Donald Trump's Charlie Kirk speech was a disgrace after widow's dignified act

Given the chance to honour a slain ally and offer comfort to a grieving family, Donald Trump did what Donald Trump always does: he made it all about himself.

At the memorial service for Charlie Kirk - a young man murdered in cold blood and lionised by his movement - the president was handed a golden opportunity to set aside his bitterness, summon dignity, and bring a divided nation together. Instead, he spewed venom, indulged in grievance, and turned a solemn occasion into yet another rambling campaign rally. I wondered how long it would take.

Minutes into his speech, Trump swerved from mourning Kirk to railing about crowd sizes, conspiracies and his supposed victimhood. It was not the place for it. Then again, no one familiar with the man’s character could be surprised. Only Trump could manage to twist a eulogy for a widely respected conservative activist into an extended paean to himself.

• Mum wins £1.5million on scratch card - then husband committs horrific act on her and baby
• Humiliated US prison chiefs launch probe after sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell pictured

Kirk adored him, championed him, even built his career on Trumpian politics. Yet the US leader could barely muster a moment of humility for a man who loved him dearly. Instead, he begged for attention, demanded applause, and debased the very memory he claimed to honour. The result was sickening.

Hundreds began heading for the exits as the president droned on, veering off into musings about autism policy and the size of the crowds.

Many in attendance had been on their feet since 3am, queuing for hours in the Arizona heat to pay tribute to Kirk. What they got instead was a meandering circus, punctuated by self-congratulation. What better way could there be, apparently, for Trump and his MAGA enforcers to commemorate the life of their so-called free-speech warrior than by threatening, once again, to shut down and imprison political enemies?

In Trump’s hands, a memorial became a rallying cry for repression, delivered in the most authoritarian week of his presidency yet. Can someone teach this man basic manners or at the very least, how to behave at a memorial?

His speech was a disgrace, an act of rhetorical vandalism that trampled on grief and mocked the dignity of the occasion. By the time he finished, the once-packed stadium was half empty. The crowd had streamed for the exits, abandoning him mid-tirade.

And in doing so, he stole the thunder from Erika Kirk, whose own remarks were raw, dignified, and profoundly moving. It is abhorrent that Trump and his lieutenants are using the murder of Kirk as a campaign prop.

They have seized on the tragedy not to console or unite but to advance their relentless pursuit of total power. Even in death, Kirk was reduced to a cog in Trump’s machine.

Why, then, did Trump spend his time wallowing in self-pity? Why did he talk about his numbers, his “winnings,” his eternal grievances, throwing in Kirk’s whenever he thought he was losing the crowd?

The man cannot even grieve a friend without turning the spotlight inward. And this is the point. Trump has no interest whatsoever in national healing. He has no capacity for empathy, no instinct for unity. He revels in division. He enjoys the spectacle of Americans at each other’s throats.

He will do everything in his power to ensure hatred flourishes, because without it, his politics collapses.

Charlie Kirk’s death should have been a moment of reflection, an appeal to common humanity. Instead, Trump turned it into a stage-managed sideshow for his own ego. It was, in the end, the clearest possible reminder of what he is: a man incapable of shame, incapable of respect, and utterly unfit for the office he still holds.