Faith Over Fear: The Charlie Kirk Story

0:00What happens when faith and mental health meet for real? What's up? I'm Grace Graber. Welcome to Breaking Through with Grace Graber, a podcast for honest conversations about anxiety, trauma, healing, hope, and the God who never backs away when life gets heavy. We are going to talk about everything mental health. No pretending, no perfect answers, just real stories, real faith, and a reminder that you're not alone. Get ready. You're going to be absolutely obsessed. Breaking through with Grace Graber, available now, wherever you get your podcasts. Sometimes a light will shine and brighten all of our lives for a short period of time. Sometimes that light will make such a difference that the whole world watches. And sometimes that light is snuffed out all too soon. And yet the legacy left behind is one that can never be snuffed out. Such is the case with Charlie Kirk, born October 14, 1993

1:05in Arlington Heights, Illinois. This is Faith Over Fear, the Charlie Kirk story. Wrote to you with one commercial interruption. Between running a newsroom, hosting a daily show and keeping up with my giant family, my days don't exactly slow down. So I need a routine that helps me stay sharp and keep moving. That's why I've made Strong Cell part of my morning. Strong Cell is built for sustained daily performance. Its formula combines NADH, CoQ10, and marine collagen with a proprietary delivery system designed to support cellular energy, focus, and resilience. What I like most is it's simple. If it's easily into my routine and I feel better equipped to take on a demanding day. With a busy schedule, I appreciate having something that works seamlessly into my day without any extra effort at all. More than two million units have already been sold and Strong Cell comes a 90 day money back guarantee. So you plenty of time to try for yourself. Go to Strong Cell.com today and use promo code Alex to save 20% on your order.

2:07Go to Strong Cell.com today and use promo code Alex to save 20% the Strong Cell.com code Alex for 20% off. Strong Cell, stay sharp, stay strong, never slow down. Charlie Kirk was an extremely bright and intelligent kid who was comfortable having discussions with adults about the state of our nation and the world. When he was 12 years old, he discovered Rush Limbaugh on the radio. While other kids were playing Little League, Charlie was listening and learning from Rush out at WLSAM890 in Chicago. WLSAM890 in Chicago. Views expressed by the host on this show make more sense than anybody anywhere on the air is saying about anything. But still, there are those who don't subscribe

3:08to the views expressed by the host on the show. Many of them have this station, some of them sponsors. On this show, on this station, what does it make them? Roll. Rush Limbaugh. Here we go, Hulk, feminites. Well Rush can't stand them. Your rush is on the right. Rush, I use psycho-batteries. If I remember his land, or top to no land, or height, or his right to sea. The most dangerous in the U.S.A. is Rush Limbaugh. And he's here to stay. Look out his e. Ah! E. Please enjoy the Rush Limbaugh.

4:11Here we are in New York City and the third year of the Excellence in Broadcasting Network, our third anniversary today as we celebrate. Starting three years ago today with 56 radio stations. Today we are at 380 radio stations and 7 and a half million people. And I was listening to Radio Talk Show in the United States. And they sincere thanks to one and all of you out there who have actually made that possible. And today folks, in addition to our normally good and excellent stellar show, we're going back into our archives, bringing back some of the things that we have done to entertain amuse and in some cases stir up over the past three years. One of the things I think this program's finest hour, I must say, in a serious vein, was the Gulf War. I think that probably was this program's shining moment,

5:12shining hour. Charlie became increasingly concerned about the state of the country and how the youth of the day were reacting to it. In 2012, when he was just 18, he co-founded an organization that would change the world. Turning Point USA was born and Charlie was its leader. Charlie started printing his organization together in his parents garage in suburb in Chicago. June 5, 2012. I was wrestling on kind of what we're going to call this organization. And my dad came up with a list of names and all of a sudden he said, turning point, I said, that's the one. I spoke at a Tea Party rally out in Rockford and the journey started. No money, no connections, and no idea what I was doing. I started the barnstorm Illinois and the Midwest speaking at every possible Tea Party rally I could. That was the garage that we literally started in Lamont, Illinois. I had burning desire, looking back at it,

6:14I wanted to grow this thing more than anything imaginable. I poured every part of my being into this. As Napoleon Hill would say, can Steve believe work achieved? CBWA was the daily mantra that I would have. Important people began to notice what Charlie was doing. On November 17, 2015, that somebody was Dennis Prayer who interviewed Charlie on this Salem Radio Network show. It's Charlie Kirk, Charlie Kirk, who founded, created an ex-Nehilo in almost a divine manner created, turning point USA. How many people were, how many young people were affiliated? Hundreds of thousands. Hundreds of thousands. Activists. Out of nothing, out of nothing, hundreds of thousands of college kids. It doesn't go to high school correct? We have high school in college. Oh, so do we. Good, so good. All right, college in high school. I could spend three hours with you.

7:16I'm serious. Talking about what's happening. It's really in effect what you're doing. What we're doing, but especially you on the ground. I have no problem in saying that. Almost 10 years to the day later, when Dennis suffered a tragic accident in his home. Charlie would replace Dennis on the SRN lineup. Charlie wanted to change the world for good. He found little interest in going to college considering it a waste of time. But he did educate himself and understood this generation. TPUSA began to grow in size and influence, eventually reaching 2 million young people as members with 2,000 chapters on college and high school campuses all over the country. Eventually, turning point built a sprawling campus in Phoenix with hundreds of employees and thousands of volunteers.

8:16Charlie was making a difference. But he knew he could do more. In 2019, Charlie extended his reach by starting the podcast that would shake up the political foundations of the country. In 2020, that podcast moved to the Salem Radio Network where Charlie was a perfect fit for the Salem World view. Charlie had radio in his blood thanks to it is upbringing as a rush follower. And in 2020, Charlie began his own radio odyssey as Salem syndicated him across the country in the noon to 3 pm bay park, the same as his mentor. Rush died in February 2021 from lung cancer and the nation mourned his loss and praised his legacy. Charlie became one of the obvious voices to attempt to fill Rush's shoes. We are leading with this today because this is without a doubt one of the most important chilling clips ever. And it's not even about a make in front of him. This shows that we are up against an existential parasitic force that does not even share our

9:21simple birth certificate. They have a different birth certificate for America and it's not the Declaration of Independence. Here is Tim Cain play cut 342. The notion that rights don't come from laws and don't come from the government come from the creator. That's what the Iranian government believes. It's a theocratic regime that bases its rule on Shia law and targets Sunni's, Bahaz, Jews, Christians and other religious minorities. And they do it because they believe that they understand what natural rights are from their creator. So the statement that our rights do not come from our laws or our governments is extremely troubling. He believes the government gives you rights that laws give you rights. That's why he's okay with abhorting babies because those humans have no rights because

10:22the government hasn't given those rights to him. That's why he's fine with mutilating kids and trans surgeries because those kids have no rights because the government hasn't given those rights. Yeah, he's fine with potentially gulags because the government there's nothing wrong with mass murdering people and gulags because the government didn't give those rights to them. The government decided not to give them those rights and someone should ask Tim Cain. Tim Cain, we're not even going to use the Holocaust example because that one is overused. Was Mao wrong to mass murder millions of people? The government decided not to give those people rights. He believes something transcendent above government that government appeals towards. Government's job is to protect our unalienable rights that we were born with that every human being is born with. Our rights coming from God makes them analienable because they are rooted in the equal God-given dignity shared by all human beings.

11:23This is an inarguable spiritual element to our nation. Some people say Tim Cain is kind of dumb. Usually he is, he went to Harvard but that means absolutely nothing. But it's worse than that. He didn't come up with this. He is simply a mockingbird parading something that is infected the Democrat party. They don't think we have an alienable rights. They think there is nothing special about being a human being. If rights come from the government, the government can take them away whenever they want. They can take away your right to speech and yes, your right to life. They can drone strike you whenever you want. This is why America is unique. Let me repeat again. All men are created equal and diled by their creator with certain unalienable rights. This is why we are a refuge for liberty. The founders tied our freedom to something higher than politics. Tim Cain acts as if our rights are like a driver's license.

12:26Rights licenses can be given suspended or revoked. That's what government rights look like. Government given rights are like drivers licenses. We believe that natural rights are your birthright. You don't apply for them. They are yours by birth. It's because you're human. If Tim Cain is right, Stalin was justified, Hitler was justified, Mao was justified, Maduro was justified. Rights aren't favors from politicians. Government does not give you freedom. It protects the freedom. You already have because you are human being made in the image of God and the natural law dictates that. If government can give them to you, it can take them away. That's not freedom. These are not privileges. These are not preferences. There's something special about being a human being. That is not just some local yoke. That's not just some sort of person at college campus. There's a US senator who almost became Vice President of the United States in 2016.

13:31That yammering fool was inches away. He was 40,000 votes away from becoming the Vice President of the United States under Hillary Clinton. So this is an existential issue and a little window into what we're fighting against. Charlie's influence continued to grow. About the same time, Charlie had a desire to start a family and become a dad. He married Eric Kirk in 2021, followed by two beautiful children. While his home life was ideal, his professional life was hectic and chaotic. Managing a growing and successful non-profit like Turning Point was difficult and time-consuming. Maintaining a daily presence on the podcast and the radio show was demanding. And Charlie became a sought after public speaker and would make the college campus his ground zero for change among the nation's youth. He loved to debate all comers in public discourse and he was a really good at it. Charlie had become a supporter of Donald Trump during his first turn in the White House

14:35and became one of the lead supporters of Trump in his attempt to win a second term. What President Donald Trump was doing was he was setting the world stage up for an expectation that he was willing to use the threat and the power of a tariff and it was not just bluster. You see, that's why the tariffs had to be implemented. That is why that tumbling of a stock market, a thousand, two thousand, three thousand points, was necessary. He needed to show that this was not just a bluff. So, President Donald Trump on Liberation Day, it was a shot heard literally around the world. There it is right there. Thank you guys. Great work. And everyone was freaking out and panicking and running around in circles and they were losing their mind and speaker Mike Johnson, who I really like, you know, called them up and said, Sir, people are panicking. And President Trump says, I like that panicking. And the word panicking was born. And people were running all over the place and understandable again.

15:35It's not a criticism towards speaker Johnson because he was getting calls and calls and calls from business leaders. People were losing it. But why does it matter? Now, looking back in August, the market is up. We've rebuilt all those gains. If you would have just bought the dip or held your stocks or doing even better than before, all of our advice was correct. However, this is why it mattered. President Donald Trump set a groundwork for a new mental model, for a new working relationship with the planet. You see, the prior working relationship is America had only certain tools at our disposal to be able to effectuate change and to be able to broker peace. The tools at our disposal were diplomatic. They were angrily worded letters. That's what Biden would love to do. Let me send you a worded letter because your gate pride flag is not high enough in downtown Seoul, South Korea. How dare you not do gender affirming care in Tokyo? I'm going to go send Ramamanu, my US ambassador to Japan, to go schooled you Japanese. Over time, the strongly worded letters and the diplomatic stuff.

16:38Now, there's other stuff that you could remove passports and visas, but if you want to get down to the heart of it, the fact that the United States is still the world reserve currency status, the fact that we are now re-emerging as a superpower with hegemonic, western hemispheric dominance, President Donald Trump, then he said to the entire world, even though the market went down, I'm willing to basically ruin your entire economy if you don't play ball. Donald Trump changed the incentives of war. Donald Trump changed the incentives of not playing along, and it is creative, it's bold, it's ambitious, and people thought he was just being a madman and said it was the master at work. Despite all of Charlie's efforts to help Trump win a second term, the effort failed in November of 2020 as Joe Biden became president. Charlie committed his team at Turning Point and his radio show and podcast to build a grassroots effort to get the vote out and win over the hearts and minds

17:38of the nation's young people in an effort to win back the White House in 2024, but turning that defeat into victory was not going to be easy. We love the country more than we love our chances in the 2024 election. If we were Democrats, we'd say I keep the border wide open, it will help us win the election. No, we actually believe the border is such a clear and present danger to the homeland that we want the issue solved, the politics aside. The Democrats, they want the border open because it politically helps them. In the long term, in their belief, the more third worlders, the more destabilization, the closer they can get towards socialized healthcare, property confiscation, voters that fit their mold, the less white the country becomes, the more excited they become. Don't take my word for it. Read their literature, see what they write. Charlie had a huge impact on the culture in this country. First and foremost, because he recognized that culture was a big part of the political conversation.

18:42You know, I met Charlie when we were giving a tribute to Andrew Breitbart, who died in 2012. Andrew Breitbart had a huge impact on Charlie's life. Part of that impact was Andrew's insistence that politics was downstream from culture. Charlie knew that just being sort of a political nerd and focused just on winning the next election was never actually going to impact the lives of young people in this country, who maybe weren't the say kind of political nerds the rest of us were. So Charlie spoke in their line, which Charlie brought the conversation to where they were. And in doing that, he really understood exactly the impact the politicians had on real people and on their lives. And because of that, he was able to shift the conversation in the body politic and shifted specifically to those people he was trying to reach. In the final years of Charlie's life, he really took up the issue of affordability, not in some kind of Marxist way, but he was hearing from young people who were graduating from

19:46college with student debt and they were feeling co-pless. It felt like there was no way for them to get ahead and get Mary Grease of Family, get a home and actually live that American dream. He was very sensitive to it and he recognized that conservatives, we need to hear those concerns and we need to come up with solutions. Otherwise, the Marxists promising everything for nothing, they were going to actually win some of these discussions and sadly, some of these elections were seeing a play out right now. And so because of that, I've been trying personally to focus on those issues and really speak to them because the fact of the matter is, when a young person starts out their lives, the sooner they get married, the sooner they have children, the sooner they have a home and they start living, that idyllic American life. Well, the fact is, the more conservative those young people are going to become, that's what Family Life does for you. And right now, we need to focus on that so that we can build the next generation yet to come.

20:50It's really all about Charlie's courage. Charlie's courage shall walk toward the fire to take on all comers, to sit there without a net, just a microphone, add a cup of water and take on questions from every single human being that wanted to challenge him. And sometimes challenge him rudely, abrasively, absolutely, obscenely at times. The fact quality of courage and patience and frankly Christian love and charity, where he would take on those arguments, take on those hostile enemies with the smile and with love in this fire because he actually did care. And he, well, he projected that Christian love to people who brought all of that anger and all of that. He represented, well, really the best of all of us in times like that. It was tragic. My thoughts went to Erica and to Erica's children.

21:54My thoughts went to, of course, Charlie's family and Charlie's parents. I'm not quite old enough to call Charlie a son, but I guess technically he could have been my son. You think about a young person being murdered like that in such a horrendous and hateful way. And you think about those who loved him left behind and it's impossible not to to just feel tragic sorrow. But I also felt anger, righteous anger. And one of the things I remember most about that weekend after Charlie's murder, on all of the Sunday shows, the big political news talk shows on ABC and VCCBS. And frankly, on cable news in crime time for every single night after Charlie's assassination. They had all of these high-powered guests, all these politicians, all of these really smart journalism, major reporter analysts who came on these discussions and these roundtables.

22:59And they talk about the impact that Charlie had and the impact that his murder was going to have. And how influential Charlie was in a decurb of me. On this week with George Stephanocoulos and on Meet the Press and on Face the Nation, all of these really smart, impactful political talk shows based in Washington, DC. They all acknowledged that Charlie's voice was so important and so influential. And this was just a giant of a human being and it occurred to me that not once did those shows have Charlie on as a guest. Not once did ABC, CBS or NBC invite Charlie on to contribute to their conversation. He's so influential. He's so impactful that they only talked about it after he was assassinated. And it was because Charlie's opinions, Charlie's world of view, was so dangerous to their audience. They didn't want their audience to know that he un-matched.

24:03Could believe what Charlie believed and articulate this position so well. Charlie's ideas, Charlie's love of conservative American principles and values, love of the unborn, his evangelism of Christ and the public square. Back always wasn't welcome on those networks. They only talked about Charlie after Charlie was killed. That's why I honor Charlie's legacy is to keep fighting. Keep fighting and keep displaying the courage that Charlie displayed every single time he showed up. Ready to fight, ready to top, ready to hug it out if necessary. Do I think others impacted by Charlie's work are going to follow in his footsteps for seeing it right now. You betcha. We'll see people picking up that torch and running with it. You betcha over,

25:04you see people picking up that flag and marching up that hill. It's happening right now and we'll continue to happen because the more you try to silence us, the more it's going to continue to happen. Because the more you try to silence us, the more you try to end the voice of Charlie Kirk, a hundred Charlie Kirk stand up to take their place. In fact, part of why we do what we do and do it with that much more energy and that much more fight is because we want to honor Charlie. We don't want to disappoint him. We're going to keep fighting Charlie. We're going to keep fighting for you. I'm Mike Gallagher. Turning point USA had become one of the most influential and powerful organizations in America when it came to its ability to win elections. Charlie's ability to turn out a crowd was rivaled only by one guy, President Donald J. Trump. Charlie continued to hold youth

26:10conventions all over the country, such as America Fest and his student action summit. He was leading rallies at churches and college campuses almost every week. These events attracted tens of thousands of followers and every big name on the right was sort of obligated to appear and encourage the right to get out and vote. TPUSA became the leading vote generator for a new generation of young leaders who wanted to follow Charlie and save the country. If you go to Harvard, I immediately think you're an intellectual idiot. If you go to Harvard, I think you are infected with the worst possible. I can't believe it. I was against what you just said about being overqualified to work for your organization. I never said overqualified. I said that over credentialed. There's a big difference in qualification and credentialing. You just talked about how you can get a credential outside of school but in this case, someone could be overqualified. You can get wisdom and intelligence outside of school. That's a good one. But you don't have to get a credential outside of school. Wisdom and intelligence. So there's a big difference. Wisdom is the knowledge of things that don't change. Intelligence is the knowledge of things that do change. Intelligence is the processing

27:12power that allows you to find wisdom and factual knowledge. But to your point, so if there are applicants, we don't require college degrees for applicants that are turning point USA. But you say the accountant thing. The vast majority of kids that go to college are not becoming accountant lawyers, doctors, okay, hollering, but they're not the way. So you're agreeing with me, right? You think that it's important that someone has a credential to do an accounting job, right? But that's of course, but okay, so hold on. Wait, so we agree with that. That's a good reason why people go to college though. You know how I'm not talking about a sliver. You said college is a scam, right? I do. The institution is you. You said college is a scam, right? Yes. And your own value criteria is that people couldn't get a job out of college and you're literally saying that you can get a job out of college for being an accountant. Let me make the shirt even more specific. Okay. College in its current form that affects the majority of students that the majority of colleges not counting the sliver cases of doctors, nurses, lawyers, accountants that are able to avoid. So like the majority of the parasitic ideology is a scam. So like the majority of people that come out of college. Does it make a good t-shirt, man?

28:13All right. Turn it up. As it became obvious, the Trump had a very good chance of winning back the White House. The left became increasingly unhinged. In the months leading up to the election, there were two assassination attempts on the life of President Trump. The rhetoric from the left was dark and foreboding, predicting dire consequences if Trump was able to succeed. Charlie Kirk was not the only voice on the right to stand up to the mob, but he was perhaps the most prominent. This is an election that involves spiritual dimensions and we must rise up. The faithful must rise up. This is the last week. You got to go crazy this last week. You got to go nuts. You got to open up your phone right now and text 30 neighbors, 50 friends. Have you voted? Have you voted? Have you voted? Have you voted? Do you need help voting? Do you need help filling in your ballot? You have to be a one-stop shop. Get out the vote. Operator. And if you are in a battleground state, too much is given. Much is expected. In your Arizona, you're in Georgia. If you

29:15are in Michigan, if you're in Pennsylvania, you got to go totally nuts. There's no sleep in these next seven days. Our team right now, they're sleeping on couches. You got stretchers all over the body. I mean, this is where we are on fumes of fumes. You think that a bomb went off around here. Everyone's coughing. They got disease. We've never heard of before. This is the price of admission to save the country. This is what we have been working for. From the moment that Donald Trump left the White House to now, a turning point action, we have been obsessed about these next seven days. These next seven days are a culmination of all the work, all the hustle, all the dedication, all the grit. So do it. Chase ballots. Download the turning point action app. Challenge your pastor to speak out. Find new voters. Charlie's efforts to win back the White House for Trump and for America were relentless, tireless, and extremely potent. Charlie had boots on the ground in all 50 states, but especially the most critical battleground states. Salem Radio Network held rallies around the country were hosts like me and Charlie and many others encouraged voters to not only vote,

30:20but get all of their friends and family members to vote as well. Everybody need to make a plan to vote. Right now, the enthusiasm of Republicans is outpacing Democrats. Keep it up. We are seeing in North Carolina, we're seeing in Georgia, Arizona, a surge, but it is not going to be enough. It is not going to be enough for us just to start strong and to sit at home. You have to find one friend, two friend, three friends, five friends. That is your individualized task right now. You see, if we scale up our movement and force multiply yourself to find five more people, we're going to be in a good place. In the state of Georgia, we've seen an amazing surge right out of the gate. Our movement can't wait after indictments, multiple impeachments. Donald Trump getting shot. They try to shoot him again. Our movement is ready to run through the ticker tape, but it does us nothing if you just vote on one day and then

31:21you just sit at home the rest. In Arizona, we're continuing to chase ballots, continuing to find low propensity voters. People that otherwise would not vote. So do your part, find another voter and make a plan to vote today. The night of November 5th, 2024 was full of excitement and electricity. This was the moment we had all been waiting for. The whole country was on pins and needles. Charlie was on the air doing his own election night coverage when word of the Trump victory was spreading. Charlie Kirk, who had worked so hard for this moment, was overtaken by emotion. Do you understand what we just did? Look at Steve. Do you understand what I mean, they try to put him in prison? Look at that face. They shot Trump. They tried to shoot him again. They took away his business empire. This is the most unbelievable, historical, comb backstory in history of American politics. They're having been talking about this for a hundred years. I hope you understand what this is. Hundreds of years. There's nothing that will ever compare to this. They're going to try to do it.

32:27Charlie, put your magha hat back on. It's going to be in the Smithsonian now because of what just happened. I want you to remember that we did not earn this. This is God's mercy on our country. Yes. You're on the Lord side. He's not on you. Charlie, who began his involvement in politics as a 12-year-old listening to talk radio, folks like Rush Limbaugh, and I was told by Andrew Colvet, even listening to a guy named Mike Gallagher when he was a kid, had a major role in helping Trump win back the country and return to the White House. In the coming months, Charlie was called upon to help the White House transition team and prepare for what was to come. From the early days of the second term, it was obvious that President Trump had learned many lessons from the first term and would try to avoid some of the mistakes the administration made the first time around. Charlie Kirk was a confidant and a guide to make sure the country used this pivotal moment for good. In 2016, it was a surprise for two people.

33:32They were surprised that Trump won, but also the Trump team was not ready for the ambush that was awaiting them. The Trump team was not ready for all the deep state actors that were subverting. Michael Flynn being spied upon six days into the administration. They were not ready for rush to get there. There will be no rush to get this time. Knock on wood and knock on glass. If there is no one's going to believe it, just think last time we had a deal with Chuck Schumer threatening you that the intelligences of six ways from Sunday to get back at you. We have many different people saying that the rush to get the Russians heavily involved themselves in our election. We have a mandate this time, popular vote electoral vote and every single swing state. Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin. It's completely different. You have a Trump team that is prepared for the saboteurs. In 2016, 2017, DC wasn't afraid of Trump.

34:33They were kind of confused. How did this guy win? How do we do this? Now there is legitimate fear and Donald Trump has been brilliant in his strategy to flood the zone. Tossi Gabbard, Bobby Kennedy, Pete Hanks set. Over the top, you've Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. All these incredible patriots, one by one by one, to flood the zone. This is a once in many lifetime opportunity. It may never ever ever ever happen again. And that's exactly why I am here in Palm Beach to just help a little bit here, a little millimeter of help here, a little inch of help here, to not squander this. It is very tempting to want to rest on our laurels and hope every and think everything's going to be fine. We want the election. No, now the real battle begins. And I know everybody in this audience feels similar. Charlie's impact on the culture was extraordinary. From the New

35:38York Times to USA to day to even the daily beast. Charlie was continually acknowledged as having a profound impact on millions of young people all throughout America. All of the turning point chapters that popped up from high schools to colleges, it was a difference. It made a huge difference. And to this day, even a year after Charlie was taken from us, many, many young people were inspired by the life, the legacy, the impact that Charlie had on our culture in America. Charlie did inspire me personally to think differently about an issue. And that was about getting people to recognize the power of grassroots activism. For many, many years, the only real grassroots activists were some of these well-funded and highly organized groups on the left. And yet Charlie came along and in creating turning point, created an entire grassroots infrastructure that impacted young

36:41people and people from all ages. Look, it was a bunch of old guys that invested and supported Charlie from the early going because they saw something in Charlie that they knew was potentially a game changer. And that's when Charlie and turning point USA became one of the biggest game changers of all. When I think about Charlie's life, his career, his commitment, his legacy, what made him stand out was his willingness and even his enthusiasm to put Scripture, the Bible, the Word of God, front and center, every chance he had. He would do political events on a weekly, sometimes daily basis, but almost every single time in front of thousands and thousands of young people, he would invoke Scripture. He was really good at understanding the Word of God and interpreting Scripture and recognizing its impact. For me, I've never seen a public political figure put his faith, put his

37:43testimony, put the Word of God, front and center. Nobody did that better than Charlie Kirk. When Charlie was killed, it was one of those moments that you will never forget. I know that our parents and grandparents would always talk about they knew where they were when they got the news that John F. Kennedy was assassinated. There was those epic moments of time, those tragic time-stopping heart-rending moments when you knew that something had changed in our world. When Charlie was killed and when it was the finality of it, finally was realized, I recognize that in many ways nothing would be the same again. They silenced him. They didn't like his voice. They hated his views. And in fact, after he was killed, there were lots of evil doers on the left who literally celebrated his assassination. Charlie's death is a reminder that evil is real. Charlie's assassination is a grim and bitter reminder that we are in a cultural war. We are in a spiritual war.

38:48Nobody knew that better than Charlie Kirk. Nobody saw that as clearly as Charlie. That good versus evil is being played out in real time every single day, right under our noses. Sadly, that evil prevailed in silencing the voice of our friend and colleague, Charlie Kirk. There's an easy way to honor Charlie's legacy. And that is to carry on on his behalf as many people are doing. People of all ages, a lot of young people, high school kids, college kids, who became sort of politically aware whose eyes were opened because of Charlie's impact. And those young people are soon going to become our future leaders. They're going to run for office. And hopefully on the city, state, county, federal level, there'll be a lot of Charlie Kirk inspired individuals who will take this country into the next generation. I will always be forever grateful to Charlie's legacy. And I know

39:54that America writ large has been impacted by the one and only Charlie Kirk. Faith over fear. That's the best way to describe Charlie Kirk's life and legacy. Not long before he was killed, Charlie and I were in a green room together somewhere. And we were talking about the threats that he and his family faced on a daily basis. And Charlie confided in me that he wasn't worried about his own personal safety, but he was deeply concerned about Erica and his children, his precious family that he loved so much. Putting faith over fear. And Charlie always turned it over to God. Again, Charlie Kirk was all about putting the country first and putting his faith ahead of everything else. Faith over fear. That's the Charlie Kirk who I knew. Charlie Kirk was fearless. And as he became the leader of a powerful movement,

40:54he himself became a bigger target. After Trump won a second time, some people on the left blamed Charlie. Death threats mounted. I've known Charlie for a long time since he was in high school and he was an incredibly positive person. But that relentless optimism had only served to infuriate some of the left who could not deal with the reality that they were facing another four years of Donald Trump in the White House. I want to just keep on leaning into this. Just just so we're clear, we also had a security guard yesterday who took one for the team. One of our front lines, journalists, by the way, front lines is doing amazing work. We've got to do more front lines having them on the show. It is our citizen journalist project, attorney point USA front lines at the border, front lines at the migrant camps. So one of our security guards here, as you can see, took one for the team as our front lines journalist. Just a little brawl and a scuffle that happened there. Looked the left date that all they know is violence because speech to them is a threat. You're not exactly sure what's happened in this video, but there's one of our security guys who

41:56got bloodied up by Antifa. Our movement is ascending and you are all playing a huge part in that. Some people are asking, Charlie, what is your next event? Detroit Michigan. Detroit Michigan, tpaction.com. Get your tickets right now at tpaction.com for the People's Convention. Donald Trump will be there. Vague Ramaswami will be there. Biggest speakers in the entire movement because we now need to get this young male energy, the rise of the frat bros, we need to make sure we chase their ballots. We need to make sure that they vote for their future. After Trump won, Charlie's work wasn't done. He wasn't moving on to new causes or interests. He continued to make regular appearances on college campuses. He continued to dialogue and debate the opposition, believing that if you could explain American and Judeo-Christian values to America's young people, they would learn the truth and they could live better and more meaningful lives. Charlie's message was one of truth, honesty, clarity, and doing the right thing.

42:59They want the confidence and the security. That one life gets difficult and when life starts falling apart, that man will lead them towards security and stability. Because deep down, women have a very well built and finely tuned, God given instinct, that they'll be all they're telling a man is this guy going to protect me and protect my kids and he's going to provide or is he going to run for the hills? Go look to your grandfather's generation at Storm Normandy Beach. They'll built this nation that started big businesses that went on adventure. If the most important thing for you is just feeling good, you're going to end up miserable. But if the most important thing is doing good, you will end up purposeful. On September 10th, 2025, while speaking outdoors at a college campus in Oram, Utah, it's some 3,000 college students. Charlie Kirk was gunned down by an assassins bullet. He was an Icon, but he was also my friend of more than a decade and he was just 31 years old.

44:02Minutes after he was killed, I hit a come on the air and shared horrific news with the nation. Matt Boyle is on the line with me. He's our Washington Bureau Chief of Matt. Let's start with the reporting. What do you know? Yeah. Well, the speaker, first off, I want to just say, like, I don't want to be the one to break this news. But the speaker, the state house of Utah has said that Charlie Kirk has died. And I don't have a reason to believe that that is not accurate. So I think that is correct based off of what my sources are saying. And just a terrible moment for the conservative movement for the nation, for President Trump supporters, for all Americans, frankly, and just, yeah. So we're going off of I'm seeing this online on social media. This is a tweet from the Utah Speaker of the House, also seeing John Solomon's just the news reporting it as well. I imagine that

45:04no one from just the news is with Charlie. So I'm guessing that he's getting that from from someone. And it's it is it's such a moment of information. It's just so hard to know what's true. But you believe, Matt, that that's the sourcing is all of there. I think so. Yeah. So I don't have a reason to just believe it and my own sources are saying the same thing. So I don't want to be the one confirming it. But it's a terrible story to confirm. But so I don't I'm not going to disweight you from I'm unbelievable. Hard to process it. It's hard to process it. It's actually especially in a moment where there's so few trustworthy people in the media to even discuss these things, much less report on it. Weeks later, and his emotional memorial service at NFL football stadium in Phoenix, over 70,000 people would mourn his passing. His wife, Erica, was a strong pillar of faith, who in these words about her husband's passing. God bless all of you for coming here from all

46:07over the world to honor and celebrate my Charlie. Just a few miles from here, two years ago, at America Fest 2023, Charlie delivered a speech on stage for our TPUSA faith event. Charlie loves speaking off the cuff. He was very good at that without a script. So I personally didn't know what he was going to say. And what he chose to speak about that day was his submission to the will of God. He quoted one of his favorite Bible verses Isaiah chapter 6 verse 8.

47:07Here I am, Lord. Send me. After Charlie finished, I met him backstage, and I spoke to him, and I'll never forget this. I said, Charlie, baby, please talk to me next time before you say that statement. Because when you say something like that, there is so much power in that verse. When you say, here I am, Lord, use me. God will take you up on that, and he did with Charlie. And as I stand here now, and look at this beautiful photo of my husband in front of me hanging in the stadium.

48:08I think of my husband 13 years ago. I hadn't met him yet. He was 18 years old. Man barely out of high school. Running around the halls of the RNC. He felt a dollar in his pocket and a single contact in his phone. People who saw him said that he didn't know what he was doing, but he did. He did know what he was doing. He knew exactly what he was doing. He was going to change the world and he did. Charlie's life was a turning point for this country. It was a miracle. Let that miracle, it was Charlie's life, be your turning point as well. Choose prayer.

49:10Choose courage. Choose beauty. Choose adventure. Choose family. Choose a life of faith. Most importantly, choose Christ. I love you, Charlie, baby. And I will make you proud. God bless you all and God bless America. Charlie's legacy lives on spectacularly. After his death, millions more heard his words who may never have known him. While the assassin made one to silence Charlie and stop the movement he created,

50:14hundreds of new Charlie's have emerged to take on the good fight. The 12-year-old Rush Limbaugh fan who wanted to carry on in his mentor's footsteps was successful and building an even bigger movement than Rush himself could ever have imagined. No one left behind here on earth will know the ending of this story. But the story did not end with Charlie's untimely death. In many ways, it was only the beginning.

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