Speaking during a powerful press conference on Friday, October 10, President Donald Trump announced that he would be fulfilling a pledge he made in the wake of his friend Charlie Kirk’s assassination, and honoring Mr. Kirk by posthumously awarding him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in America.
As a reminder, Mr. Kirk was assassinated in cold blood in a horrific incident during an event he was hosting on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. The assassin’s bullet struck him in the neck, in full view of his family and the crowd, and Mr. Kirk died quickly after the bullet struck.
It was in the wake of that horrible assassination of his important political ally and close friend that President Trump announced he would be posthumously awarding Mr. Kirk the Medal of Freedom. Beginning that part of his September 11 speech, the president said that Mr. Kirk was a “giant of his generation, a champion of liberty and an inspiration to millions and millions of people”
Continuing, the president noted, “Our prayers are with his wonderful wife, Erika and his beautiful children, fantastic people they are. We miss him greatly, yet I have no doubt that Charlie’s voice and the courage he put into the hearts of countless people, especially young people, will live on.” He then added that he would be awarding him the Medal of Freedom, though declined to say when, stating only, “I can only guarantee you one thing, that we will have a very big crowd.”
Now that date has finally been set for Tuesday, October 14, as the president announced during a Friday, October 10 press event. He said, during that event, that a great many people were invited to the ceremony, saying, “Erika, his beautiful wife, is going to be here, and a lot of people are going to be here.”
Continuing, he noted that the ceremony will be on Tuesday and that he will be flying back to America from the Middle East for the important and powerful event, saying, “I’m coming back, I believe it’s Tuesday night for Charlie Kirk, a friend of mine, a friend of all of ours, a friend of a lot of the people right here.”
Further commenting on that matter, noting that he’ll need to get back from a trip to the Middle East focused on peace between Israel and Hamas, saying, “It’s not easy for me to get back. It’s a very quick trip, but I’ll be making two major stops, and then I’ll be back on the plane trying to get back in time for Charlie.”
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He then commented more directly on the medal that Mr. Kirk will be awarded, noting that it is the highest honor in the land and the highest one a civilian can earn, saying, “And we’re giving him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which is the highest honor you get outside of the Congressional Medal of Honor. One’s military, one’s civilian, but it’s the greatest honor.”
Watch him here:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video