Imagine your most cherished political figure was also your cultural north star and pastoral life coach. Now imagine he was felled by an assassin’s bullet. Then imagine there were millions of you.
That explains the tens of thousands of people, including President Donald Trump and the highest-ranking officials of the U.S. government, packing a football stadium Sunday to eulogize conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
“Our whole administration is here. But not just because we loved Charlie as a friend, even though we did, but because we know we wouldn’t be here without him,” Vice President JD Vance said during his address. The vice president was referring to Turning Point USA, a group Kirk founded that Republicans credit for the president’s significantly improved performance with Generation Z voters in the 2024 campaign.
The hours-long event, televised and streamed from suburban Phoenix’s State Farm Stadium, was part memorial service for Kirk; part Christian tent revival; and part Trump campaign rally. It was, on the one hand, appropriately restrained and reflective of Kirk’s deep Christian faith, yet on the other hand, lacking the sort of stirring appeal to national unity expected of a gathering to mark a loss so national in nature — except for the touching eulogy delivered by Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk.
The prominent Republicans who paid tribute to Kirk generally focused their remarks on what he meant to them personally — and to the country.