The ideal qualifications to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom are no longer about the greater good of the nation, but the interests of the current administration. After political commentator Charlie Kirk’s assassination during his “America Comeback Tour” at Utah Valley University, President Donald Trump granted C. Kirk the American Medal of Freedom, which was posthumously awarded to his wife, Erica Kirk. On C. Kirk’s 32nd birthday, Trump coordinated an event devoted to the acceptance of the medal, applauded the “martyr” C. Kirk was and continued his pity party against “radical leftists.”
President Harry S. Truman adopted The Medal of Freedom as presidential tradition in 1945, and President John F. Kennedy renamed it to the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963. The honor has traditionally been awarded to those who ensure the security of “the national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant endeavors.” When following the guidelines of the medal, one can suggest that while C. Kirk’s passing was unfortunate and certainly uncalled for, he was far from representing the fundamentals of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Much of the ceremony devoted to C. Kirk’s Presidential Medal of Freedom discussed his legacy.
“Charlie was a martyr for the truth of freedom,” Trump said, exploiting the medal’s specific meaning. While conservative, Christian Americans profoundly love C. Kirk, but they fail to realize he was far from embodying the true values of a Christian. C.Kirk fell short of his own belief that firearm deaths were an “acceptable cost” to defend the Second Amendment, as well as articulating the majority of his podcast episodes and debates around MAGA and Trump’s heinous agenda.
Kirk vocalized who he truly was through casual racism, like questioning a pilot’s qualification based on their skin color, calling gender-affirming care “child mutilation” and being dismissive of a woman’s right to abortion..
Trump not only implored the devastation behind C. Kirk’s death, but also strongly catered his hatred toward “far left radicals”, by continuing to reward C. Kirk’s demising behaviors towards minorities. Without hesitation, Republicans and other conservative politicians concluded that the suspect was “a far left radical who resorted to desperate acts of violence and terror.” In addition to this falsified accusation, data have shown that the increase in violence committed by civilians has been a result of all existing ideologies, without regard to a particular party.
Trump has continued to keep proximity with the Kirk family, understanding that much of his success was thanks to C. Kirk’s ability to organize and mobilize around pro-Trump ideologies, in addition to making room for hatred against his rivals in a time of grief and distress.
It is catastrophic that C. Kirk, despite his divisive views, has lost his life to gun violence; however, the government must hold all gun violence acts at the same level of importance and work toward the greater interest of America’s safety. Rewarding medals and falsely blaming his opponents at an event the president hosted for his “beloved friend” shows unprofessionalism and Trump’s inability to be held accountable. Let this not be a mere depiction of a poorly organized administration, but a means of initiative to protect all civilians whose lives are continuously being endangered by gun violence.
