Trump arrives amid ear-splitting roar from crowd inside stadium
Lauren Gambino
at the State Farm stadium in Glendale, Arizona
An ear-splitting roar just broke out as the camera showed Donald Trump for the first time. The president flew from the White House to Glendale on Sunday morning for the service.
From a box on an upper level of the arena, Trump, wearing a red tie, pumped his fist.
“We’re going to celebrate the life of a great man today,” Trump told reporters before departing Washington earlier today. He said he was braced for a “tough day.”
Key events
Charlie Kirk’s memorial service kicked off with religious tributes made by his colleagues and friends who recounted their memories of the slain 31-year old who founded the conservative advocacy organization Turning Point USA.
The tributes then slowly made way for more political messaging with very few calls of unity.
Addressing the crowd was Ben Carson, a former Republican presidential candidate and Trump’s transporation secretary during his first term.
In a politically charged address, Carson made references to 1950s communism and alleged progressive attempts to gain control of media outlets and Hollywood.
Meanwhile, Florida’s Republican representative Anna Paulina Luna, compared Kirk to Martin Luther King Jr, the civil rights icon who Kirk once called “awful” who “said one good thing he actually didn’t believe”.
Addressing the crowd, Luna said that Kirk “altered the trajectory of our modern fight against cultural decay and ideological tyranny”.
Robert Mackey
Republican lawmakers in Oklahoma introduced legislation this week that would require every public university in the state to construct “a Charlie Kirk Memorial Plaza”, with a statue of the assassinated Republican activist and a sign calling him a “modern civil rights leader”, or pay monthly fines.
Each plaza must also include “permanent signage commemorating Charlie Kirk’s courage and faith and explaining the significance of Charlie Kirk as a voice of a generation, modern civil rights leader, vocal Christian, martyr for truth and faith, and free speech advocate”.
The state-dictated reference to Kirk as a civil rights leader echoes the widespread effort on the right to cast the founder of the conservative youth group Turning Point USA as a figure equivalent to Martin Luther King Jr, a man Kirk once called “awful”.
After everyone from a Georgia representative to a deputy chief of the New York police department made the comparison with MLK, the slain civil rights leader’s son, Martin Luther King III, took time this week to reject it, noting that Kirk had accused prominent Black women of lacking “the brain processing power to be taken seriously”, while his father “was about bringing people together”.
“When you’re doing that, it’s a disservice to unification,” King told a reporter in Virginia. Kirk, he said, “certainly was a force in this society and a significant force, but I just disagree with the position that his force was about inclusiveness. When you denigrate Black women and say that somebody is in a position just because of the color of their skin, that’s gravely false.”
Donald Trump’s motorcade has arrived at State Farm stadium a few minutes ago, according to multiple reports.
Trump is expected to be the last speaker at Charlie Kirk’s memorial service.
Alaina Demopoulos
In the days after his killing, Charlie Kirk was remembered by his allies as a great debater. A quote taken from a widely shared video of Kirk discussing his life’s work – “when people stop talking, that’s when violence happens” – emblematized such eulogies.
Kirk toured American college campuses with his rightwing non-profit Turning Point USA, where he would set up a tent, table and microphone, and debate with undergrads. The goal, he said, was to “save western civilization”, and remembrances after his death positioned him as a budding statesman – a conservative hero who strode across the political divide for the sake of open dialogue.
Kirk applied basic rules of civility to his debate style, asking opponents their name and saying it was nice to meet them. He engaged young people in political discourse at a time when society has been split into bitterly antagonistic camps. But his critics are taking issue with any version of his legacy that does not account for the bigoted nature of his arguments. They are also closely examining his very style of debate.
“I don’t think Charlie entered debates to come to a common consensus or to discover the truth,” said Mason, a 26-year-old graduate student who debated with Kirk on the YouTube show Surrounded last fall. “I think Charlie came to debates to verbally beat his opponents.”
Trump arrives in Arizona for Charlie Kirk’s memorial service
Donald Trump has arrived on Air Force One in Arizona for Charlie Kirk’s memorial service.
Trump, alongside other high-profile cabinet members including JD Vance and defense secretary Pete Hegseth, are set to deliver remarks on Kirk.
Here are some images coming through the newswires from State Farm stadium as Charlie Kirk’s memorial service goes under way:
Lauren Gambino
at the State Farm stadium in Glendale, Arizona
Many people traveled far and wide to pay tribute to Charlie Kirk in Glendale on Sunday. Among them was Eddie Wallin, a 30-year-old from Sweden who crossed the Atlantic to honor the slain organizer.
His journey took him from Sweden to Texas, where he rented a car and said he drove 17 hours straight to make it to Glendale in time for the memorial. He subsisted on bananas and other sugary provisions to keep him alert.
Wallin, wearing a white shirt emblazoned with “Freedom,” said he had first met Kirk in 2019, during a trip to Texas. He recalled that Kirk, smiling, told him he’d never thought he’d meet a Swedish conservative. Six years later, Wallin said he encountered Kirk again during the 2024 presidential election and was surprised when the organizer, by then a hugely prominent figure in Maga politics, remembered him.
“After so many years he remembered me,” Wallin said. “I will remember him for my whole life.”
Lauren Gambino
at the State Farm stadium in Glendale, Arizona
For much of the morning, attendees in the packed stadium have been listening to Christian worship music.
Many sang along with the lyrics, while some raised their hands and swayed. It’s a striking contrast from a Trump rally where the play list often features Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the USA, the Village People’s YMCA and Luciano Pavarotti’s“Ave Maria”.
The event, like Turning Points itself, has blended faith and politics for a new generation of conservatives.
Chris Tomlin, a Christian music singer, is singing now along with the audience, which joins him for the refrain: “You will always be holy / holy forever.”
Robert Mackey
As he left the White House for Phoenix this morning, Donald Trump praised Charlie Kirk’s mobilization of college students through Turning Point USA, the organization that he founded instead of going to college himself.
“For a young man, he did a great job, a tremendous job,” Trump said. “He had a hold on youth because they loved him. They respected him. And if you go back 10 years, those colleges were dangerous places for conservatives. And now they’re hot. They’re very hot. Just like this country is hot.”
As our colleague Alice Speri reported, TPUSA has over 900 chapters on college campuses and claims to have “incubated” more than 350 rightwing influencers over the years.
Kirk himself, however, was broadly unpopular among college students, according to polling after his death. Research done for Puck last week revealed that 70% of students surveyed, at community colleges, technical colleges, trade schools, and public and private four-year institutions, said that they disagreed with Kirk’s views. Just 30% said they agreed with what he had to say.
Lauren Gambino
at the State Farm stadium in Glendale, Arizona
All around the arena are black and white photos of Charlie Kirk, with his wife, Erika, and their children. One shows him tossing a Maga hat into the crowd and several of him speaking.
Emotions were raw in the stadium, as the band played a lengthy instrumental interlude and the camera panned the crowd, which rose to its feet, holding red, black and white signs that said “Turning Points.” One group held a poster with a sketch of Kirk and the biblical verse, “Here I am Lord. Send me.”
Loud applause rang out when the monitor showed an image of Kirk. An announcer called Kirk a “our friend and hero”.
Charlie Kirk’s memorial service is set to begin shortly.
Among the notable speakers include Donald Trump, JD Vance, defense secretary Pete Hegseth and secretary of state Marco Rubio.
Kirk’s wife, Erika, is also due to deliver remarks.
Lauren Gambino
at the State Farm stadium in Glendale, Arizona
Officials and prominent Maga world influencers are filling the arena.
Congresswoman Lauren Boebert was among those who have arrived. Conservative activist Scott Presler posed for photos and Steve Bannon was spotted being escorted around into the venue. Elon Musk said on X he was in attendance.
Credentialed alongside the traditional press corps are several new media podcast hosts, YouTubers and young influencers, including some children – a testament to his vast influence on young conservatives.