Charlie Kirk memorial service held in Arizona.

 

Mourners pray during Charlie Kirk's memorial service. USA Today/The Republic.

Charlie Kirk's memorial service was held today in Arizona. USA Today. Kirk was assassinated in Utah earlier this month and his memorial service honored him. Many of the Republican's biggest figures, including President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke at the memorial while other large figures, like Elon Musk, attended. Most notable is Kirk's wife, Erika Kirk, who said she forgives the assassin, in accordance with her Christian faith. 

My Comment:

I didn't watch the memorial service, largely because I'm no good at funerals. But it is worth covering due to a few news worthy things that happened during the service, and I still had a few more things to say about the death and impact of Charlie Kirk. 

First, the news. It is notable that Erika Kirk was able to forgive the man that killed her husband. Forgiveness is a virtue in the Christian faith and it does show that Erika Kirk is obviously a good person. I don't know if I could forgive someone under these circumstances and I have to say that I don't actually forgive Tyler Robinson for his assassination. Does that make me a bad person? Maybe, but I never claimed to be perfect. 

The other big news from the memorial service is that it appears that Elon Musk and President Trump have made up. They were seen sitting with each other during the funeral and that's a huge sign that their feud is over. It already seemed like it was pretty much on the backburner and I am guessing that Musk had a come to Jesus moment, possibly literally, when he remembered that though the Republicans have flaws, he has a better chance with them in getting what he wants. 

But I am guessing that Kirk's assassination had a lot to do with Musk and Trump's reconciliation. Both men have faced major threats against their lives and I think Musk understands that it's a "hang together or hang separately" kind of thing. They both understand that their petty arguments over the Big Beautiful Bill and Jeffrey Epstein are pretty small in the big scheme of things and their common enemies are becoming more violent. 

And it's not like they are wrong. We have seen a ton of violence from folks on the left lately. The Kirk assassination is obviously the biggest one but there was the school shooting in Minnesota too. And this weekend we had two incidents too, where a man attacked a local ABC News station in the wake of Jimmy Kimmel getting fired, and an attempted mass shooting in New Hampshire, that was put down by a good Samaritan, where the attacker said "Free Palestine".

As for the long term effects of Kirk's death, I think it's clear now that things have absolutely changed in this country due to his death. Seeing him assassinated in HD video traumatized everyone that saw it and you absolutely can't argue that he wasn't a martyr for free speech. It's pretty much on the scale of the assassinations of JRK, RFK and Martin Luther King Jr. And like those three men I think he will have an almost mythical status for this generation of Republicans. 

I'd also say that I am thinking that Charlie Kirk's death might lead to a religious revival. The United States does generally have a cycle of religiosity, with the most recent one being 40 years ago in the 1980's. It's about time regardless, but Kirks death and his obvious faith in Christianity is obviously having an effect. He made good arguments for religion, from what I understand, and I have heard a lot of personal accounts of folks going back to church or doing so for the first time. Erika Kirk's statement of faith, forgiving her husband's killer, is a great example of practicing what you preach and will have an impact as well. 

As for the left, they can't help but to beclown themselves, even today. Indeed, folks were making fun of a child's drawing of Kirk because, well, I don't know why. I still say that the biggest effect of Kirk's assassination is showing to the world just how many folks on the left have completely lost the plot. Folks have lost their jobs for the horrible things they are saying about Kirk and it's absolutely having a major impact. Nobody that isn't a true believer is going to want to vote for the Democrats if they can't figure out a way to have their supporters not act like this. 

And I certainly don't think this is the end of violence from the left. Far too many of them have mentally justified violence against their political enemies. Most of them will be too lazy, too scared or too incompetent to actually do anything but some will try and I think there will be more blood before this burns itself out. Indeed, I was concerned that there would be violence at the memorial, but I am guessing the security for the event was extreme given how many major government figures were there. 

The good news is that Robinson's actions have backfired spectacularly. I hope that he has seen just how badly his attack has backfired. The Democrats are weaker than they have ever been and folks are now open about how tired they are of the transgender community. The man he murdered will be a legend for generations and it's going to be a rallying cry for the 2026 midterms. He never understood that violence has this affect when it's an one off like this, but I think he understands now.