US President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk shake hands during the public memorial service for right-wing activist Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on September 21, 2025. Photo: CFP

Around 95,000 people gathered for Charlie Kirk's public memorial on Sunday at State Farm Stadium and an overflow arena outside Phoenix with religion and politics were central throughout the event, according to a live update from the NBC News.

Charlie Kirk, 31, was assassinated September 10 while he was speaking at a campus event at Utah Valley University. Tyler Robinson has been charged with aggravated murder, among other charges, said the report. 

US President Donald Trump attended the funeral service and delivered a "lengthy speech." Trump said he'd "award Charlie the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom." He remembered Kirk as "bigger now than ever before," calling him "eternal." Trump first announced the award for Kirk recently in remarks at the Pentagon's event to commemorate the 9/11 attacks, per NBC. 

Trump spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One as he traveled back to Washington, DC, from Arizona following Charlie Kirk's memorial service, noting that "For an investigation that's ongoing, I think they've done an incredible job," Trump said of the probe into Kirk's assassination, according to CNN.

Asked what he would do to ensure that Kirk's vision would be carried forward over the next few years, Trump said, "It'll be automatic," adding that he thinks "Turning Point is going to be a very big factor," referring to the organization Kirk co-founded.

Erika Kirk — Kirk's widow who is now taking the helm of Turning Point USA, the organization he founded — gave an emotional speech where she described the heartbreak she's felt since her husband's killing and his vision for America's future. Through tears, she said she forgives her husband's accused assassin.

The report also noted that Conservative leaders — including top Trump administration officials such as Vice President JD Vance — spoke at the service. Prominent speakers issued a rallying cry to continue Kirk's work and recalled the activist as a personal friend. Vance delivered an emotional and defiant speech, describing the event not as a moment of mourning, but as a revival of the conservative activist's legacy and faith.

Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk were also spotted together at the memorial service, months after their public falling-out, according to multiple media reports. 

The official White House Rapid Response account posted a video, showing Trump extended his hand out to Musk, and the two exchanged a handshake before the tech billionaire stood up and walked away from the president. The Hill report also noted that at one point, Trump appeared to introduce Musk to Dana White, CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Musk also posted a picture of him and Trump together and captioned it "For Charlie."

The Guardian said in a report on Sunday that Kirk's memorial was "part spiritual revival and part political rally, with a program that included Donald Trump and prominent members of the president's Make America Great Again (Maga) movement." Mourners obliged the red, white and blue "Sunday best" dress code, filling the at-capacity venue with stars, stripes and Maga hats.

It also noted that as the afternoon wore on, the speeches became sharper and more political - a battle cry that implored the government officials present to be aggressive in "wielding the sword against evil." There were only a handful of explicit references to Democrats and the left - but many speeches mixed personal remembrances of Kirk with a searing vilification of his ideological opponents.

A NBC News report on Sunday said that "Kirk's funeral serves as a conservative 'revival,' mixing calls for forgiveness and vengeance. It noted that some called for forgiveness and unity. Others called for combat and retribution. But one thing the Republican leaders had in common in their speeches was that the activist's assassination should be a turning point, the start of a revival for religious conservatives.

Global Times