TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV/Gray Florida Capital Bureau) – The Florida House has approved a bill designating Oct. 14 as “Charlie Kirk Remembrance Day,” sending the measure to the Senate before it can go to Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Special observances generally serve a ceremonial or educational purpose. Republicans said the state should honor Kirk because he promoted free speech through healthy debate.
More Florida politics:
Rep. Chase Tramont, R-Port Orange, said Kirk encouraged civil discourse.
“Who not only refused to validate your ideas but actually dared you to challenge those ideas, not through violence, not through protesting, not through boycotting, not through cancelation,” Tramont said. “He challenged it through civil conversation.”
Democrats attempted to amend the bill to also honor George Floyd, who shared a birthday with Kirk. The effort was unsuccessful.
Rep. Michelle Rayner, D-St. Petersburg, spoke against the designation on the House floor.
“You’re proposing to have a day of remembrance for Charlie Kirk,” Rayner said. “A podcaster, who dropped out of high school by the way, who’s public record is often defined not by service to Floridians, but by rhetoric that’s incendiary, polarizing and for many communities, including mine, deeply offensive.”
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