Trump calls Charlie Kirk an ‘American hero’ and says he ‘hates’ opponents at memorial: Live updates

The man acquitted of shooting three Black Lives Matter protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin, during the pandemic, two of whom died – an act he argued had been carried out in self-defense and which made him a conservative cause celebre – has told Fox News Digital of his pain over Kirk’s murder.

“When Charlie was assassinated, I was on my lunch break at work. I just got home to let my dog out. And I went on X, and the first video I saw was my friend being murdered,” Rittenhouse, now 22, told Fox.

“I took the rest of the day off work. I took the rest of the week off of work because Charlie meant a lot to me.”

Also paying tribute over the weekend was the Machiavellian Republican fixer Roger Stone, who told Newsmax on Saturday that the deceased was “enormously talented” and could have gone all the way to the White House had he lived.

Here’s what he had to say:

“I really didn’t know Charlie Kirk until the FBI raided my home at 6 in the morning … Charlie reached out to me. We didn’t know each other, and he said, ‘This is outrageous. You’re being framed. There is no Russian collusion.’ We both know it. And he became both a public, but probably more importantly, a private advocate for clemency.

“He’s the only reason I’m able to be with you today. I came to love the man. He was enormously talented. He also confided in me. I think I’m free to say now that he did have political aspirations, that he was thinking about a potential future race for governor of Arizona. And yes, someday, I think he aspired to be president.

“I think he had the faith and the principles, and the discipline and the drive; he could have been a great presidential candidate, could have someday been a great president.

“I’m still in shock about this, but I also am concerned that some on our own side will take the wrong conclusions. Look, I was censored in 2017. I had almost a million followers on what was then Twitter, and then out of the blue without explanation, I was banned. Then I was banned on Facebook, then I was banned on Instagram, then I was banned on YouTube. What was my sin? Supporting Donald Trump and questioning whether the Russian collusion hoax was a fraud.

“Charlie Kirk himself said it. There is no such thing as hate speech. In fact, the First Amendment is specifically designed to protect the most repugnant, disgusting, offensive speech. That’s the American system, free speech that we have, that we revere. And therefore, those who say, oh, the left censored us. So now that we’re in power, we should censor them. Charlie would not have agreed. He would not have approved.”

Discussing Charlie Kirk with his Real America’s Voice co-host Gina Loudon during the network’s broadcast of the service yesterday, the former White House adviser to Trump and Breitbart editor showed little interest in lowering the temperature.

When Loudon put it to Bannon that Kirk had been an advocate for unfashionable or unpopular social values like young marriage and large families, he responded: “Well, I actually think they are popular but it’s not the way those kids – look, from kindergarten all the way up, they are essentially, you know, a third of the teachers are terrorists that are trying to form them.”

Loudon had no problem with that statement and Bannon, 71, continued to argue that young conservatives shared Kirk’s positions even though “the way they’re formed” is “radical.”

He said: “Particularly young men who have been told, ‘You’re bad, you’re everything evil, you’ve gotta change, we have to change you, we have to give you drugs’ – that’s what I think underneath about the family, about marrying early, about having lots of kids, and about being a good dad, I think that that is right below the surface.”

The MAGA influencer has previously reacted to Kirk’s assassination by calling him “a casualty of war.”

Patel wrote on X that the agency was “meticulously investigating theories and questions”, including whether the suspect in the shooting, Tyler Robinson, had an accomplice.

John Bowden has the latest on the investigation.

Charlie Kirk’s widow has said she wants to let the government decide whether her husband’s accused killer will receive the death penalty, saying she does not want his blood on her “ledger.”

In an unexpected moment (for a memorial service), Donald Trump Jr. did an impression of his father, to much laughter from the crowd and a smile and a wave from the president.

President Donald Trump said that he “hates” his political opponents moments after Erika Kirk, the widow of slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk, forgave her husband’s killer in an emotional tribute at his memorial.

Trump apologized to Kirk and his widow for “disagreeing” with them when it comes to dealing with political foes.

Rhian Lubin reports from New York.

The men were seen on camera shaking hands Sunday at State Farm Stadium in Glendale during speeches remembering the Turning Point USA founder.

Rhian Lubin has the story.