Studying Time: 3 minutes
As anticipated, Donald Trump awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the late Charlie Kirk on Tuesday.
The ceremony happened on what would have been Kirk’s thirty second birthday, and his widow, Erika Kirk, accepted the medal on his behalf.
The newly appointed CEO of Turning Level USA, Erika has develop into a divisive determine within the weeks since her husband’s dying, with some praising her braveness and others accusing her of rank opportunism.
Erika Kirk, spouse of late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, speaks after U.S. President Donald Trump (L) posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Charlie Kirk throughout a ceremony within the Rose Backyard of the White Home on October 14, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photograph by Alex Wong/Getty Pictures)
“God began a mighty work through my husband, and I intend to see it through,” Erika Kirk stated. “The torch is in our hands now. It’s in mine. It’s in yours. It’s in all of yours. It’s in all the students with Turning Point USA.”
As together with her deal with eventually month’s Charlie Kirk memorial service, Erica’s feedback on the Medal of Freedom ceremony left observers divided.
Many praised her candor, whereas others have been postpone by what they noticed as promotions of the Kirks’ enterprise pursuits and an inappropriately lighthearted tone.
“May you one day know the kind of happiness Erika Kirk found in ‘widowhood,” one X consumer wrote, alongside a collage of pictures of Erika laughing and smiling.
“Everything she says and does looks like a performance,” one other added.
U.S. President Donald Trump posthumously awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to late conservative activist Charlie Kirk as he presents the Medal to his spouse Erika Kirk (L) throughout a ceremony within the Rose Backyard of the White Home on October 14, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photograph by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Pictures)
“Erika Kirk is to grieving, as Trump’s ear is to gunshot wound,” a 3rd chimed in.
For his half, Trump delivered a speech that veered between solemn remembrance of Kirk and firebrand rhetoric about current controversies, together with the White Home’s choice to deploy Nationwide Guard troops in US cities.
“They have the devil’s ideology, and they’re failing. And they know it, they feel it, and they become violent,” Trump stated, referring to his political opponents.
In one of many ceremony’s most odd moments, Trump admitted that he almost rescheduled the occasion however had a last-minute change of coronary heart.
“I was going to call Erika and say, ‘Erika, could you maybe move it to Friday?’” he informed the gang.
U.S. President Donald Trump posthumously awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to late conservative activist Charlie Kirk as he presents the Medal to his spouse Erika Kirk (L) throughout a ceremony within the Rose Backyard of the White Home on October 14, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photograph by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Pictures)
From there, the president revealed that Charlie praised him for dodging a sniper’s bullet at a 2024 marketing campaign occasion.
“I made a turn at a good time. I made a turn at a good time, I turned to the right. Charlie couldn’t believe it, actually,” Trump informed the gang.
“He said, ‘How the hell did you make that turn?’ I said ‘I don’t know.’”
The president additionally challenged Erika’s declare that Charlie was a person who “loved his enemies,” prompting Erika to answer:
“He did pray for his enemies. I saw him do it.”
Erika has not spoken publicly in regards to the criticism surrounding her current appearances.
