President Donald Trump gave the medal to his widow, Erika Kirk, on what would have been her late husband’s 32nd birthday.
Kirk, who founded Turning Point at age 18, was killed by an assassin’s bullet Sept. 10 during a Turning Point USA event at Utah State University. That stop was supposed to be the first one on the "America's Comeback Tour" that would have gone to a dozen campuses across the country.
Before his death, Kirk was known for his college campus stops in which he engaged with political enemies, including angry and combative students.
In his remarks, the president called Kirk a “fearless warrior for liberty” who was killed by a “horrible, heinous, demonic act of murder.”
President Trump also called him a “martyr” whose political work and Christian faith deserve to be remembered along historic figures such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Abraham Lincoln.
After her husband's death, Erika Kirk was quickly named president of Turning Point by its board of directors.
“We are just remaining humble and grateful to God, and remaining stewards to what God has blessed us with,” she said on her late husband's podcast. “I know the Lord will continue to guide us.”
