US President Donald Trump paid tribute to slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk on Sunday, praising him as “a missionary with a noble spirit and a great, great purpose.” At a packed memorial service, Trump also revealed a striking personal disagreement, admitting that unlike Kirk, he could not wish well for his political opponents.“In that private moment on his dying day, we find everything we need to know about who Charlie Kirk truly was,” Trump said. “He did not hate his opponents. He wanted the best for them. That’s where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponent, and I don’t want the best for them. I’m sorry. I am sorry, Erica. But now Erica can talk, me and the whole group, and maybe they can convince me that that’s not right. But I can’t stand my opponent.”Trump claimed that the there were political motivations behind Kirk’s death, saying the bullet that killed him at Utah Valley University on September 10 was aimed at all conservatives. “The gun was pointed at him, but the bullet was aimed at all of us. Charlie was killed for expressing the very ideas that virtually everyone in this arena and most other places throughout our country deeply believed in,” he said.Trump criticised what he called a faction of the political left, accusing them of trying to silence Kirk because he was “winning Big” and asserting that such thinking fuels violence. “No side in American politics has a monopoly on disturbed or misguided people – but there’s one part of our political community which believes they have a monopoly on truth, goodness, and virtue, and concludes they should also have a monopoly on power, thought, and speech. Tragically, atrocities of the kind we saw in Utah are the eventual consequence of that kind of thinking,” he said.The president described the alleged gunman, Tyler Robinson, as a “radicalised, cold-blooded monster” and said, “God willing, he will receive the full and ultimate punishment for his horrific crime.” He also condemned those who celebrated Kirk’s death. “Some of the very people who call you a ‘hater’ for using the wrong pronoun were filled with glee at the killing of a father with two beautiful young children,” Trump said.Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, delivered a moving speech, forgiving Robinson and quoting Jesus: “Father, forgive them, for they not know what they do.” Trump concluded by urging the audience to carry forward Kirk’s example. “The lesson of Charlie’s life is that you should never underestimate what one person can do with a good heart, a righteous cause, a cheerful spirit and the will to fight, fight, fight.”
