Most Americans tuned in for at least a portion of Charlie Kirk’s memorial in his adopted home state of Arizona. The average Super Bowl draws an in-person crowd of about 70,000 people. More than 300,000 showed up to remember a kid from Chicago who grew up to found the largest youth political movement in human history.
We now have a better understanding of why God spared President Donald Trump’s life in Butler, PA, in July 2024. And millions of young Americans are ready to pick up Charlie’s mantle (a deeply Biblical principle) to carry that mission forward. We’re already seeing early signs of what that will look like.
The memorial itself was amazing. It was an hours-long production involving a memorial service, many musical acts, and a speaking lineup that included most of the key figures in the Trump administration.
Professional organizers say putting on a production like that would normally take 6 to 9 months. Especially when you consider all the security that was needed for it. The kids at Turning Point USA put it all together in just five days, and everything went off without a single technical glitch. They did for Charlie, and our hats go off to them for putting together such a touching tribute for the leader they lost.
The speakers included Charlie’s pastor and other Christian evangelists, Tucker Carlson, Jack Posobiec, DNI Tulsi Gabbard, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President JD Vance, and President Donald Trump. (Attorney General Pam Bondi couldn’t make it. She was busy with her 740th appearance on Fox News this year, talking about herself.)
Charlie’s widow Erika delivered a wrenching tribute to her late husband. It was probably shocking to many people when she publicly forgave the Democrat who murdered Charlie in cold blood.
President Trump followed Erika’s speech and had a slightly different message. He told the crowd that he despises his enemies and does not want the best for them.
If that juxtaposition confuses you in any way, it probably means you haven’t been in a good church service for a while. It is the widow’s Christian duty to forgive. It is the ruler’s Christian duty to dispense justice. Both Erika and President Trump understand their Christian duties at the most fundamental level.
Democrats had a slightly different take on Charlie’s beautiful and touching memorial. In Chicago, some rock band at a music festival beheaded an effigy of Elon Musk in a DOGE t-shirt. CNN and MSNBC both went with variations of a headline like, “Trump: I hate my enemies” to cover the memorial.
Here’s how the childless cat ladies at HuffPost reacted:
We all experienced shock and dismay at Charlie’s murder, which quickly settled into grief. But this has also served as a political ignition point. The only data we have yet is from the first three days after Charlie’s assassination. But here it is.
Turning Point USA received 37,000 new chapter requests on the Thursday and Friday after Charlie’s death. It was brutal to watch Charlie’s last moments on this earth, but what a shock to the system that must have been for young people. When you’re a college-aged kid, you think you have the rest of your life to “make a difference.” None of us really knows when the end is coming, though. Especially with demons walking among us. They’ve been driven to act now. Turning Point had voter registration tables set up at the memorial, and many registered for the first time.
In Pennsylvania, there were more than 1,200 new Republican registrations in the first three days after Charlie died. Democrats are switching their party registration in Pennsylvania to Republican by a 3:1 margin. In North Carolina, GOP registrations suddenly quadrupled. In Arizona, they had about 1,000 new registrations in the first three days.
In New Jersey, Republican Jack Ciattarelli has been trailing US Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) by more than 9 points in next year’s gubernatorial election. One week after Charlie’s death, Ciattarelli is polling in the lead. In a BLUE state.
Millions of Americans are going back to church and waking up to the fact that we had nearly lost our country. This is what a true Christian revival feels like. And it’s only getting started.
Charlie would have loved this.