Charlie Kirk Death: Trump Admin Lead Tributes to ‘Beloved Friend’ 1 Year On - Newsweek

One year after Charlie Kirk was allegedly assassinated at a Utah Valley University debate event, senior Trump administration figures marked the anniversary with public statements.

Kirk, who co‑founded Turning Point USA and became one of the most visible activists in the Trump coalition, was fatally shot by a rooftop sniper on September 10, 2025.

Nearly 100,000 people attended his memorial at State Farm Stadium in Arizona.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said on X: "Charlie was a beloved friend, an unflinching ally, and an indispensable warrior for America."

Miller added that Kirk “was murdered not only by an evil assassin but an entire ecosystem of far-left extremism that normalizes, justifies and glorifies violence against its political opponents,” arguing that dismantling those networks is essential to “the success of America.”

FBI Director Kash Patel described the past year as one defined by absence: “In the 365 days without my friend, Charlie Kirk, this country has felt a void that only he could uniquely fill.”

Patel called him “a political force” and “a patriot who loved America,” adding that the administration and its supporters “will continue to work for the movement you helped build.”

Former White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also paid tribute to Kirk, writing on X: "I will forever be sick to my stomach when I think about what happened to Charlie Kirk one year ago today. And I will never forget seeing President Trump’s absolutely devastated reaction when learning the news of his murder while sitting at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office.

"It’s still so hard to believe Charlie is actually gone.

"In his memory, may we recommit ourselves as conservatives to respectfully speaking the truth, especially with those whom we strongly disagree."

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted a tribute earlier in the day, saying: "We will never forget Charlie, but take great refuge in the fact that he is with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ."

Also on X, right-wing political commentator and YouTuber Benny Johnson wrote that a seat will be saved for Charlie inside the RNC convention. He said, "Charlie would have loved this event and commanded the floor and stage. This is a memorial to the future President we never had. We’ll keep fighting. See you in Heaven one day."

On the anniversary of Kirk's assassination, Johnson highlighted Kirk's ability to connect with audiences online by saying what he believed, drawing comparisons to both Trump and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

“AOC connects with people online. She’s quite authentic and she has millions and millions of followers and that’s very powerful, right? And that’s the game,” Johnson told Newsweek on the convention floor.

Johnson also said he he believes Trump's approval ratings “will go up” following the convention, but argued that the administration should remain focused on affordability.

“What people vote on are: cost of gas, cost of living, cost of groceries, cost of home affordability — that’s what I'm here to encourage the administration to focus on, period,” Johnson said. “That’s what wins elections, that’s what people want.”

Vice President JD Vance made additional comments on The Charlie Kirk Show, saying, "It's just hard to believe that he's been gone for a year,” noting that he and his wife have remained in contact with Erica Kirk and their children. He called the anniversary “a human tragedy,” adding, “As a young father myself, you know, what memories will the kids have of Charlie?”

Vance described the instinctive moments of forgetting Kirk is gone—“you pick up the phone and you dial his number, and then you hang up before he answers”—and the slow recognition that “he’s just not there anymore.”

He also pointed to Kirk’s role inside Republican politics: “One of the virtues that Charlie had that I always try to emulate is he was constitutionally incapable of envy,” he said.

Vance recalled Kirk cheering him on during his 2024 Republican National Convention speech, saying Kirk “was always rooting for you,” regardless of status or ambition.

“There's no silver lining to Charlie's death. It's a tragedy. It's terrible. It left a massive hole in the country, a massive hole in my heart and in my personal life," Vance said during his appearance on the podcast. “I'm pissed off. Sometimes I find myself talking to God and saying, ‘Why the hell would you do this? Why did you leave this big hole for all of us?’”

During his speech at the RNC midterm convention on Thursday, Vance made a pitch specifically to undecided men in the nation about the midterm elections.

"Young men, many of whom felt inspired by Charlie Kirk, but are unhappy with some of what has happened in the wake of his death. And I want to speak directly to that group because I think Charlie is a great example of how to disagree but still participate in the work of saving this country. Charlie...was dedicated to this movement in this country. He loved, and I do mean loved, the president of the United States. But in the eight months or so that we were in office before Charlie died, I talked to him a lot, almost every day. And Charlie was still a free thinker with his own principles and views. He did not always agree with us. Let me just give you one example. Charlie hated war," Vance said.

"What I'm asking you to do is do what Charlie did. Do not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Don't. Don't give the country over to a bunch of crazy people because you happen to disagree with us on a policy issue here or there," he added later.

Authorities arrested Tyler James Robinson, a 22‑year‑old from Washington, Utah, two days after the shooting. Prosecutors charged him with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, obstruction of justice, witness tampering and committing a violent offense in the presence of a child. Robinson’s first in‑person court appearance was on December 11.

On September 1, a Utah judge ruled that Robinson is competent to stand trial and ordered the case forward, a pivotal legal milestone nearly a year after the assassination. Robinson subsequently entered a plea of not guilty to all charges.

Investigators have not publicly outlined a motive, and that absence has fueled competing political narratives. Trump administration officials immediately blamed “left‑wing extremism,” while Democrats pointed to the country’s gun‑violence crisis.

The case also triggered a sweeping campaign by conservative activists and federal officials to punish people who mocked or criticized Kirk after his death—a crackdown that led to more than 100 suspensions, firings and investigations across schools, hospitals and government agencies.

Kirk was shot on September 10, 2025, at 12:23 p.m. MDT, roughly 20 minutes into a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University.

He was struck in the neck by a rooftop sniper while speaking before an audience of about 3,000 people. He was rushed to Timpanogos Regional Hospital and pronounced dead later that afternoon.

The shooting unfolded in real time across social media, prompting immediate reactions from Trump, all living former presidents, and foreign leaders.

Within hours, vigils formed outside U.S. embassies abroad, and the White House ordered flags lowered to half-staff nationwide.

A year after the assassination, the most controversial tribute is the six-figure bronze statue created by Italian-born sculptor Sergio Furnari—a project he funded entirely from his own savings.

Furnari spent $100,000 building the 6‑foot, 5-inch sculpture, depicting Kirk seated with his signature microphone and a T‑shirt reading “FREEDOM.”

He unveiled it in Times Square at 2:33 p.m. on September 10, marking the exact minute of Kirk’s death.

The statue has sparked intense backlash. Furnari told The Guardian that he has received messages from people threatening to deface it, mock the assassination or urinate on the sculpture. He also broke his foot while working on it and has struggled to recoup costs, raising only $1,400 of his $150,000 crowdfunding goal.

Despite not being a Kirk supporter, Furnari said he built the statue to honor free expression and to show empathy for Kirk’s widow and parents: “I feel like they killed him once, and they kill him each time, over and over again.”

Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Samantha Beech, Dave Siminoff, Anna Commander, Gray R. Thomas, Alex Backus