Trump Set To Posthumously Award Charlie Kirk With Presidential Medal Of Freedom

President Donald Trump is set to posthumously award Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor for a civilian outside of the military.

The award ceremony is set for 4 p.m. EST on what would have been Kirk’s 32nd birthday. It will be attended by his widow Erika.

Friends and colleagues of the late conservative activist praised his legacy and Trump’s recognition of his work as the founder and face of Turning Point USA.

“Although he was taken from us far too soon, his legacy will inspire generations to come and outlive us all,” “The Charlie Kirk Show” executive producer Andrew Kolvet told Fox News in a statement. “He represents the very best of America and is deserving of this and every other possible accolade. Thank you to President Trump for quite literally shifting world events to honor Charlie on what would have been his 32nd birthday.”

“Only Charlie could do that,” Kolvet added.

Tyler Bowyer, chief operating officer for Turning Point, referred to his former boss and friend as the “most brilliant speaker that I had ever met” upon news of the forthcoming award’s date.

“It’s an emotional moment, because we know how deserved it is,” he said on Fox News.

Trump told the outlet he expects a “packed house” at the event, which was put into motion shortly after Kirk was assassinated on Sept. 10. In a statement at the time, the president called him “a giant of his generation, a champion of liberty and an inspiration to millions and millions of people.”

“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,” Trump said on Sept. 11 when first announcing that the 31-year-old father of two would be given the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

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Bowyer said he expects the award ceremony to inspire millions of conservative young people who looked to Kirk for leadership.

“Charlie will be honored today on behalf of the millions of conservative activists he helped lift up to save the movement and the country. Today in the White House this award will be felt by every young man and young woman who was impacted by his work. They can wear it too by carrying on doing the work,” Bowyer said.

David Engelhardt, lead pastor of Kings’ Church New York City and board member of Turning Point, told the outlet it is a “profound privilege to be able to witness this moment recognizing Charlie’s courage, conviction and leadership in defense of faith and freedom.”

“Charlie is the right recipient to the Medal of Freedom because he believed that God’s moral order found in faith is not a limit to freedom but the soil it grows in,” said Engelhardt, who served as pastor and friend to the Kirk family. “People who destroy that soil in the name of safe-spaces and to protect against ‘dangerous ideas’ will soon find their land barren. Charlie stood for freedom rightly ordered and founded in the gravity of God’s system.”

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is given out at the discretion of each president who determines which individuals have made indelible contributions to the country.

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