“Ya’ll been losing your minds about how the left has ‘disrespected Charlie Kirk,’ but your guy has been on stage at his memorial service talking about himself for half an hour straight,” one person reacted.
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This weekend, thousands gathered for the memorial service of conservative personality Charlie Kirk.
Some speakers used their time to honor Kirk’s life. Others seemed to use the stage as a moment to rile up Republicans and spread political messaging — much to the critique of netizens online.
Here are 13 moments from Kirk’s memorial service that the internet cannot stop talking about.
1. One of the night’s most notable speakers was Donald Trump, who used his time… with interesting intention. Among many standout moments, Trump literally spread hate by declaring “I hate my opponent” and saying he does not wish his opponents well.
Trump said, “[Charlie Kirk] did not hate his opponents. He wanted the best for them. That’s where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponent. And I don’t want the best for them, I’m sorry… I can’t stand my opponent.”
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“What kind of f*cking ‘President’ gets up at a memorial service and says he HATES half the country,” one person reacted.
2. Also during his nearly 45-minute speech, Trump decided a memorial service was the perfect time to announce, “tomorrow we’re going to have one of the biggest announcement — really medically, I think — in the history of our country… I think we found an answer to autism. How about that? Autism. Tomorrow.”
Turning Point USA / Twitter: @allenanalysis
3. He also used the memorial to brag about tariffs making the country “rich again.”
“Tariffs are making us rich again. Richer than anybody ever thought was possible. And the only one challenging them are people that hate our country or foreign countries that are paying a price… We’re making money. We’re becoming richer and richer,” he said.
C-SPAN / Twitter: @mattxiv
4. Also during the memorial service — a memorial service — Trump promised he’d send the national guard to several more US cities with Kirk in mind.
“We’re going into Memphis and we’ll get that one straightened out fast,” he continued. “We’re going to go do Chicago, and we’re going to have Charlie very much in mind when we go into Chicago. And we’ll get that one straightened out.”
C-SPAN / Twitter: @MeidasTouch
5. People are accusing the president of using his entire speech, which can be viewed here, to turn the service “into a campaign event.”
Turning Point USA / Twitter: @allenanalysis
“Ya’ll been losing your minds about how the left has ‘disrespected Charlie Kirk,’ but your guy has been on stage at his memorial service talking about himself for half an hour straight,” someone said.
6. Moving away from Trump, some found it odd that Kirk’s memorial was also used for voter registration.
Twitter: @AmoneyResists
7. Shifting to another speaker, Health Secretary RFK Jr. compared Kirk to Jesus Christ.
“Christ died at 33 years old, but he changed the trajectory of history,” he said. “Charlie died at 31 years old because he had surrendered. He also now has changed the trajectory of history.”
8. Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk also took the stage in a notable fashion:
Turning Point USA / Twitter: @_TruthZone_
9. Conservatives celebrated her speech as an antithesis of feminism.
C-SPAN / Twitter: @enchantednaz
10. Key moments include Erika Kirk asking “men around the world” to accept Charlie’s challenge and embrace “true manhood” by leading their wives.
As for women, Kirk said she had a “challenge” for them too: “Be virtuous. Our strength is found in god’s design for our role. We are the guardians. We are the encouragers. We are the preservers… And if you are a mother, please recognize that is the single most important ministry you have.”
11. She also spoke about “God’s design for marriage” and the importance in making the home a place her busy husband “wanted to be.”
“In our home… I made sure that when Charlie returned from work, it was his sacred landing place away from the worries of the world. I didn’t make him feel guilty for being away too long or too much, or getting home too late. I always told him home is here for you and it’ll be ready for you. And I made it into this place where he wanted to be as soon as possible when he was on the rode,” she said.
12. White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller delivered this ominous message:
“The light will defeat the dark. We will prevail over the forces of wickedness and evil. They cannot imagine what they have awakened. They cannot concieve of the army that they have arisen in all of us, because we stand for what is good, what is virtuous, what is noble.”
13. And finally, after the event, piles of trash were seen scattered around the stadium.