More than a dozen Republican senators want to see the slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk included in President Donald Trump’s proposed pantheon of American heroes.
In a letter to Trump led by Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., the lawmakers requested that Kirk be included in the National Garden of American Heroes, a massive project of 250 life-size statues of some of the country’s most notable figures.
If included, Kirk would join the likes of Abraham Lincoln, Kobe Bryant, Martin Luther King Jr., Amelia Earhart and Albert Einstein, among several others, in the proposed statuary park.
‘The inclusion of Mr. Kirk in the National Garden would not only honor his personal achievements but would also underscore the vital role that civic engagement plays in our national heritage,’ the lawmakers wrote. ‘Recognizing leaders who encourage participation and dialogue ensures that the Garden reflects both the historical and contemporary voices that continue to shape America.’
Kirk was assassinated last month in Orem, Utah, while addressing an audience at Utah Valley University. Since then, lawmakers have pushed for a commemorative coin in his honor; he was posthumously honored by Trump with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and his birthday, Oct. 14, was honored as the Charlie Kirk Day of Remembrance.
The latest move to see a statue of Kirk erected in the proposed park in South Dakota, which would sit near Mount Rushmore, also has the backing of his widow, Erika Kirk.
She said in a statement to Fox News Digital that her late husband ‘forever changed the direction of this country, and he made it [a] better place for our children, young people and families. Charlie’s legacy will be felt for generations to come.’
‘My husband was a modern American Founding Father, and he deserves every honor and accolade this nation can bestow on him,’ she said. ‘I am grateful to Senator Cassidy and the 14 other senators who have nominated Charlie for this tremendous honor.’
The National Garden of Heroes was first established by Trump through an executive order in 2020 and later reaffirmed in one of his last executive orders during his first term in early 2021. It later got an injection of $40 million in funding from his ‘big, beautiful bill,’ which he signed into law in July.
In the order, Trump said that the garden would be ‘built to reflect the awesome splendor of our country’s timeless exceptionalism.’
‘In short, each individual has been chosen for embodying the American spirit of daring and defiance, excellence and adventure, courage and confidence, loyalty and love,’ Trump said. ‘Astounding the world by the sheer power of their example, each one of them has contributed indispensably to America’s noble history, the best chapters of which are still to come.’
Trump’s plan, according to a grant application portal that teed up the project’s ambitious timeline, is to have the marble, granite, bronze, copper or brass life-size statues created and situated in the garden by July 2026 to commemorate the country’s 250th anniversary.