Charles James Kirk Memorial

The memorial service for Charles James Kirk (October 14, 1993 – September 10, 2025) was a powerful testament to the unity and strength of the conservative community. Held on Sunday, September 21, in Glendale, Arizona, at the State Farm Stadium and overflow arena outside Phoenix, the event drew an overflow crowd of 100,000, with millions more tuning in from around the world. Charlie Kirk's memorial was a unique blend of religious gathering and political rally; a reflection of the massive influence he had on conservative America and his ability to mobilize young people.

Charlie was an American conservative political influencer and media personality. He sought to challenge the secular culture, and became noted for his Christian testimony as he went centre stage on many university campuses with his dialogue of ‘question and answer’ sessions under the banner 'Prove Me Wrong', where he invited students to challenge his conservative views.

In addition to espousing typical conservative political views, Charlie said he wanted to reach the lost boys of the west -the young men who felt they had no direction, purpose, without faith, were wasting their lives on distractions, living with resentment, anger, and hate. Charlie wanted to uplift them, and he offered a social home with his organization 'Turning Point USA', a platform that provided mentorship, resources, and a sense of community to these young men.  

Widow Erika Lane Kirk (36 yrs) said:  “My husband Charlie wanted to save young men, just like the one who took his life. That young man. That young man on the cross.  Our Savior said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."  That man; that young man. I forgive him. I forgive him because it was what Christ did in his. What Charlie would do. The answer to hate is not hate. The answer we know from the gospel is love and always love -love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us. The world needs ‘Turning Point USA’. It needs a group that will point young people away from the path of misery and sin. It needs something that will lead people away from hell in this world and in the next. It needs young people pointed in the direction of truth and beauty. And so, I promise you today, every part of our work will become greater.” 

The five-hour program included Christian music from Lee Greenwood, Steve Amerson, Chris Tomlin, Brandon Lake, Phil Wickham, Kari Jobe Carnes, and Cody Carnes.

Some of the speakers were Rev. Rob McCoy, Sergio Gor, Stephen Miller, Tucker Carlson, Dr. Ben Carson, Jack Posobiec, Donald Trump Jr., Dir. Tulsi Gabbard, Sec. Pete Hegseth, Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Sec. Marco Rubio, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, Vice President JD Vance, President Donald Trump, Erika Kirk (widow)

The memorial was a historical Christian spectacle that will be remembered and analyzed for years to come.  Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, paid tribute by citing the gospel message of the resurrection of Jesus.  Stephen Miller, a deputy White House chief of staff, envisioned a spiritual uprising in Mr. Kirk's wake. This movement would continue to inspire and mobilize young people towards conservative values. Vice President JD Vance said Mr. Kirk’s influence had reshaped the balance of political talk, alluding to Charlie’s faith. Because of it, he said that he had talked more about Jesus Christ in the past two weeks in the public forum than in his time in public office.

In the packed football stadium, the highest levels of U.S. government and evangelical Christian expression came together for a few hours. The commemorative event reflected the degree to which conservative Christianity has melded with Republican politics in the Trump era.

The theme that Mr. Kirk is a modern-day Christian martyr was noted throughout the service. Vice President Vance said, “We must remember that he is a hero to the United States of America. And he is a martyr for the Christian faith.” Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense, shared the Christian message of washing away sins. “We always did need less government. But what Charlie infused into his movement is that we also needed a lot more God.”

Near the close of the event, President Trump called Mr. Kirk a martyr, but described him not as a Christian martyr but an American one. “Our greatest evangelist for American liberty became immortal. He’s a martyr now for American freedom.”

Charlie Kirk's ambition extended beyond seeking a position within the Trump administration. In the last year, it became clear that he aimed for something larger: reshaping the Republican Party, American politics, and society itself. He envisioned transforming the culture through his organization, a testament to his vision and commitment.

Mr. Kirk was only 18 when he founded Turning Point USA in 2012, as a conservative response to liberal organizing platforms and groups. By the start of the first Trump administration in 2017, Mr. Kirk was already in regular rotation on the conservative TV pundit circuit and an in-demand speaker among conservative organizations. He proved to be a captivating speaker and a skillful debater, with a gift for bringing clarity to President Trump’s sometimes elliptical statements.

He became somewhat influential within the administration and was said to have visited the White House many times during Trump’s first term. He focused his activism on what he characterized as rampant Marxism and gender ideology on college campuses. He encouraged students to call out professors who embraced such ideas, and he did the same in appealing to parents and grade school students.

Under Charlie Kirk's leadership, ‘Turning Point USA’ experienced significant growth. The organization added dozens of campus chapters each year, effectively displacing older conservative youth organizations. Kirk's commitment to bringing high-profile conservative speakers to colleges, providing training, networking, and organizing, created a united group of engaged young people and future politicos, a testament to his enduring influence.

Undaunted, Mr. Kirk was among the first to rally around Mr. Trump once he left office, traveling to the Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida to strategize a comeback. Mr. Kirk sensed that the country was not done with Trump, and that the new Biden administration was seriously flawed.

Mr. Kirk also created a separate group, ‘Turning Point Faith’, to amplify the role of Christian testimony in the public square coming from the church community. He doubled down on his social critiques of the left, which he said had taken over campuses, corporate America, and government.

Charlie Kirk was not initially a Trump supporter. During the 2016 Republican primaries, he first supported Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin and then Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. But he was won over to the Trump campaign after a meeting with Donald Jr., who hired him as a social media coordinator.

Although he rarely touched on religion during his early years, Mr. Kirk increasingly embraced evangelical Christianity following the COVID pandemic. He grew more critical of gay rights radicalism and the notion of separation of church and state, and began to cite the Bible for support for his critiques. He spoke frequently of an American Renaissance.

Kirk continued to build support among young voters with his ‘American Comeback’ tour, which brought him to Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025. About 3,000 onlookers cheered as he took the stage in the university courtyard. He spoke briefly, then came the sound of a gunshot, and American social culture changed.

The passage of time gives perspective. For example, the international shock and grief at the passing of Princess Diana on August 31, 1997, faded into our culture. The horror of airplanes flying into buildings on September 11, 2001, is remembered respectfully. The 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King is commemorated in the USA on the third Monday of January each year, and was first observed in 1986.  The full impact of Charlie Kirk’s example will surely unfold. 

President Trump said he will award Charlie Kirk a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States, at a ceremony in the days ahead. We in Canada can only hope that powerful and credible conservative voices emerge to push back against the hurt in Canadian culture.  

In the study “The Politics of the Culture Wars in Contemporary Canada," the McDonald-Laurer Institute report says there is an untapped market for strongly vocalized traditional conservative values. It shows that Canadian attitudes lean about 2 to 1 against the cultural socialist position of the left-wing voices, and that Canadian opinion data is somewhat similar to that in the United States and Britain. For example,

• Respondents oppose teaching children that “There is no such thing as biological sex, only gender preference” by 85 to 15;

• Canadians oppose gender reassignment surgery for under-16s by 4 to 1;

• By a 78 to 22 margin, Canadians agree that “political correctness has gone too far”;

• By a 70 to 30 margin, Canadians oppose the idea that Canada is a racist country, and a similar share do not want this taught at school;

• By 70 to 30, people prefer a colour blind rather than colour-conscious approach to issues in society;

• Canadians oppose removing statues of Prime Minister John A. Macdonald by a 2 to 1 ratio;

• By a 2 to 1 margin, people said we talk too much about race in Canada;

• Respondents, by a 2 to 1 ratio, want parents informed when children under age 16 change pronouns at school;

• Respondents, by a 2 to 1 ratio, do not want transgender individuals to enter women’s sports competitions;

• More Canadians disapprove than approve of people displaying their preferred pronouns;

• Younger Canadians are substantially less likely than younger Britons or Americans to describe their country as racist;

• Those who have taken diversity training (indoctrination) are significantly more fearful of losing their job or reputation for what they say than those who have not;

• Those who have taken diversity training are significantly more ‘woke’ than those who have not;

• Francophone attitudes are generally very similar to Anglophone attitudes on culture war questions;

• Survey results suggest that conservative parties can gain electoral support by defending historical figures and symbols and resisting trans-activist policies.  Parties on the left are advised to deflect or avoid such issues as they are electorally costly.

• Results indicate that diversity training (DEI) needs to be reformed or abolished in organizations as it heightens employee anxiety, advances contentious beliefs, and produces social division.

The task of Canadian conservative political and cultural leadership is to use facts and evidence to deconstruct the myths encoded in the progressive narrative, which underpins the ‘woke’ cultural movement that has recently dominated the official elite institutional agenda.

Canadians recoil when they learn that the cultural Marxism of ‘Diversity-Equity-Inclusion’ programs have been extensively used since 2016 in corporate employee training, union education programs, public sector employee indoctrination, and at the federal level, over one billion has been spent by the government in 29 departments for this ideology, instead of transferring these tax dollars to Provinces for Healthcare.

Canada needs a cultural renewal. We hope that the grassroots movement represented by Charlie Kirk and many others in America will find fertile ground in Canada to lift us out of our dark malaise. We must discover the Canadian way into a truth-based society of personal responsibility, rule of law, science, and responsible journalism, allowing for maximum human flourishing and peace.