Erika Kirk’s emotional speech honoring her late husband, Charlie Kirk, went viral nationwide after the Medal of Freedom ceremony. Fighting tears, she thanked President Trump, Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Usha Vance for their support, calling the honor the "best birthday gift" Charlie could ever receive. Reading a touching message from their daughter, Erika moved millions online. Her heartfelt tribute—filled with love, gratitude, and strength—was praised as one of the most powerful moments of the event.
01:00Thank you, Mr. President, for honoring my husband in such a profound and meaningful way, and thank you for making this event a priority amid the peace process in the Middle East. Thank you. Very grateful.
01:29I really always admired your commitment to freedom, and that's something that both of you shared, so thank you.
01:37Your support of our family and the work that Charlie devoted his life to will be something I cherish forever, so thank you.
01:50To our gracious First Lady in her office for making this event possible, thank you as well. It's beautiful.
01:58To Vice President and the lovely Usha Vance, your friendship has been an unbelievable encouragement. Thank you.
02:08And to all our friends and family that are here and watching from all around the world, thank you for loving us. Thank you for praying for us and for believing in what Charlie believed in.
02:24And to our Turning Point USA staff and the Charlie Kirk Show staff, we love you more than you could ever know.
02:35And to the Turning Point USA chapters that are watching all across America right now,
02:41you are the heartbeat of this future and of this movement.
02:51Everything that Charlie built, you guys are the legacy holders of that.
02:56You are living proof that his mission did not die with him.
03:00Freedom. It lives through you.
03:03And Charlie always said the next generation will decide whether freedom endures.
03:08And because of you, I know that freedom will endure.
03:12It will.
03:14And today we're gathered not only to celebrate Charlie's birthday,
03:20but to honor a truth that he gave his entire life to defend, and that's freedom.
03:25The very existence of the Presidential Medal of Freedom reminds us that
03:30the national interest of the United States has always been freedom.
03:36Our founders etched it into the preamble of our Constitution,
03:40and those words are not relics on parchment.
03:45They are a living covenant.
03:48The blessings of liberty are not man's invention.
03:52They are God's endowment.
03:53Charlie lived for those blessings, not as abstract words, but as sacred promises.
04:02He used to love to journal about this topic all the time,
04:06and with such a heart postured of gratitude.
04:11And he believed that liberty was both a right and a responsibility.
04:16And he used to say,
04:18freedom is the ability to do what is right without fear.
04:23And that's how he lived.
04:25He was free from fear.
04:29He was free from compromise.
04:31Free from anything that could enslave his soul.
04:35His name, Charles, literally means free man.
04:42And that's exactly who my husband was.
04:44He was a free man.
04:45And from the time I met him sitting across from him being interviewed on politics and philosophy and theology,
04:57anything that Charlie loved, any topic he loved.
05:00And I just saw the fire in his soul.
05:07And there was this divine restlessness within him that came from knowing God placed him on this earth to protect something very, very sacred for all of us.
05:20And he never stopped fighting for people to experience freedom.
05:24He didn't.
05:26Charlie often said that without God, freedom becomes chaos.
05:30And he believed liberty could only survive when anchored to truth.
05:36And I remember in one of his speeches, he told the audience that the opposite of liberty isn't law.
05:47He said it's captivity.
05:50And that the freest people in the world are those whose hearts belong to Christ.
05:56But what's so powerful is that Charlie had the ability to communicate so brilliantly across all generations.
06:05And he reminded us that in a world that tells us freedom is doing whatever you want to do, the real freedom is the power to live freely and to do what is right.
06:20And in one of his journal entries, he wrote that he wanted everyone to know that you can't have liberty without moral responsibility.
06:29Freedom divorced from faith eventually just destroys itself.
06:35And what's so fascinating about all of this is looking back these past 12 years of Turning Point USA and his mission, there's almost this veil of sacredness.
06:50Because what I realized is that while he was building an organization, he was also building a movement.
06:56One that called people back to God, back to truth, and a movement that was filled with courage.
07:08And ironically for a man who impacted millions, Charlie never desired to be the center of attention.
07:16He just wasn't.
07:17My husband was not a man of extravagance.
07:19He loved simple but deeply meaningful things.
07:25Truly.
07:26He loved his late night walks.
07:29He loved buying more books than he could ever read because he felt there was no such thing as a book budget.
07:38And he loved being able to read to our kids the same bedtime story on repeat because he knew it was their favorite.
07:45And, but to him, that was special.
07:49And he loved to sit in the sun on a Saturday morning with his cup of decaf coffee.
07:54And his phone was off because he was honoring the Sabbath.
07:57And for him, it was that moment to catch his breath and just be in peace.
08:04Because he was unreachable at the moment.
08:07And he preferred quiet birthdays.
08:09But that never stopped me from telling him.
08:13I told him every single year.
08:14I said, baby, I love your birthday.
08:18I said, because it's the day that God knew the world couldn't go another day without you.
08:22And so the rhythm of our usual birthday celebration for him was mint ice cream, mint chocolate chip ice cream.
08:36He only had it twice a year on his birthday and 4th of July.
08:39And, and then after that, he was back to work as usual.
08:48But last year, his one birthday wish was to see the Oregon Ducks play the Ohio State.
08:54And they won.
08:55Oregon won that night.
08:57And it was by far one of the most memorable nights of his birthday experience of his life until today.
09:03And so, honestly, President Trump, I have spent seven and a half years trying to find the perfect birthday gift for Charlie.
09:14And it's so difficult.
09:16And those of you that have spouses or loved ones, you know how difficult it is sometimes to buy a gift for someone that you love.
09:22Because he wasn't a materialistic man, so that also did not help.
09:26But now I can say with confidence, Mr. President, that you have given him the best birthday gift he could ever have.
09:43It's such an honor and the recognition of a life lived for defending freedom.
09:50And that's what Charlie fought for until his last breath.
09:53And it was written across his chest in those final moments on one of his simple t-shirts that always carried a message.
10:03And this one bearing a single word, freedom.
10:07That was the banner over his life, and that shirt was a declaration.
10:14The same declaration he made in every speech, every campus visit, every time he shared the gospel at a church.
10:22Every sleepless night that he would spend praying for the youth of this nation.
10:26And planning for the future of our country and just pressing upon them that when we defend liberty, we defend the soul of our nation.
10:35And my husband never told anyone what to say, he never did.
10:40He never told anyone what to say.
10:43He would just encourage them to think.
10:46He would encourage them to think outside of the traditional political labels.
10:51He would want them to think in a way that was anchored in wisdom and truth.
10:57But he would never tell anyone what to say.
11:02Charlie wasn't content to simply admire freedom.
11:06He wanted to multiply it.
11:08He wanted to multiply freedom.
11:10He wanted young people to taste it and to understand it and defend it.
11:16He wanted them to see that liberty isn't self-indulgence, it's self-governance under God.
11:23He wanted them to see that.
11:25And every day I'd see him getting ready for work.
11:29He'd put on his cross necklace, he'd put his ring on his finger.
11:33And the boldness in his demeanor was always fearlessness.
11:38He wasn't afraid.
11:40He was never afraid.
11:42And his daily actions, whether in office or on campus or at a church, it was always without fear.
11:49That was his creed.
11:50That is how he lived out every single day.
11:53He didn't fear being slandered.
11:55He did not.
11:56He didn't fear losing friends.
11:57I can tell you that.
11:58He didn't.
11:59He didn't care.
12:01He stood for truth and stood for freedom.
12:04And he did not.
12:05Everything else was just a noise to him.
12:08And it's because his confidence in Christ was absolute.
12:11That's why there was no limit, no limit to what he would have sacrificed to defend freedom for
12:21all.
12:21And if the moment had come, he probably would have run for president, but not out of ambition.
12:27He would only have done it if that was something that he believed that his country needed from
12:32a servant's heart standpoint.
12:35And Charlie lived only 31 short years.
12:38I was 32, but on this side of heaven.
12:41But he lived.
12:46He lived.
12:47Every single second he lived.
12:50He filled every single day with purpose.
12:52And he fought for truth when it was unpopular.
12:54And he stood for God when it was costly, but that's what we're called to do.
13:01Surprisingly enough, he did pray for his enemies, which is very hard, but he did.
13:06He did.
13:08He did.
13:14No one else, I mean, I saw him do it.
13:16No, he never did it in front of anyone else, but I can attest to that.
13:20But he also loved people when it was inconvenient.
13:24And he ran his race with endurance and he kept the faith.
13:27And now he wears the crown of a righteous martyr.
13:31And for me and for our children, the truth really studies our grief because
13:38heaven gained what earth could no longer contain.
13:44A free man made fully free.
13:49To all watching, this is not a ceremony.
13:54This is a commissioning.
13:57And my message is simple.
14:00I want you to be the embodiment of this medal.
14:05I do.
14:05I want you to free yourself from fear.
14:09I want you to stand courageously in the truth.
14:13Listen for the still, small voice of God.
14:16And remember that while freedom is inherited in this country, each of us must be intentional stewards every single day.
14:29God began a mighty work through my husband and I intend to see it through.
14:34And the torch is in our hands now.
14:35It's in mine.
14:36It's in yours.
14:36It's in all of yours.
14:37It's in all the students with Turning Point USA.
14:43And before I close, I'll share with you that I asked our daughter what she would like to say to daddy for his birthday.
14:51She said, happy birthday, daddy.
15:08I want to give you a stuffed animal.
15:10I want you to eat a cupcake with ice cream.
15:23And I want you to go have a birthday surprise.
15:27I love you.
15:28That's what she said.
15:28And while our son is precious, he can't yet speak, in classic Kirk family fashion, his actions spoke louder than his words and his gift to you, Charlie and myself for that matter, was deciding to become the man of the house and be fully potty trained at 16 months.
15:48But, Charlie, baby, I know that you're celebrating in heaven today, but gosh, I miss you.
15:55We miss you.
15:57And we love you.
15:58And we promise we'll make you proud.
16:04Charlie's life was proof that freedom is not a theory.
16:07It's a testimony.
16:09He showed us that liberty begins not in the halls of power, but in the man of a heart surrendered to God.
16:15And so today, as we honor Charlie with this incredible Presidential Medal of Freedom on his birthday, I stand here with tears and just a humbled heart and spirit because his story reminds us all that to live free is the greatest gift.
16:38But to die free is the greatest victory.
16:46Happy birthday, my Charlie.
16:49Happy Freedom Day.
16:50God bless you.
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