Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, on Tuesday revealed that her late husband “probably would have run for president” had he lived.At the same time, US President Donald Trump honoured the MAGA commentator with a Rose Garden ceremony on what would have been his 32nd birthday, reports the New York Post.The ceremony came just weeks after Kirk was shot dead on September 10 during a speaking event at Utah Valley University. Police said 22-year-old Tyler Robinson killed him after disagreeing with his political views and also noted that Kirk spread “too much hatred.”Speaking before a crowd that included family, supporters, and administration officials, Erika described her husband as a man driven by faith and evangelical ideas. “There was no limit, no limit to what he would have sacrificed to defend freedom for all,” she said. “And if the moment had come, he probably would have run for president, but not out of ambition. He would only have done it if that was something that he believed that his country needed, from a servant’s heart standpoint.”Erika said that Kirk “fought for truth.” “Charlie lived only 31 short years on this side of heaven, but he lived every single second, every single day with purpose, and he fought for truth when it was unpopular, she added.
MAGA’s ‘martyr’ Kirk
Trump praised Kirk as a “martyr” for conservative values and compared him to some of history’s greatest figures. “Charlie Kirk was a martyr for truth and for freedom,” Trump said. “And from Socrates to Saint Peter, from Abraham Lincoln to Martin Luther King, those who change history the most — and he really did — have always risked their lives for causes they were put on Earth to defend.”The president added that he believed Kirk was “looking down on us right now,” calling his death a reminder of growing political violence. “We’ve watched legions of far-left radicals resort to desperate acts of violence and terror because they know that their ideas and arguments are persuading no one,” Trump said. “They have the devil’s ideology and they’re failing. And they know it. They feel it, and they become violent.”Trump told the audience he had “raced back halfway around the globe” from the Middle East after stops in Israel and Egypt for the Israel-Hamas peace deal to attend the tribute. “I didn’t have the courage to call Erika and ask if we could move it,” he said. “But you know why I didn’t call? Because I heard today was Charlie’s birthday.”Erika said her husband preferred quiet birthdays with mint chocolate chip ice cream. Fighting back tears, she told Trump, “I have spent seven and a half years trying to find the perfect birthday gift for Charlie. But now I can say with confidence, Mr. President, that you have given him the best birthday gift he could ever have.”
