Democrats trod carefully in responding to event attended by nearly 100,000 that blended politics with religion
Democrats maintained a wary silence on Monday as Donald Trump’s Republican party appeared galvanised by a memorial service for the late rightwing activist Charlie Kirk that was part religious revival, part political rally.
Nearly 100,000 people filled an American football stadium and overflow arena in Glendale, Arizona, on Sunday to pay tribute to Kirk, according to his his organisation Turning Point USA. The 31-year-old staunch Trump ally was shot dead on 10 September.
The service was a show of force that blended politics with religion, putting Christian nationalism at the heart of Trump’s “Make America great again” (Maga) movement. It also cast Kirk as a martyr who could be a rallying point in future elections. “Today is the day democrats lost 2028,” posted Meghan McCain, the daughter of the late Republican senator John McCain.
Kirk’s widow, Erika, earned widespread praise for a tearful address in which she said she forgives the man charged with her husband’s killing. She told the crowd: “My husband, Charlie, he wanted to save young men, just like the one who took his life. I forgive him.”
