Anna Paulina Luna compares 'mentor' Charlie Kirk to JFK and MLK Jr: 'He altered the trajectory'

GLENDALE, ARIZONA: Rep Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla, a former Turning Point USA official, paid tribute to her late mentor Charlie Kirk during his memorial service on September 21. 

She compared the conservative activist to John F Kennedy and the Rev Martin Luther King Jr, both of whom were killed during their lifetimes.

Anna Paulina Luna says Charlie Kirk will stand 'etched in history'

Luna said Kirk’s name would “stand etched in history besides the likes of JFK, who boldly challenged a generation to ask what they could do for their country amid the shadows of the Cold War, and Dr King, who marched into the jaws of hatred, sacrificing his safety and ultimately his life, to bend the arc of history towards justice.”

She added that just as Kennedy inspired “innovation and resolve” while King redeemed “it through moral courage,” Kirk “altered the trajectory of our modern fight against cultural decay and ideological tyranny.”

Kirk had, however, been critical of King during his lifetime, once calling him an “awful” person who “said one good thing he actually didn’t believe.”

Anna Paulina Luna on Charlie Kirk’s ability to 'awaken America’s youth'

Speaking of her friend’s journey, Luna highlighted Kirk’s ability to inspire young conservatives and shape her own career in politics.

“Charlie poured out his youth, his energy and his unshakable resolve to awaken America’s youth from the slumber of complacency and to mobilize millions this past election cycle to reclaim the principles of truth and self-governance that define our exceptional nation,” said Luna.

She remembered Kirk’s rise from organizing campus events to becoming “one of the most powerful men in the world.”

Luna said Kirk had the power to “awaken a generation” and urged young people to continue his work. In a caption to the video of her speech, Luna wrote, “There would be no Congresswoman Luna without Charlie Kirk.”