Speakers Memorialize Charlie Kirk’s Life and Legacy at Massive Arizona Funeral

A massive funeral for Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk held on Sunday featured some of the most prominent members of President Donald Trump’s administration and countless other speakers, including Kirk’s widow Erika, who when speaking of her husband’s assassin declared “I forgive him.”

The New York Post reported on Sunday that the Arizona Cardinals stadium, with a 73,000 person capacity, “filled up within hours of doors opening at 8 a.m. local time.” But with other spaces around the stadium being filled, the total number of people in attendance was likely over 200,000 the Post reported.

Here are some of the most prominent speeches of the afternoon.

‘I Forgive Him’

In this moment of anger and turmoil in the country, people are demanding vengeance and retribution for Charlie Kirk’s death, with many calling for harsh punishment of the suspected killer, Tyler Robinson.

However, in a stunning moment of grace amid grief, Mrs. Erika Kirk took the stage to remind everyone that the teachings of Jesus and of her husband were always to forgive.

Amid the tears and emotion, Kirk declared, “On the cross, our Savior said, ‘Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.’ That man. That young man. I forgive him.”

Three powerful words that brought the crowd to its feet in an extended standing ovation.

Kirk’s widow emphasized that although the nation is grieving the passing of her husband, conservatives, Republicans and Christians—who rightfully are angry—didn’t allow themselves to burn streets or cities down. 

They didn’t let the anger cloud their judgment, she said. Instead, the nation turned to God, resulting in the highest number of young men attending churches and reading the Bible.

 ”We saw people open a Bible for the first time in a decade. We saw people pray for the first time since they were children. We saw people go to a church service for the first time in their entire lives.”

Spreading the Word of God and Helping Others Speak About Faith

For millions of Americans, Kirk was a conduit to engaging with and speaking about their Christian faith. One of those Americans is Vice President J.D. Vance, who said in his remarks that until recently he was “a little uncomfortable” talking about his faith in public.

“I have talked more about Jesus Christ in the past two weeks than I have my ENTIRE time in public life,” Vance said to applause and a standing ovation.

The vice president said that bringing discussions about Christianity and faith back into national discourse is the legacy of Kirk’s career.

“He loved God, and because he loved God, he wanted to understand God’s creation, and the men and women made in his image,” Vance said. In doing this he brought to the world the “truth that Jesus Christ was the King of Kings,” Vance said.

Vance commented that Kirk suffered a terrible fate due to the assassin who killed him. But this isn’t the worst fate.

“It is better to face a gunman than to live your life afraid to speak the truth,” he said. “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.”

Saving Young Men, Encouraging Them to be Men of Character and Faith

Kirk spent much of his life trying to help young men find direction in their lives, to become better men and better fathers. That was among the things Secretary of State Marco Rubio focused on in his speech.

“He had a very special and direct impact on young men in this country,” Rubio said of Kirk. “That is one of the greatest developments I’ve seen. That is very positive. I think we remember him for that.”

From these men that Kirk inspired, Rubio said a “Renaissance” is coming to America.”

“Over the last 12, 14, 16 years, we’ve seen this renaissance,” he said. “Understand where we were at that time in our history. Understand what we are still today. In many places where young Americans are actively told that everything that they were taught, that all the foundations that made our society and our civilization so grand, they were all wrong.”

“We Are the Storm”

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said that Kirk’s assassination aroused a “righteous fury” in his supporters that “our enemies cannot comprehend or understand.”

Miller used a famous saying to illustrate what is happening in the wake of Kirk’s death.

“The storm whispers to the warrior that you cannot withstand my strength and the warrior whispers back, ‘I am the storm,’” he said. Miller said that Kirk’s wife Erika and the countless people who partner with him are the “storm.”

“We stand for what is good, what is virtuous, what is noble,” the White House deputy chief of staff said. “And to those trying to incite violence against us, to foment hatred against us, what do you have? You have nothing. You are nothing. You are wickedness. You are jealousy. You are envy. You are hatred. You are nothing. You can build nothing. You can produce nothing. You can create nothing.”

On the other end, Miller said, “We are the ones who build, we are the ones who create.”

So while those who supported Kirk will continue to build on what Western civilization has already accomplished, those who sought to destroy him are building nothing at all, Miller said.

Built the ‘Most Powerful Youth Movement in Our Time’

Bringing young people into public debates and into politics was what Kirk was all about, according to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.

Wiles said that Kirk built the “most powerful youth movement in our time.”

She said that for Kirk, making America great again meant bringing young people into politics and making them feel like they belong.

“For Charlie, making America great again meant bringing young people to this movement,” she said. “Like our president says, it’s a movement of common sense: love your God, love your family, love your country, and help the next generation live into those values boldly.”

It was through his organization, Turning Point USA, that many young people hit their own personal “turning point,” Wiles said. That happened when they decided to “step up, speak out, and show America what she could be.”

Kirk Wanted a Spiritual, Not Just a Political Revival

One of the most constant themes throughout the funeral was that Kirk aimed to not just debate politics and promote freedom, but to spark a spiritual, Christian revival in America.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth spoke about this spiritual revival.

“Charlie Kirk was a citizen who had the Biblical heart of a soldier of the faith—who put on, every single day, the full armor of God with a smile, as the Scriptures tell all Christ followers to do,” Hegseth said.

“‘There is a God,’ and as Charlie would say, ‘It is not us.’ We’re sinners saved only by grace in need of the gospel,” he said.

Earlier in the funeral Kirk’s radio show producer, Andrew Klovet, said that Kirk was a “prophet,” not the “fortune-telling kind,” but a “biblical” kind.

“He confronted evil and proclaimed the truth and called us to repent and be saved,” Klovet said. “He was kind, and he was loving—and you could hear in his voice that he desperately wanted the best for you and for all of us.”

We Are All Charlie

Donald Trump Jr. highlighted that, despite the media depicting him as a racist or radical extremist, Kirk would still be the one giving the microphone to the very people who would oppose him the most.

“?When people disagree with us, we don’t silence them. We don’t destroy them, and we certainly don’t sink to violence. We don’t burn down their businesses. We don’t scream at their children at Disneyland. No. We debate. We stand tall and we win with our ideas.”

Trump Jr. continued by exhorting everyone to carry on Kirk’s family through truth, courage and conversation.

“If we’re truly going to honor Charlie properly, his loss cannot be the end of the story. His legacy must be that when they took his life a million more Charlies stepped up to fill the void. We are all Charlie.”

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