By S.A. McCarthy • The Washington Stand
Turning Point USA (TPUSA) founder Charlie Kirk was honored Sunday in a memorial service attended by President Donald Trump and members of his administration, where Kirk’s Christian faith took center stage. “It’s like an old-time revival, isn’t it?” the president asked, after listening to Charlie’s family, TPUSA colleagues and friends in the administration preach the gospel for five hours in State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
“Eleven days ago, my friend was martyred for using his voice to engage in peaceful dialogue. Charlie’s assassin thought that he could steal and silence his voice by putting a bullet in his neck,” Kirk’s friend and TPUSA Chief of Staff Mikey McCoy recalled. Quoting philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, he continued, “The tyrant dies, and his rule is over; the martyr dies, and his rule has just begun. Charlie was not silenced. His movement is only beginning.” McCoy referenced one of Kirk’s frequently worn t-shirts, featuring the slogan “live free,” and urged the tens of thousands gathered there to do so. “True freedom is not found in doing whatever we want, but in pursuing Christ and doing what is right. In Charlie’s words, get married, have more children than you can afford, build a legacy, pass down your values and pursue the eternal.”
TPUSA Chief Operating and Development Officer Justin Streiff recounted, “Charlie often said that having courage is one of the easiest things in the world, because all it requires is you to say yes. Courage does not require talent. It does not require natural ability. Courage requires a personal decision.” He observed that many have described Kirk as “completely fearless,” but said, “The truth is simpler and much more profound. Charlie simply refused to let fear stop him from carrying out God’s will for him and his life. His courage. His courage was a daily choice. A ‘Yes,’ no matter the cost. And it cost him his life.”
Andrew Kolvet, longtime executive producer of the “Charlie Kirk Show” podcast, spoke of the years he and Kirk spent building the show and its audience. “It’s only now that I’m beginning to realize what was going on all these years that I spent with Charlie,” Kolvet said. “We called them campus tours. Now I know they were really tent revivals, complete with a tent. Amen. We call it the ‘Charlie Kirk Show,’ but it was really just Charlie confronting the lies in the culture and pointing to the truth day in and day out.” Kolvet opined that his late friend “was a prophet. Not the fortune-telling kind that could predict the future, but the biblical kind. He confronted evil, proclaimed the truth and called us to repent and be saved. Amen.”
Kirk’s fellow conservative media personalities and influencers also paid tribute to his faith. “Raise your hand if Charlie Kirk centered you a little closer to Christ,” instructed podcast host Benny Johnson. “Who’s seen the full churches, the full parking lots? Who knows somebody now who’s a Satanist or an agnostic who’s now looking at Charlie’s life in this revival moment in our country and going, ‘Maybe I got it all wrong. Maybe I do need to Christ-center my life.”
Johnson also called on members of the Trump administration to be godly men and good Christian rulers. “God has instituted them. God has given them power over our nation and our land. God saved our president, President Trump, from an assassin’s bullet for this moment,” he said, indicating the administration officials present. “And what does the Apostle Paul in Romans say about godly leadership? He says that rulers wield the sword for the protection of good men and for the terror of evil men,” Johnson noted. “May we pray that our rulers here, rightfully instituted and given power by our God, wield the sword for the terror of evil men in our nation, in Charlie’s memory.”
“Charlie’s death was not just a murder. The true word for what Charlie did is sacrifice,” said Human Events Senior Editor Jack Posobiec. “You see, the difference between murder and sacrifice is that sacrifice is a gift, sacrifice is that last full measure of devotion for God, for country, and for his people, and for his family,” he continued. “Are you ready to continue the mission? Are you ready to fight back? And are you ready to put on the full armor of God and face the evil in high places and the spiritual warfare before us? Then put on the full armor of God.”
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson pointed to the tens of thousands gathered to honor Kirk’s legacy and pray for his family and quipped, “Whatever happens next in America, I hope it’s in this direction. Because God is here and you can feel it.” Carlson noted that Christ’s death on the cross didn’t “shut Him up,” as religious and political leaders of the time had hoped. “It doesn’t work that way. Everything is inverted. And the Beatitudes tell it, I think, the most crisply. Everything is sort of the opposite of what you think it’s going to be. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. That is true. And you can feel it here.”
“Politics, at its core, is a process of critiquing other people and getting them to change. Christianity, the gospel message, the message of Jesus, begins with repentance. Christianity calls upon you to change,” Carlson clarified. “Our core prayer, given to us by Jesus, the Lord’s Prayer, demands that we forgive other people, but preceding that is a request for our forgiveness. In other words, forgive us our sins,” he continued. “That is a call to change our hearts from Jesus. And that is the only way forward in this country. That is the only solution to where we all know we’re going.”
Renowned neurosurgeon and former Trump administration figure Dr. Ben Carson also spoke, marveling at the “revival” inspired by Kirk’s Christian faith. “Have you noticed that a lot of preachers don’t want to talk about what’s in the Bible if it’s counter to the social gospel? Well, I challenge the ministers out there to talk about what the Bible says and not what the leftists say,” Carson declared. “And get on board of the revival that is coming. We are not going to be able to stop it. You see evidence of it right here in this stadium. We’re all going to be a part of it.” Citing John 12:24, Carson continued, “‘Verily, verily, I say unto you … except a kernel of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.’ And I want to thank Charlie for his sacrifice, because much fruit is going to be realized.”
Members of the Trump administration, many of them Kirk’s friends, also spoke, calling for Christian virtue and bravery to arise anew in the country. Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard said, “Charlie was fearless. But where did his fearlessness come from? The answer lies in Corinthians.” The DNI then cited II Cor. 5:6-9: “Therefore be always of good courage and know that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. We are of good courage, I say, and prefer to be absent from the body and at home with the Lord. Therefore we have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to him.”
“Every one of us needs to be a warrior like Charlie, to take shelter in God, to draw strength and fearlessness from the Lord,” Gabbard advised. “God says, ‘Don’t be afraid. I am with you. I will strengthen you and help you.’ And He is with us. He sits within every one of our hearts, just waiting for us to choose Him to say, as Charlie did, ‘God, use me for your will.’”
“Charlie’s overarching passion was his Christianity and his devotion to his God,” observed Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who identifies as Catholic. “He believed what Saint Francis taught us almost a thousand years ago, that we should strive to live our lives in perfect imitation of Christ, that we should turn every day and every moment and every interaction into a prayer.” He added, “And Charlie understood the great paradox that it’s only by surrender to God that God’s power can flow into our lives and make us effective human beings.”
The Secretary of the newly-renamed War Department, Pete Hegseth, praised Kirk as a husband, father and political activist, but noted that “more importantly, he was a true believer. Only Christ is King, our Lord and Savior. Our sins are washed away by the blood of Jesus. Fear God and fear no man. That was Charlie Kirk.” Hegseth recalled that Kirk brought his political debates to college campuses, but “over time, he realized, like so many of us have, that this is not a political war. It’s not even a cultural war. It’s a spiritual war. Faith and family first. There is a God.” He added, “Charlie started with liberty but ended up lighting our country on fire for Christ. He started Turning Point USA, but this moment is the turning point for the USA. Right now.”
“Charlie Kirk, a warrior for country. A warrior for Christ. He ran the race. He finished the fight. Now it’s our turn,” Hegseth said. “My charge to all of you: Live worthy of Charlie Kirk’s sacrifice and put Christ at the center of your life as he advocated for, giving his.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has been a friend and supporter of Kirk’s for years, opined, “I imagine there are people watching here tonight that didn’t know much about Charlie Kirk until 11 days ago. Maybe they were disengaged from politics. Maybe they were partially engaged. I hope one of the things they take from this is that the movement Charlie Kirk led and started and gave fuel to was about politics, but not only about politics.” Rubio continued, “One of the things Charlie wants us to take away from this, from all of this, is the following: His deep belief that we were all created, every single one of us, before the beginning of time by the hands of the God of the universe, an all-powerful God who loved us and created us for the purpose of living with Him in eternity. But then sin entered the world and separated us from our Creator. And so, God took on the form of a man and came down and lived among us. And He suffered like men, and He died like a man. But on the third day, He rose, unlike any mortal man. And to prove any doubters wrong, He ate with His disciples so they could see, and they touched His wounds. He didn’t rise as a ghost or as a spirit, but in His flesh. And then He rose to Heaven. But He promised He would return. And He will. … Because He took on that death, because He carried that cross, we were freed from the sin that separated us from Him. And when He returns, there will be a new Heaven and a new earth, and we will all be together. And we are going to have a great reunion there again with Charlie and all the people we love.”
Vice President J.D. Vance, a longtime friend of Kirk’s, stated, “The evil murderer who took Charlie from us expected us to have a funeral today. And instead, my friends, we have had a revival in celebration of Charlie Kirk and of his Lord Jesus Christ.” Crediting Kirk’s influence, Vance shared, “I was telling somebody backstage that I always felt a little uncomfortable talking about my faith in public, as much as I love the Lord and as much as it was an important part of my life. I have talked more about Jesus Christ in the past two weeks than I have my entire time in public life.”
“Charlie suffered a terrible fate, my friends. We all know it; we all saw it. But it is not the worst fate. It is better to face a gunman than to live your life afraid to speak the truth,” Vance declared. “It is better to be persecuted for your faith than to deny the kingship of Christ. 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,” he continued. “Christ told us in the Gospel of John, ‘I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart. I have overcome the world.’ Charlie took heart, and now we must do the same.”
Across social media, many expressed amazement that so many high-ranking administration officials would so clearly proclaim the gospel. “Every speech for five hours in a row declared Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. We’ve never seen anything like this,” quipped Daily Wire commentator Matt Walsh. “It’s quite possible we are now witnessing the largest singular proclamation of the gospel in all of human history,” suggested The Blaze’s Steve Deace. Author Megan Basham said, “This memorial is the nail in the coffin of third-wayism. Praise God. No more lukewarm, inoffensive Christianity.”
Joseph Backholm, senior fellow for Biblical Worldview at Family Research Council, said in comments to The Washington Stand, “Just because people say religious things doesn’t mean they’re actually on God’s team, but this feels different than religious pandering we’ve seen in the past.” He continued, “This isn’t about trying to manipulate people for their vote, but there seems to be a growing awareness of the spiritual battle we’re living in and a real desire to encourage people to be on God’s side.” Backholm added, “This will be upsetting to the demons, but the rest of us should be very encouraged. When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice.”
Perhaps the most powerful Christian witness of the day, however, came from Kirk’s own widow, Erika. “More than anything, Charlie wanted to do not his will, but God’s will. And over these past 11 days, through all the pain, never before have I found as much comfort as I now do in the words of our Lord’s Prayer, ‘Thy will be done,’” Erika shared. Recounting some of the difficulties and sorrows she has weathered since losing her husband, Erika said, “Most of all, God’s mercy and God’s love have been revealed to me these past 10 days after Charlie’s assassination. We didn’t see violence. We didn’t see rioting. We didn’t see revolution.” She continued, “Instead, we saw what my husband always prayed he would see in this country. We saw revival. This past week, 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.”
“To those of you out there who just made that decision and took the first step toward a spiritual life, I say thank you and welcome. One day, I hope you look back and realize it was the most important decision of your life. Because it is,” Erika said, addressing the crowd. “All of you who are already believers. It is your job to shepherd these people. Do not take that lightly. Water the seed of their faith, protect it and help it grow.” Erika encouraged young men and young women to be godly, virtuous husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, and to “revive the American family.”
“Charlie passionately wanted to reach and save the Lost Boys of the West, the young men who feel like they have no direction, no purpose, no faith and no reason to live, the men wasting their lives on distractions and the men consumed with resentment, anger, and hate,” Erika recalled of her husband’s work and mission. “He wanted to save young men, just like the one who took his life. That young man, that young man,” she said, through tears. “On the cross, our Savior said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.’ That man, that young man. I forgive him,” Erika said, turning her eyes to Heaven. The stadium erupted in cheers. Erika concluded, encouraging Americans, “Choose prayer. Choose courage. Choose beauty. Choose adventure. Choose family. Choose a life of faith. Most importantly, choose Christ.”
Over 63,000 were present in the State Farm Stadium for the memorial service, while tens of thousands gathered outside and across the street, where the service was being broadcast. The video of the service has garnered over 20 million views across YouTube and X.
— Executive Editor’s Note: Since this article was published, TPUSA estimates that over 100 million viewers worldwide have watched the service online, and the police estimated the live audience reached up to 100,000 across the stadium, an overflow arena and outdoor viewing areas. This article was first published at washingtonstand.com/article/administration-officials-preach-gospel-praise-god-at-charlie-kirk-memorial-service.
