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Charlie Kirk’s memorial service on Sunday stretched five hours, reflecting how President Trump, top members of his administration and many other Republican leaders appeared hopeful it might unify and fortify a conservative movement that had shown signs of cracking less than a year after they swept back into power.
Invoking a ‘Revival,’ GOP Hopes Kirk’s Legacy Unites and Endures
President Trump and GOP leaders say the slain activist’s work will carry them into a new era of influence and dominance.
Updated on: Sep 22, 2025, 12:46:03 IST
WSJ
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“This is like an old time revival, isn’t it?” Trump said, speaking before tens of thousands of people at the ceremony. He was just one of several speakers to use the word “revival.”
Before Kirk was assassinated on Sept. 10, Trump’s grip on the conservative movement was straining.
Elon Musk had departed the White House several months ago after a messy and public falling out with Trump. Republicans splintered over how far to push an investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. And Trump’s foreign policy was pulling the party in two directions, with one faction hopeful for more aggressive interventions and others insisting that the White House should disentangle the U.S. from problems thousands of miles away.
But all those differences appeared to fall away on Sunday, when speaker after speaker invoked Kirk’s legacy of inspiring younger Americans to believe in the conservative cause. Musk at one point sat down beside Trump at the Glendale, Ariz., stadium and shook the U.S. president’s hand, symbolic of a new unity Republicans are hoping to harness as they face historic headwinds in next year’s midterm elections.
Some speakers at the event focused more on Kirk’s Christian faith, while others noted the incredible political operation he inspired. The revival theme cut across many of these speeches as GOP leaders tried to envision the path ahead.
“It’s going to be bigger and better than ever before,” Trump said of Turning Point USA, the group Kirk founded years ago that will now be led by his widow, Erika Kirk. Organizers say they have been flooded with tens of thousands of requests for new chapters across the country, and people attending Sunday’s memorial were asked to register to vote if they hadn’t already.
Turning Point helped drive voter turnout in the 2024 election, and the organization could prove crucial to the Republican Party’s success in 2026 and beyond.
“After Charlie’s assassination, we didn’t see violence, we didn’t see rioting, we didn’t see revolution. Instead, we saw what my husband always prayed he would see in this country. We saw revival,” Erika Kirk said in her tearful speech in which she said she forgave her husband’s killer.
Some political experts see a rare window of opportunity for Trump and other Republicans following Kirk’s death.
“Undeniably there is a movement afoot,” said Anita McBride, who worked in three Republican administrations and is now at American University. “Both parties are struggling with a lot of changes right now and both have struggled to energize young people. There is no question young people have been energized here. Democrats should be concerned.”
“The race is on to organize the Kirk constituency, which clearly is much larger—and much more up for grabs—than anyone recognized,” said Don Kettl, professor emeritus and former dean of the University of Maryland School of Public Policy.
Democrats, he noted, struggled to excite younger voters in the last presidential election and face an additional challenge of redistricting battles under way as Trump works with red states to expand their map of winnable seats.
“The president’s party typically suffers from lower turnout in midterm elections, but Charlie Kirk’s death could motivate the Republican base, boost turnout and help the GOP mitigate a potential electoral wave against them,” said Nathan Gonzales, editor and publisher of the nonpartisan Inside Elections.
“Higher Republican turnout doesn’t automatically save the House majority, but it probably keeps the Senate out of reach for Democrats and helps the GOP avoid a midterm disaster,” he added.
The Trump administration has a number of challenges ahead. The president has to contend with the economy, which continues to show signs of shakiness, particularly in the labor market. His polarizing leadership has continued to divide the country. His moves on immigration, trade and law enforcement have gone beyond what even some of his supporters envisioned. He continues to stretch limits of presidential power and over the weekend demanded that Attorney General Pam Bondi get tougher on investigating his political enemies.
Trump has endured some pushback to his agenda from Republicans, but most GOP lawmakers have fallen in line amid threats of primary challenges. The concern for Trump and the GOP is losing swing voters who backed him in 2024, analysts said.
“While Kirk’s death could help the Republicans on the margins with turnout, I think next year’s midterms will likely follow the pattern of previous off year’s elections which were determined by the state of the economy and the views that the country had towards the governing party,” said Democratic strategist Doug Sosnik.
Kirk’s conservative message was especially appealing to men, and Trump’s campaign credits him with helping win the 2024 election. White House chief of staff Susie Wiles on Sunday praised “Charlie’s army” and said the best way to honor him would be to build on the foundation he laid “and making sure this generation knows that this movement is their home.”
Trump’s advisers are already seeking to maintain connections to Kirk’s organization. Last week, Vice President JD Vance hosted Kirk’s podcast, and he is seen as well positioned to tap in to that support should he run for president in 2028, as is expected.
Vance too framed Sunday’s memorial as hopeful, saying, “The evil murderer who took Charlie from us expected us to have a funeral today, and instead my friend, we have had a revival.”
Write to Alex Leary at alex.leary@wsj.com
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