“Is that Charlie?”: Trump questions pacifist Kirk characterization at Medal of Freedom ceremony

President Donald Trump posthumously awarded Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Tuesday but not before objecting to frequent characterizations of the late political organizer as a pacifist Kirk an influential Republican operative who was celebrated for his youth outreach was assassinated during an event on a college campus in Utah last month In the wake of his death Kirk s peers and several of his enemies rushed to paint the activist as a peaceful believer in the power of debate and the First Amendment Trump pushed back against the idea during a speech on Tuesday You know I heard he loved his enemies Trump stated I commented Wait a minute is that the same Charlie that I know I m not so sure But I didn t want to get into it Later in the ceremony Trump stood behind Kirk s widow as she countered the president s remarks Surprisingly enough he did pray for his enemies Erika Kirk declared as Trump offered a grin and a theatrical shrug I saw him do it He never did it in front of anyone else but I can attest to that Erika Kirk to Trump He did pray for his enemies He did pic twitter com Jp Bf IB Acyn Acyn October Related Creation of a political martyr The dark history behind this moment Elsewhere in the ceremony Trump boasted about his good luck to survive an assassination attempt on the campaign trail After accusing his left-wing political opponents of having the devil s ideology he marveled at his good fortune They seem to become very violent on the left he disclosed They ve fired sniper rifles at ICE agents and me I made a turn at a good time I turned to the right Charlie couldn t believe it definitely He commented How the hell did you make that turn I stated I don t know ' Start your day with essential news from Salon Sign up for our free morning newsletter Crash Lesson Trump They have the devil's ideology They seem to become very violent on the left pic twitter com akFAFZ WRe Acyn Acyn October Read more about this topic MAGA can t expand its base and Christian music tells us why Charlie Kirk and the making of an AI-generated martyr Finish Charlie s fight Memorial becomes rally for revival The post Is that Charlie Trump questions pacifist Kirk characterization at Medal of Freedom ceremony appeared first on Salon com