WASHINGTON — White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that President Trump wouldn’t be against establishing a new national holiday to honor late conservative icon Charlie Kirk.
“That’s an interesting question, I’m sure he wouldn’t oppose such a thing,” she told a reporter during the White House press briefing on Monday when asked about whether Trump would support legislation from Congress to create a holiday honoring Kirk.
Kirk, 31, was fatally shot in the neck on Sept. 10 while speaking to students at Utah Valley University.
On Sunday, Trump, 79, paid tribute to Kirk during a public memorial in Phoenix for the Turning Point USA founder, hailing him as a “martyr for American freedom.”
“I know I speak for everyone here today when I say that none of us will forget Charlie Kirk. And neither now will history,” the president added during his eulogy.
Both chambers of Congress have honored Kirk. Last week, the House and Senate adopted a resolution to create a “National Day of Remembrance for Charlie Kirk” on Oct. 14.
The House also adopted a resolution last week hailing Kirk as a “courageous American patriot” — though almost half of Democrats either voted it down or declined to support it.
Currently, the federal government recognizes 12 national holidays, the most recent one of which, Juneteenth, was added in 2021.
During the most recent celebration of Juneteenth, a holiday to mark the end of slavery in the US, Trump publicly groused about there being too many non-working holidays.
“Too many non-working holidays in America. It is costing our Country $BILLIONS OF DOLLARS to keep all of these businesses closed,” Trump grumbled in a Truth Social post.
Since Kirk’s assassination, law enforcement has announced Tyler Robinson, 22, as the suspect. Last week, prosecutors slapped charges against him for Kirk’s murder.
This includes one count of murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, commission of a violent offense in the presence of a child, two counts of obstruction of justice, and two counts of witness tampering.
Meanwhile, Turning Point USA has tapped Kirk’s widow, Erika, as its new CEO and chair.
The conservative grassroots organization has also announced plans to continue the “American Comeback Tour” that the late conservative icon began.
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