Donald Trump at Phyllis Schlafly’s Funeral: A Movement Has Lost Its Hero

Julia Hahn, Breitbart

ST. LOUIS, Missouri — Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump paid his respects on Saturday at the funeral of  conservative icon Phyllis Schlafly, 92, who passed away this week. 

“We are here today to honor the life and legacy of a truly great American patriot,” Trump told attendees of Schlafly’s funeral mass on Saturday afternoon. “A movement has lost its hero.”

Trump met privately with the Archbishop in the adjoining chapel where Schlafly was married in 1949. He then met with the Schlafly family to express his condolences.

Trump was joined by his wife Melania, campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, and campaign CEO Stephen K. Bannon. 

Trump was introduced by Schalfly’s son, Andy Schlafly, who told attendees that his mother is “smiling from ear-to-ear from heaven now at this immense honor of Trump speaking at her funeral.”

“Donald Trump is the realization of the vision of my mother’s 1964 classic, A Choice Not An Echo. As she told me one year ago, he [Trump] is the choice, not the echo,” Schlafly’s son said. 

Schlafly’s son noted that when the campaign reached out to his family to discuss attending her funeral, “The campaign told me they did  not want to be disruptive, but– as you know– politics was never disruptive for Phyllis Schlafly.”

Trump was welcomed by the mass attendees with a standing ovation. The Republican nominee began by offering his “deepest heartfelt condolences to [Schlafly’s] six wonderful children whom she loved so much … her sixteen grandchildren and her three great grandchildren.”

“We lost an amazing woman and our county has lost a true patriot. A strong, proud, and fierce warrior. And that’s what she was– a warrior. A warrior for the country which she loved so much,” Trump said. “To quote a poet, Phyllis was that strength which in all days moved Heaven and Earth.”

“This incredible woman has been active for one quarter of American history, think about that for a moment,” Trump added. “She was the ultimate happy warrior. But, boy, could she be tough. And in all of her battles, she never strayed from one guiding principle: she was for America, and it was always always America first. With Phyllis, it was always America first.”

This “beloved woman had more strength… and heart than 50 of the strongest politicians all put together,” Trump said, adding:

She never apologized, she never backed down in taking on the Kingmakers. She loved her country, she loved her family, and she loved her God. Her legacy will live on every time some underdog defies the odds and delivers a win for the people. America has always been about the underdog and has always been about defying the odds. The idea that so-called “little people” or “little person” that she loved so much could beat the system– often times the rigged system… that’s the romance of America. That’s the story of the mother and patriot we honor here today.

Trump concluded by telling attendees that Schlafly is “looking down on us right now and is telling us to keep up the fight. No doubt… Phyllis, we love you, we miss you, and we will never, ever let you down. God bless you, Phyllis. God bless your family. And God bless everyone.”

When Trump had finished his remarks, attendees, once again, rose to give him — and her — a standing ovation.

Ed Martin, President of Schlafly’s Eagle Forum, greeted the nominee as he arrived at the cathedral and led him to meet the Schlafly family. Martin told Breitbart that he was honored to have the opportunity to “thank” Trump for helping to uphold Schlafly’s legacy and for his role in crafting a “great” Republican Party platform. 

“In March when Phyllis and Mr. Trump met before she endorsed him, Phyllis handed him her copy of the 2012 Republican platform and asked him to help her keep it strong. Today, I handed him Phyllis’ copy of the 2016 platform and said ‘Thank you’ because it is a great platform that Mr. Trump and his staff at Cleveland made even stronger.”

Martin gave Trump a copy of Schlafly’s final book, The Conservative Case For Trump. Schlafly died on the eve of the book’s release. Many have observed that helping Trump win the Republican nomination was Schlafly’s last great battle. As Trump said on Friday during his remarks at the Value Voters Summit:

Phyllis endorsed me a long time ago when it wasn’t necessarily something that was so easy to do. And she was incredible. She was so brave… And I will never forget that. [Her endorsement] had a huge impact. She was a great, great powerful woman with a tremendous heart.

The funeral mass was held at Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis. Mass attendees included David Limbaugh, Jim Hoft, Michele Bachmann, Morton Blackwell, and Congressman Steve King.