Mr. Trump capped an event that began with evangelical music and somber remembrances of Mr. Kirk and steadily progressed into a hard-line political event. The whiplash was most clear in the final two speakers: Minutes after Mr. Kirk’s widow, Erika, urged the crowd to love their enemies as her husband did, Mr. Trump said he could not agree. “I hate my opponent and I don’t want the best for them,” he said, adding “Sorry Erika.”
A crowd of tens of thousands, at times cheering, at others weeping, filled the stadium where the Arizona Cardinals play, in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, to hear remarks from speakers that also included Vice President JD Vance and members of Mr. Trump’s cabinet.
Mr. Trump squarely blamed liberal politics for Mr. Kirk’s death, while members of his administration demonized their ideological opponents. Stephen Miller, a White House deputy chief of staff and close adviser to Mr. Trump, delivered fiery remarks saying that Mr. Kirk’s political enemies “cannot imagine what they have awakened.”
Turning Point USA, the Phoenix-based conservative political group that Mr. Kirk founded when he was 18, organized the event. Ms. Kirk was appointed as chief executive of the group last week.
Religion and politics: The highest levels of U.S. government and evangelical worship were woven as one at the service. More than just a tribute in the style of Mr. Kirk’s evangelical tradition, the service represented a pinnacle event reflecting the degree to which conservative Christianity had melded with Republican politics in the Trump era. Read more ?
The attendees: The program drew a who’s who of figures from the right, including Trump cabinet members Marco Rubio, the secretary of state; Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary; and Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence. They were joined by the commentator Tucker Carlson and scores of other elected officials and notable conservatives. The billionaire Elon Musk, who had an ugly break with Mr. Trump in June, was also in attendance.
The crowd: Before dawn, huge crowds clogged roads as far as a mile away, spilling into neighborhood streets and forcing police cars and ambulances to drive down the wrong sides of streets to get to their assigned locations. Thousands of people were already gathered outside the stadium in Glendale, Ariz., by 5:30 a.m., some of them praying or singing. A 19,000-seat arena next door was set up to accommodate those who could not fit inside the stadium. Read more ?
The assassination: Mr. Kirk, 31, was fatally shot on Sept. 10 as he spoke to students at Utah Valley University. Prosecutors last week filed a murder charge against a 22-year-old man, Tyler Robinson, who officials said had told his romantic partner that he had “had enough” of Mr. Kirk’s “hatred.”
无评论不新闻，发表一下您的意见吧
大家正在围观
