Kirk was a martyr for truth and freedom."

Kirk was closely aligned with Trump’s Make America Great Again movement and is credited with helping propel the president to the White House through outreach to younger voters. Trump said Kirk supported him in 2015 before winning his first term despite initially facing more than a dozen rivals for the Republican nomination.

“He said, 'You’re going to win, sir,'" Trump said. "He helped make it happen."

Along with its presence on hundreds of college and high school campuses, the organization hosts conferences, encourages youth organizing on conservative issues and produces various media such as the “The Charlie Kirk Show."

The group's mission is to "identify, educate, train, and organize students to promote the principles of fiscal responsibility, free markets, and limited government" and to build "most organized, active, and powerful conservative grassroots activist network on high school and college campuses across the country."

What happened to Kirk's suspected killer?

The suspected gunman, Tyler Robinson, 22, was arrested in connection with the fatal shooting and arraigned on Sept. 16 on seven felony charges, including aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm, obstruction of justice and witness tampering.

Local prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump honors Charlie Kirk, slain conservative ally, with Medal of Freedom

Reporting by Bart Jansen, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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