"According to a rough transcript of Charlie Kirk's memorial service, the word "martyr" was uttered less than 10 times. But to the 90,000-plus people watching live in Glendale, Arizona, and the 100 million who reportedly watched the livestream, it didn't have to be stated so explicitly. As every speaker at the four-hourlong service repeatedly exhorted, the 31-year-old Turning Point USA co-founder had died as a faithful servant of Christ, bringing the gospel to college students to save them from the spiritual darkness of the left."
"But to the emissaries from Trumpworld, Kirk was also a political ally in charge of a huge activist network. So far as I can tell, Donald Trump Jr., Vice President JD Vance, and President Donald Trump were the only people who used the word "martyr." You could tell from the way they spoke, as did the other speakers from the political world, that they intended to leverage his death for maximum political results. And they could only do it if they won over the evangelical Christians in attendance."
The memorial service presented Charlie Kirk as a faithful servant of Christ who brought the gospel to college students to rescue them from perceived spiritual darkness on the left. Attendance and viewership numbers were enormous, with over 90,000 in Glendale and reports of roughly 100 million livestream viewers. Religious language of martyrdom circulated sparingly but resonated with attendees through repeated exhortations across a four-hour program. Political figures framed Kirk as a powerful activist leader, with several Trump-aligned speakers openly using the martyr label and signaling intent to translate the event into political momentum by winning over evangelical Christians.
Read at The Verge
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