Trump to posthumously award Charlie Kirk with Presidential Medal of Freedom

Last edited Thu Sep 11, 2025, 03:18 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: The Hill

by Alex Gangitano - 09/11/25 10:15 AM ET

President Trump on Thursday announced he will posthumously award conservative activist Charlie Kirk with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, a day after Kirk was shot and killed while speaking to a large crowd at Utah Valley University.

The president made the announcement at the top of his remarks at the Pentagon where he was commemorating the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He said the date of the medal ceremony will be announced later.

“Before we begin, let me express the horror and grief so many Americans at the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk,” Trump said. “Charlie was a giant of his generation, a champion of liberty and an inspiration to millions and millions of people.”

Trump called Kirk’s family “fantastic people.” “We miss him greatly, and yet I have no doubt that Charlie’s voice … will live on,” he said.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5498203-charlie-kirk-presidential-medal/

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I wouldn't call him "fantastic people."

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Update: Among those who have received it are Simone Biles, Walt Disney, Martha Graham, Duke Ellington, Fred Rogers (by George W. Bush), Rosa Parks, Mother Teresa (by Ronald Reagan), Margaret Thatcher (by George H.W. Bush), Bob Dylan and Tiger Woods (by Trump in 2019) and also posthumously to John F. Kennedy, Steve Jobs, Pope John XXIII, Lyndon Johnson, John Wayne, Paul "Bear" Bryant, Thurgood Marshall, Cesar Chavez, Walter Reuther, Roberto Clemente, Jack Kemp, Harvey Milk, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, Elouise Cobell, Grace Hopper,[12] Antonin Scalia, Elvis Presley and Babe Ruth.

I noted the Republican president recipients because those presidents didn't spit on the award as Trump has now.