President Donald Trump on Tuesday posthumously awarded America's highest civilian honor to Charlie Kirk, the assassinated activist who inspired a generation of young conservatives and helped push the nation's politics further to the right.

Receiving the award on Kirk's behalf was his widow, Erika. Her voice cracking and often falling to a whisper as she wiped away tears, Erika Kirk talked about her late husband's life, political beliefs and legacy.

“Thank you, Mr. President, for honoring my husband, in such a profound and meaningful way. And thank you for making this event a priority," she said. “Your support of our family and the work that Charlie devoted his life to will be something I cherish forever.”

The ceremony coincided with what would have been Kirk’s 32nd birthday. It came about a month after the Turning Point USA founder was fatally shot while speaking to a crowd at Utah Valley University.

“We’re here to honor and remember a fearless warrior for liberty, 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," Trump said during the medal ceremony.

Of Kirk's killing, the president said, “He was assassinated in the prime of his life for boldly speaking the truth, for living his faith and relentless fighting for a better and stronger America."

Kirk founded Turning Point USA in 2012 and Trump praised him as one of the key reasons he was reelected last year.

But Kirk's politics were also often divisive. He sharply criticized gay and transgender rights while inflaming racial tensions. Kirk also repeated Trump’s false claims that former Vice President Kamala Harris was responsible for policies that encouraged immigrants to come to the U.S. illegally and called George Floyd, a Black man whose killing by a Minneapolis police officer sparked a national debate over racial injustice, a “scumbag.”

As Tuesday's ceremony was underway, the Trump administration said it had revoked the visas of six foreigners who U.S. officials deemed had made derisive or mocking comments about Kirk’s assassination. The six who had their visas revoked were from Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Mexico, Paraguay and South Africa.

The move comes as the Trump administration and its supporters have zeroed in on people who made critical comments about Kirk, leading to firings and other discipline.

Erika Kirk said her husband might one day have run for president "but not out of ambition. He would only have done it if that was something that he believed that his country needed from his servant’s heart.”

She said God began a “mighty work” through her husband, and she intends to see it through. She finished her remarks by saying Charlie’s story reminds us that “to live free is the greatest gift but to die free is the greatest victory.”