The Charlie Kirk Show - Charlie Kirk Forever: Honoring a Martyr, One Year Later

Episode Date: September 10, 2026

One year ago today, the world lost Charlie Kirk and changed forever. Today, the show remembers a hero and a martyr. While millions commemorate Charlie's legacy in Arizona, Utah, and around the world, two of Charlie’s closest friends, Vice President JD Vance and Donald Trump Jr., join the program, along with Jack Posobiec, Officer Tatum, Riley Gaines, and more. Watch every episode ad-free on members.charliekirk.com!    Get new merch at charliekirkstore.com!Support the show: http://www.charliekirk.com/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Charlie Kirk's running the White House, folks. He just doesn't have the ego to tell you that. I want to thank my great friend, Charlie Kirk. He's done something that is just incredible for somebody really of his age. You need tremendous talent to do what he's done, building one of the most powerful youth organizations ever created, Turning Point USA, and I want to thank you, really, Charlie, incredible job. I have the greatest job in the world.

I couldn't be happier. Every day I feel as if what I'm saying, what I'm doing is making a difference, giving people meaning. Charlie, you should have a motion. This is a moment. You totally reform the GOP. And look what you guys have done. I hear some words here from you, Charlie. You put all this together, my man.

I am just humbled by God. God's great. It's all God. It's all God. God alone. Done. We did not earn this. This is God's life.

mercy on our country. Yes. You're on the Lord's side. I'm sick. A people stealing my stick. Wait, so a campus thing, I've been doing for 13 years to debate random college kids has now been so important that it gets prominent primetime placement on comedy. I think the whole thing is just awesome. I'm finding out how honest you are, Charlie, and so far I think you're doing good, and I hope I'm doing good with you. through the decades-long journey from 2015 to today on the public opinion battle. Pete, you're doing a phenomenal job. I just want to say that from the American people that you don't get the credit that you deserve obviously in the mainstream media. Michael, why are people going back to church?

People are going back to church because the atheism ran out of steam. Bobby Kennedy, welcome back to the program. Charlie, thanks for having me. Ben, thank you for taking the time. I was moved by your podcast on Monday about how we must stare the evil in the face. very special hour episode for you today. My wife joins us, Erica Kirk, the beautiful legendary Erica. I love you so much. I love you. You're my best friend. Welcome to the Charlie Kirkship. Last week, we welcomed our beautiful daughter into the world. Most important thing that one can do except giving your life to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. We, Erica and I and our family, were celebrating the birth of our son. Becoming a father has radicalized me in the best way possible, by the way.

And it's made me, first of all, understand that what I'm fighting for is beyond even yourself, just so important. It also makes me very fired up at anybody, any institution, any movement that would dare try to corrupt our children. It's a source of immense joy and meaning and beauty, and it's also a source of motivation and purpose. I encourage more young people to get married and have kids. You'll be happier because of it. My wife is the best person ever, and she's a patriot. and she's a believer, and we don't want to have to be accountable to God when this life passes.

And he asks, why did you not trust in me and not fight evil? Because we as Christians are called to fight evil. It's one of the lesser-known scriptures, Psalm 9710. For those of you that love God, you must hate evil. My call is to fight evil and to proclaim truth. That's it. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

Rejoice and be glad for your world. reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. The most important question that you can answer in your life is the question, who is Jesus Christ? Was he an act of fiction? Was he a fable? Or was he what I believe, what many people here believe, the savior of the world? You are commanded to go do something productive with your life. Wow. That you are not commanded to go sit idly by and just receive, you are commanded to go give and to produce and to risk and to then go so into other people. That is a biblical idea that has made the world a profoundly better place. If everything completely goes away, how do you want to be remembered?

If I die? Everything just goes away. How would you, if you could be associated with one thing, how would you want to be remembered? I want to be remembered for courage for my faith. That would be the most important thing. Most important thing is my faith in my life. Buckle up. Here we go. Welcome everybody around the country. It's a really tough day.

Tougher than I was anticipating, actually. Don't get me crying. First 30 seconds. Well, they did that. That intro is beautiful. Jake did a great job. It kind of got me going. I'm going to read some scripture here as we get started off.

as we remember one year without Charlie. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Compassion and the God of All Comfort, who comforts us in all of our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.

If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comfort, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance, and the same sufferings we suffer and our hope for you is firm because we know that just as you share in our suffering so also you share in our comfort. We're joined by Graham Allen

and Blake Neff in studio here. It's already been a wild morning, I'll tell you. Yeah, you know, we'll announce in advance. We've been saying the devil wants to get his pound of flesh out of this or something and so we've had internet issues all morning. So if there's sound issues or anything like that, that's why. Yeah, bear with us because apparently like an eighth of Phoenix, their internet went down today.

So because, you know, no easy days. It's almost, but, you know, it's kind of fitting because I think Charlie would want us to overcome it and everybody's scrambling around because we've had many days like that with Charlie. We have a really amazing show because everybody wanted to be a part of today's show with us, including the vice president himself. he's going to be calling in about four minutes. At least we think his schedule is always in flux a little bit. We've got Don Jr., also in Hour 1, who two of those two men were Charlie's dearest, some of Charlie's dearest closest friends.

I mean, I think people think about politics as transactional. They think about it. It's getting stuff done, and it is all those things. But behind that are deep, dear friendships. And, of course, we have Graham here. Jack Posobics coming. We've got Riley Gaines, Savannah Hernandez, and Officer Tatum, many more come to pay their respects to the most remarkable man I've ever met.

And the hardest working man, the most decent man, who was a happy warrior in every single way right up until the end, who gave his life to Jesus, who wanted to be remembered for courage, for his faith. And we remember him for that. And we remember all the ways that it inspired his life and guided his life and shaped his life. He was an amazing husband, a great father, a great manager of people, a great builder, a great statesman, a great preacher. I believe that he spoke prophetically to a nation that needed his voice exactly when he came on to this earth. And so send us your emails. We have been getting them all week.

We've been getting them all morning. we're going very long to make sure that we can get to a lot of them. And it sounds like, without further ado, we have the Vice President of the United States, J.D. Vance, joining us now. Mr. Vice President, thank you for making the time. I know how busy you are and how you wedged this in. You were Charlie's dearest friend probably in all politics. I'll just be really blunt about it.

What does this one year mean to you? Well, first of all, man, it just doesn't feel like one year. That's the conversation I've had. So with so many private friends in group chat and so forth is, man, it's just hard to believe that he's been gone for a year. You know, I mean, Charlie was obviously a very dear friend. I mean, you know, I've kept in close contact and Usha has with Erica and with the kids. And, you know, I always just first and foremost think of this as a human tragedy. You know, you think about the kids, you think about as a young father myself, you know, what memories will the kids have of Charlie?

I think about, you know, selfishly, the ways in which I wish he was around for my own selfish reasons, you know, I think about, you man, I just really wish I could call Charlie and get his advice on this, or I really wish I could call Charlie and get his help on this. And, you know, it's just, you slowly over time, realize that, you know, first it's you pick up the phone and you dial his number and then you hang up before he answers. and the closer you get to this year mark, you realize he's just not there anymore. And it's one of these things where I think everybody grieves differently and everybody responds to it differently. But the way that I just constantly, almost obsessively, come back to it is this was a guy who just had so much life to live,

who had so many people who loved him, and so many people who relied upon him, who depended upon him, and were all in our own way, in some ways big and small, obviously the biggest hole is for Eric and the kids, but all of us, I think, have this hole that we're all trying to fill or all trying to at least find some way of making sure that we carry on in Charlie's absence. Yeah, I think the personal side is, obviously, for all of us here, is always the hardest. But he also is a man that now belongs to history.

And that's something that I personally have to wrestle with, because I knew him as a friend, his brother, as a colleague, but I realized that he belongs to everybody now. We've seen his void in the movement, and that has been another struggle over the last year. And I think you've put it so beautifully sometimes when you've asked about this, how do you replace Charlie Kirk, which I think is a terrible question to ask. And you talk about this, and I'd love for you to share it again, how that's the wrong question to ask. The question is, how do we all do our small part? And maybe just share those kind of insights that you've shared with me before, Mr. Vice President.

Yeah. Yeah, I mean, it's the wrong question, unfortunately, man, because there's just no answer to it. There's no way to replace Charlie Kirk. To your point, you know, I heard you when I was sort of coming on and doing the mic check that he was a great manager of people. You know, one of the skills, not skills, but I would say virtues that Charlie had that I always try to emulate is that he was like constitutionally incapable of envy. And I remember, you know, this is very personal for me in a lot of ways, of course, because I'm given this big speech at the Reparkey. and midterm convention tonight. And I remember the first time I gave a speech like this, of course, was at the convention for the general election in 2024. And Charlie was down there,

like looking up at me, cheering for me. And, you know, sometimes in politics, obviously people have big egos. And there were people who are like, well, this guy's barely been in politics for a couple of years. And now he's the vice presidential candidate. There's like a little bit of jealousy. Charlie just never had that. Charlie was always just the biggest fan of everybody. He didn't care where they were going, whether it was a big ambition or a small ambition, he was always rooting for you. And I think that's an amazing testament to the kind of man that God made. And unfortunately, you just can't replace that. And, you know, whether it was as a cheerleader for the people that he loved, whether it was as a political operative, he was just an incredibly

skilled person at navigating the tradeoffs and the compromises. He was amazing at getting what he wanted out of the political process within the realm of the possible. He was just a is also just of course a great organization builder. He was a great spokesperson. He was a great evangelist. I think that's one of the hidden and underappreciated elements of Charlie's life is this is a guy who was evangelizing the Christian faith, was constantly talking about his faith, but in a way that was appealing to people who didn't necessarily come from a Christian background. So what you can't do is replace Charlie. What all of us can do in our own little way is try to fill some of the gaps that he left behind.

You know, I try to talk, of course, to a lot of young audiences, young conservatives, young Christians. I think you guys are obviously carrying on with the radio program. Erica is trying to ensure that TPSA continues to be a light out there for the young high school and college students all across America. So we're all, I think, trying to pick up some of the burden in our own unique and distinct ways. But let's be honest, man. Charlie is irreplaceable. He left a giant hole. And the best we can ever hope for is just to, you know, make things a little.

little bit better carry on a little bit of Charlie's legacy. Mr. Vice President, I remember at the RNC when Charlie dropped everything. I remember I was right next to him and he's like, I got to go. JD's about to speak and we made a B-line for that floor. And I also remember as I don't know if you know this Vice President Vance, but I remember as you were speaking, I think he turned

to us and he basically said like this is it that I've peaked. And that was, we love the election night as well, But that he was so proud of the work. As you said, he was so incapable of envy. He wanted to help people. He had his message, his little sign in his office. How do I help someone today?

How do I add value to the world today? How do I honor God today? And he was always looking to do all three of those things. And you played a central role in that, Mr. Vice President. Mr. Vice President, you people don't remember. Charlie endorsed you. I think when you had three, you were at 3% in the Ohio. You had about three supporters.

Three supporters. Charlie was one of them. If that. Yeah, if that. I mean, look, Charlie, Charlie, you know, it was like my mom, my sister, my dog. I mean, Charlie Kirk, I think was the fourth person to ever support me in that Senate race. I mean, so, you know, you guys know the backstory, and I've told this a little bit, but, you know, how I got to know Charlie is I was doing a Fox hit on Tucker Carlson's Nightly Show on Fox. and I don't know, this is 2018, 2019, maybe even earlier.

And I get this message from Charlie Kirk, and I didn't, you know, I'd followed Charlie a little bit. I knew who he was, but I wasn't like a person who was super engaged in the work of TPP USA. And it was like not just a very supportive message, but it was also extremely insightful. And this is the thing that, you know, Charlie, like, had these very deeply held views. He had this very distinct perspective on what the Republican Party needed to become. to sort of do the best work and to be the best version of itself. And I just immediately recognize, like, this is a guy who sees the world in the same way that I do.

This is a guy who recognizes that, you know, the purpose of a political party is to make people's lives better. It's not to serve these abstractions. It's not to sort of repeat slogans that have been repeated for 40 years. As much as we might agree with the underlying substance of some of those cliches, it's to make people's lives better and to build the kind of country where young men can become, you know, virtuous husbands and fathers and raise good families, and where young women can become, you know, virtuous wives and mothers and also raise good families.

And, like, this is, like, there's a purpose here. And, you know, anybody who sort of knows or has thought about, like, classical philosophy, there's this term telos, the end, the purpose. What is the thing that we're trying to do here? And Charlie was always focused on that North Star. We're trying to build a better society. That is the purpose. That's the telos of this political movement that we're all engaged in. And because of that, again, he was remarkably smart and skillful at navigating in this world because he never lost that North Star. And that's, you know, one of the things I try to take away from Charlie guys is, you know, politics is inherently, like you don't get everything that you want. You have to make compromises, whether it's with the moderate Democrats or the moderate Republicans. Like, you just don't get what you want all the time. But so long as you have that North Carolina, you have that North Carolina, you have that North America. You're not. You're not. You're not. You just don't get what you want all the time. But so long as long as you have that North star of this is what I'm trying to accomplish. You may not always make the wisest decisions,

but you don't lose yourself in the process. And I think there are sort of two separate, like, sins or two separate flaws that I see in American politics. You have the people who are just so focused on playing the game that they lose sight of what they're trying to accomplish, and they'll lose themselves in the process. And then you have the people who are so dedicated to a particular principle, admirably so, but they're unable to actually get anything done. Charlie was the perfect fusion of practical and prudential, but principled. And, man, we need more of it. But I think that is the great lesson of Charlie's life for people who care about politics.

I think the greatest lesson for Charlie's life is for human beings writ large is, as he always said, be a good husband, be a good father, invest in the things, invest your time in the things that actually will bring you meaning. That's the most important thing. But, you know, for the political junkies, of course, we've got the RNC convention. Get involved in politics. Don't lose yourself. Don't lose your principles. But don't be the kind of person who could make a really good argument but not get anything done. Charlie could make a really good argument. He had his principles, but man, he was better at getting things done than anybody I knew. Frankly, I would not be vice president were it not for Charlie and his ability to get things done.

Yeah. It's an amazing testament to him and how much he believed in you and how much we still believe in you, Mr. Vice President. I want to I'm reminded as you're talking of about this moment at the memorial. And I was actually backstage watching the teleprompter of your speech. And it was a beautiful speech. And I remember you went off script. And it was that truly powerful moment where you said,

I've talked about God and my relationship with Jesus more in the last two weeks than I have in my entire public life. And I thought that that was one of the more profound moments of that entire experience. Tell us about that. And what, possessed you in that moment to say those words and what Charlie has kind of injected into your faith journey as well. Yeah, yeah. So, you know, you guys know sort of my faith journey, raised Christian, when atheists, and kind of came back to my faith.

And I don't know if it's just the kind of person that I am or whether it's that particular journey. But I've always been a little uncomfortable talking about my faith publicly. It's not something that comes naturally to me at all. But I don't know if it ever came naturally to Charlie either. but there was just no way to talk about Charlie's legacy. Like if I was going to be honest to my friend, to his contribution to my life, to what he meant to the country, to what he meant to the country's Christians, there was just no way to talk about Charlie Kirk without talking about his relationship with Christ and how it really influenced everything that he did. I mean, I think that it was C.S. Lewis, and I'm going to butcher this quote, but it's that Christianity is not like my religion.

It's not this perspective that I have. It is the filter by which I see everything else in the world. And that was very much true of Charlie. And so almost because I was forced to. Like to be honest about Charlie's legacy, I had to talk about my own faith, talk about his faith too. It sort of ripped this Band-Aid off for me. And certainly, you know, if you see a speech that I gave six months ago versus a speech that I gave six years ago, you will see a lot more open discussion of faith because now that that pandemic has ripped off,

it just, you know, you can't go back. And it's a natural way. And that is, I think, an important takeaway of Charlie's life for me is you've got to talk about the whole person. And, you know, I thought a lot about this because I grew up in an evangelical background. And I've seen a lot of different ways of people proselytizing their faith. I've, you know, walked around my neighborhood knocking on doors, trying to get people to read the saving prayer. I've seen the way in which example really, really affects people. And I think every person sort of has their own pathway to Jesus.

But for me, the thing that always was the most impactful and the most powerful is the way that Christians lived their life. That witness, that showing as opposed to telling, was always the most powerful Christian witness to me. And that's certainly what I try to do. I certainly talk about my faith a lot. but I also try to be the kind of person that a human being might be curious and say, oh, well, why did you do that instead of that? And is that because of your faith? And I found that that way of sort of talking about or living by example of the Christian faith

is, again, something I very much took from Charlie. He could be, of course, a very good proselytizer. I mean, I could see Charlie going door to door knocking on people's doors and saying, if you want to talk about Jesus, he probably did that. He certainly did that through his speeches. But his most profound, I think, faith witness was just the way that he lived his life. And that's how it was with me. I didn't, you know, ever feel like Charlie was preaching to me.

I felt like Charlie did things that made me curious about his relationship with God. And that led to conversations between the two of us that was ultimately very impactful in my own return to my faith. Yeah, amen. That's what one of the most special parts about being able to talk about Charlie is, is that we saw him up close. and we can attest that his life that he lived mirrored his faith so wonderfully. It was a superpower. It was a superpower, as the vice president was alluding to, there's a lot of people who are Christians or claim a Christian mantle,

but Charlie more than anyone was the person where you could tell that his faith branched into every dimension of his life, that he was not a political actor who happened to have religious faith, that he was a person who said, I do each of these things as a direct consequence of what I believe about the Bible, about Jesus Christ, about God. I totally agree. And we all got to see it, and it's with honor of our lives, actually. Mr. Vice President, I just want to give a moment to remember that Erica wrote a beautiful op-ed in the New York Times, and she quoted your wife, Usha, on that plane ride that I was on. Many of us were on. You took Charlie's body back to

Phoenix. And in that grief, your wife looked at Erica and said, just 15 minutes at a time. You can do it 15 minutes at a time. And that was probably one of the more poignant moments in that op-ed. And I give you a moment because you were sitting there when that discussion happened. Yeah, I mean, I actually, I didn't hear exactly what Eusha said. I believe that Eusha said that to Erica either right on the plane or right after we got off when we were on the tarmac together. But, I mean, look, man, you guys are all married. You know, it's very proud when you see, you know, your wife be the person that you know that she is. And in that moment, I was just very proud of Usha because, you know, I know that Ushah's caring and strong and wise,

but I think the whole country saw it in that moment. And certainly Erica saw it in that moment where she was sort of able to be strong enough for Erica to lean on her. and offer those words of wisdom. I think that, you know, there are so many things about that day that I return to. I've talked to Usha a lot about this. I think it probably this moment had more of an impact on me than it did on Usha. But when Erica looked at us and she was crying and upset, and, you know, this is one of the first conversations I'd had with her after Charlie's death.

And she said, I wish that we had had more babies together. And that hit me like a ton of bricks, man. I was like, well, you know, that's not a decision that you ever, you know, one, you never regret it having another kid. And two, it's not something you can really go back on. You know, if we get to the point where we're 50, 60, and those years have passed us by, I'm never going to be able to go back in time and make a different decision. And I think, at least for me, is a big part of the reason why I was so enthusiastic about having another kid.

And so, you know, now we hold little Alec who's six weeks old, and I can't help but think of that connection to that moment. But, man, there's just, there's so much from that day that I hate this term silver lining because, look, there's no silver lining to Charlie's death. It's a tragedy. It's terrible. It left a massive hole in the country. It left a massive hole in my heart and my personal life. But there are these little rays of sunshine, man, where I think God is speaking to us.

And I think that moment of Ushah's strength for Erica, I think that what Erica said to me, I think, you know, just talking to Charlie's dad, who in that moment you could tell he was trying, I'm getting emotional thinking about it, he was trying not to break down because, you know, he's got his daughter-in-law and he's got his wife and he's got his daughter that he's trying to be strong for. You just see all these little moments of people being the best version of themselves in grief. And I'm, you know, I'll be honest with you, man, I'm pissed off that Charlie's dead. A year on, sometimes I find myself talking to God and saying, why the hell did you do this? Why did you leave this big gap for all of us?

But I also remember that there is a purpose to it. And if I'm really following Charlie's example, which I try to do, you've got to have a little bit of humility about the ways in which God is speaking to us in these moments. And I try to remind myself of that, as pissed off as I still am, as heartbroken as I still am. There is very much a purpose to this. We don't fully understand it, but we've got to have a little humility and try to understand that purpose and live by that purpose as best we can. God bless you. Vice President J.D. Vance. I know how busy your day is. Thank you so much for making the time to honor Charlie and to remember him. I'll say it again. He believed in you in an incredible way and almost completely. And you were one of his dearest friends. So thank you again for honoring him today. God bless you. God bless you guys. God bless Charlie. We love you, man. We miss you. Amen.

Vice President of the United States. That's the kind of guy Charlie was that the vice. vice president would make time i mean i when i tell you his schedule what that this was nearly impossible to get done today of all days um i really mean it and uh you know same same thing with don junior don junior schedule today is like insane um i believe he is um we're getting him set up uh probably right about now and he's going to be joining us um but charlie believed in jd's talents before just about anybody before anybody. I just love that story. They were so excited. They said they were going to endorse him. And then Turning Point was so excited. They blasted out the announcement before Charlie could talk to any of the people in Ohio, any of the donors he had to talk to.

Ah, but he was very proud of it after the fact. And he loved telling that story. He loved telling the story of, you know, the maneuvers to try to get J.D. over the hump to be the vice presidential nod. Oh, man. The back story's there. There could be a whole book written about. the behind the scenes moves you know some of these stories behind the scenes of charlie kirk yeah there could be multiple books written but it's just it's such a testament as we said to as the vice president said to he was always the one looking to boost other people help other people and that is why he had so many friends allies because he was the giving mindset well one of his oldest friends in the political space, but really it's beyond politics in so many ways. And that is Don Jr., one of Charlie's longtime friends. He joins us now. I don't know how

Don pulled this off either, to be candid. Don, thank you so much for joining us. We just had Vice President Vance on, just talking about the personal stories. So much has been made of when you and Charlie first started working together. Maybe that's just the place to start. Or just kind of have to do it. Yeah. It was a story about when you first met Charlie one, because it was a reluctant meeting. You know, it's like 2015. We're on the campaign trail. And, you know, literally no one knows what's going. We don't even know what we're doing, right? We're just sort of fake it until you make it. And a couple of buddies of mine from Texas come up to me and they're like, hey, man, you got to meet this guy. He knows everything about politics. He knows there. Yeah. I'm like, oh, wow, that's great.

We need some of that. And then they're like, it's like, tell me some more. And they're like, well, you know, He's 18 years old, or I guess he'd just turned 19 at this time. And I'm saying, like, relax. Like, you know, if there's one thing we had no shortage of, it's guys that don't know what the hell they're doing. I didn't need more of that. And I was like, you know, 18, 19 years old, I'm like, give me a break. And, you know, they were pretty persuasive and, you know, got me to actually sit down with Charlie. And in five minutes, I'm like, oh, God, this guy's the man.

Like, we, you know, congratulations. You're basically on my team. And he spent the rest of that campaign, you know, just traveling, traveling with me. It was just part of my team, you know, just an intimate member of that. And we did anything and everything. And that was what was great about Charlie, despite having all the connections and having the knowledge that he had. I mean, you know, he could go from, you know, fundraising, you know, making calls to billionaires to literally being a bad guy and just carrying stuff, you know, around. Because like we literally had no infrastructure.

We had no, no anything. It was just, you know, for me, it initially is a one or two-man show, and he became, you know, the second or third man, you know, on that and pushed us to do, you know, college campus events. And all the things we weren't supposed to do as Republicans and as conservatives, you know, really got us out of our comfort zone to the point where, you know, those places actually became our comfort zone. And so that was just the beginning of a really long friendship.

And still can't believe it. I mean, it's, you know, I guess what, like about an hour or two, it's going to be, you know, exactly a year. And I remember getting that phone call. Yeah, two hours. I hope no one ever has to experience that. Yeah. Don, you know, he was very proud of that origin story.

He loved the fact that he was getting you coax. You know, he always said, I took the bags, was getting him coax. And he was like, I'll do social media for you. You know, so Charlie went on sabbatical from his work at Turning Point, went and joined you. And it was one of the great joys. He loved telling that story. He loved it because he loved you so much. And I, we had this clip.

I remember Election Day, you know, 16, and that's what it was. It was like, you know, again, we got to go all out. I think I did, you know, some like 40 radio interviewed. It was just, you know, that afternoon as sort of the clock was ticking. You know, polls would close on the East Coast. And then you'd have, you know, the panhandle of Florida was still on the other thing. So you had another half an hour. You could still make phone calls for Florida.

And, I mean, we have a picture of me. And I'm just literally on one radio. show, other one on hold, and Charlie's just on my desktop, just banging out, you know, social media at the same time from my office, you know, in New York on that last day. You know, he was there for all of that, there for the, you know, the win there with us at, you know, three o'clock in the morning when it finally happened. You know, and really, you know, so much of the win in 24 is because of, you know, the work that, you know, Charlie did. And really, you know, you guys and all of Turning Point. I mean, they really

just the evolution of that and how much they grew and you all collectively grew along with me was amazing you know you um when i say your friendship went beyond just politics and transactional and i meant the same for jd of course we we have this great clip i'm going to play because it was a great moment but you know you guys were kind of in an interesting way you're very different people you know charlie was a little bit like uptight and you you guys love razzing him because he was like a little brother but you know you guys had such different energies and yet it just became like something that was so dear to both of you and it was so fun to watch like almost polar opposites you got midwestern uptight a little and i mean

this in an endearing way charlie and like new york manhattan night don junior you know it was just it was a crazy thing to watch and i think this clip is just we're going to play it's a it's a little over a minute long i apologize but you'll enjoy it done uh let's go ahead and play at Cup 55. Post a photo, guys. No, hold on. No, no, no.

Charlie's so well being, I'm usually the controversial one. Hold on. Hold on. No, no, no, no. No, no. No, no. No, no. No, no.

No, no. Put up. I haven't even seen this. So, put it up. Put it up. Do we have it? We're going to need. There we go.

Now, if we zoom in here. I don't know if they can zoom it in. The context matters here, guys. No, no context should be allowed. He's, is at an Oregon Ducks game. And if you zoom in there, if you zoom in there,

If you gaze at what would be his left ear at the right end of the photo, he has an ear plug within his ear to conceal himself from the true authentic sounds. I have a very simple question for Don. Do you ever wear ear protection when you shoot? When I shoot, yes. Okay, well, it's the same decibel. You have to do it when you shoot. You don't know.

You're not shooting. Oh, the stadium is too loud. It's a hundred twenty-seven decibels. I have, like, I have to be. I have taken, like, my daughter to, like, one of these concerts when we're sitting front row at a concert or something where it's just so loud. I'm like, and I hate the music. I will. I have done that.

But at a football game, come on. It was 100. Charlie, this is not a number. Are you out here? I think Charlie just went communist on us. I'm a little worried. This is not a normal stadium, guys. Charlie, are you a Democrat?

Are you, have you been eating a lot of soy? There's some things you rather just lose your hearing for. It's like, it's worth it. It's just you got to eat the man. card. It's like, it's loud. It's like a gunshot. It's so scary. I want to go back to the same which is louder than a music concert. It's not a normal stadium. That was like, it was just such an insight to the way you would razz him all the time. And he just would smile. He just loved it. He never got upset about it.

Yeah, and it was funny with Charlie, you know, again, you're right. I mean, for, I mean, I think we spoke every day for 10 years, you know. It was a, it's, uh, it's, something pretty amazing, but the personalities are, you know, very different. I mean, on stage, perhaps not. But behind the scenes, it's like, you know, I remember having sort of conversations. I'm like, oh, yeah, I got to stop. Like, this is not a conversation for a Charlie Kirk. You know, I got to, I got to watch my language. I can't talk about, you know, you know, let's call it locker room talk. I think someone very wise once coined that term. I've heard that expression. Because you could just see him get like visibly uncomfortable with

the conversation that most guys have had with every guy buddy they've ever. known but with charlie it was just like okay no i got to remember like i got to talk like i'm talking to my you know 12 year old it was a little different um you know but that's interesting you know we i i wasn't planning on bringing this up but you know don charlie's impact on all of our lives he did make us better he made us better people and he demanded better around from everybody around him and i remember the memorial and i was just telling jd you know you adlib your speech to talk about Jesus. And one of being backstage, I remember when you came off from the at the memorial and you talked about Jesus and everyone's like, wow, Don, you know, you really

went for it. That was probably the first. Yeah. I mean, I think it kind of, it took some people, you know, it was a, it was a beautiful moment though, Don. And, and I think it was such a testament to Charlie's character and what we all witnessed firsthand about the way he lived his life that that you went there in that moment. And it was almost like, it felt like you had to. The feel in the room, the moment, and what Charlie's legacy meant, maybe talk about that a little bit.

Yeah, listen, I think Charlie ultimately, I mean, he probably made everyone a better person who's been around it, but he made you actually want to be a better person. He made you want to think about those things that perhaps you don't always think about. So, you know, I know he opened that up, you know, a lot to me, you know, where you can get kind of preoccupied in the nonsense.

But, you know, he had a great way of sort of just bringing everything back to sort of a grounded place. And, you know, that was great. You know, when, you know, I always joke, you know, with me even, you know, Charlie was sort of, you know, he's sitting there, whether it's online or in a speech, I'm like, hey, this is what, I want to go here. Like, that's going to be a banger. And he's like, okay, relax a little bit.

You know, sort of put you. Because sometimes, like, you know, 90% done is better than 110% done, right? It's just like, you know, it's all about time and place. And so Charlie was always that grounding voice. You kind of, you know, sometimes you just get mad. You want to do it. You just, you know, in full fight mode. And it's like, okay, but like, I get it.

But, you know, you got to think bigger picture here. And so, you know, that grounding was always really important. I think you see that. You know, I think you saw that then. I think, frankly, you know, across the board. Sometimes you see, you know, some of the absence of that now, you know, even in, you know, the people, you know, not just me, but definitely me too, but, you know, others, honestly, even sometimes with my father and stuff like that, he was the guy that could call, you know,

and talk through an issue and, you know, sort of breakthrough, you know, the, whether it's, you know, if you're stuck in D.C. and you get the establishment voices in your ear, you know, he was the guy that could do that in a lot of things. And so I don't know that anyone really fully appreciated, you know, Charlie's just unique ability to do that, to be. you know, the whisperer of all the things that, you know, we actually believe, but to do so in a messaging capacity that that always hits better than perhaps a lot of people's natural instincts. And so, you know, he was truly, truly a generational talent. I mean, there's no doubt in my mind, you know, he would have been president of the United States one day, and he would have deserved

to have done it, and he would have done an incredible job. And, you know, that's why they, that's why they took him away from us. It wasn't, it wasn't that he was this extremist. You know, he was probably the furthest thing from it. certainly relative to the, you know, the guys that we hung out with. But he was, it was just so effective across the board, right? He didn't just speak to the vacuum of the people in our ecosystem. He could speak to everyone and have that same impact. And that's, you know, that's why he was the threat that he was to the other side.

Hey, Don, this is, this is Graham. Just hearing you talk about from the beginning. And I remember me and you first starting to get to know, each other around the same time and I'd see I'd see you and then I'd see Charlie right behind you and Charlie would kind of like nudge me to kind of meet you for the first time and things like that. My question for you is this because you brought it up and naturally we're all here because of what happened a year ago. Charlie's legacy, I believe he's a once in a not a generation, a once in a lifetime person that has that has graced.

our world. What are you seeing? I'm curious what you see on the more political back-ins side with your father and everything like that when it comes to young men, young women that are stepping up. We just talked about it that Charlie made all of us want to be better. Charlie made all of us realize we could work a little bit harder than we are working. I'm just curious what you guys are seeing leading into these midterms, leading into these. new challenges that we're facing. What do you, from your perspective, see Charlie's lasting impact being in that regard? Well, I really hope that it's, you know, that next young generation opens their eyes, sees through, you know, the indoctrination and the brainwashing that we see

on a daily basis. He was that guy. And that's why I said. It was like, you know, when they're like, oh, he's an extremist. I'm like, yeah, he's such an extremist that he literally opened up one of the largest platforms anywhere in the world to his biggest detractors on an almost daily basis. You know, that's really extreme. You know, I remember even, you know, in the days after his assassination, you know, talking with people, it's like, well, you know, who can, who can really, you know, take the mantle and do this? And I'm like, there's no, I mean, if there's not 10 people that could do 10% to, to get to the cumulative 100 and replace Charlie. He was unique. I just, I hope that that his legacy is that enough young people.

And, you know, God knows there's enough footage out there, but that, you know, that his message can still carry on. I, you know, I think, you know, in D.C., a lot of that stuff, you know, often gets lost. I'll get myself into trouble for saying that. But I think, you know, that's 100% accurate. And, you know, when he was there, he was able to influence that a lot more. I don't know that there is someone that has the same, you know, ability, you know, gravitas, you to move the needle, to talk about the messaging, about things that actually matter to those groups.

So, you know, they don't feel ostracized and forgotten. And I think, you know, right now there's probably, you know, media is never going to talk about all the good things. And I think there's plenty of them. But, you know, I think we do have to address some of the things that still need to be fixed, you know, more assertively. And, you know, I'm hoping we're able to do that. But, you know, a loss of a Charlie in that conversation really hamstrings it. And so, you know, I am concerned that all those gains, if we don't, you know, seriously address the issues and answer to the needs of what, you know, those people who put such faith in us want that, you know, in an election cycle or two or three or four or six, you know, that that's not ever squandered. It was such a unique opportunity to be able to talk to that generation and so many others.

But, I mean, obviously his focus was on the youth, but, you know, he mobilized so many. other people as well. I just hope we don't squander that opportunity and that, you know, we remember that the people who got us here, you know, are those people. They do have their needs. They're going to actually be dealing with, you know, they fall out both good and bad of any decision we make today for, you know, far more, far longer than I will. You know, these are these are my kids. Yeah. My, that's what we're doing all of this for. You know, I see that in all of my five children and who's the messenger that can talk to them to, you know, not just talk to them and, you know, complain about what's lacking, but also have the ability to drive, you know, the initiative to actually create real change for them so that they do have a reason to get up and vote, that they do have a reason to get out there. I think clearly that, you know, the Democrats have done an amazing job of, you know, giving enough people excuses of. of like why this would be a really bad idea to go with what they're going for right now.

But to message that effectively to where it moves the needle, where it drives voter turnout, et cetera, you know, we still have to do that. I mean, you listen to them and they're insane. And I think a lot of the youth of America seem that. But, you know, without a voice like Charlie, it's a lot harder to do it because he was so effective at what he did. Well, and Don, I mean, not to put the pressure on you. I know you got a lot going on. Charlie believed you were one of those voices that could reach young people. And I know that you're a little bit older than some of them, but you speak directly to them. You speak their

language. And, you know, I know Charlie would be encouraging you to use, you know, your voice, your platform and the trust and the credibility that you have to do that. So the, you know, the invite is always before you, Don, if you ever want to speak to some college, you know that. Let me know. I'm always happy to help me. He was a sort of unique. guy in that he could do that messaging, he'd bring out, you know, whether it's me or others, he could bring out the best in them because, you know, we all sort of intrinsically think a lot of these things, but actually, you know, getting it out there, you know, putting it into the way that, you know, everyone gets it, you know, turning that into not just effective messaging,

but effective policy was really what he did so well. And so, you know, like I said, I'd love to be able to say I had his talents with those things. And I don't know that anyone does. And so hopefully we can collectively do that and keep that legacy alive. Don't sell yourself too short there, Don. And I know you got a jet. So the last question, this kind of putting you on the spot there. What would be your message to young people right now? We got midterms.

We're looking at 2028. A lot of cynicism setting in, a lot of nihilism, people checking out. What's your message to young people right now? Listen, I think, you know, apathy is what's going to destroy us. We have to get out there. You have to understand what the other side is doing. You know, the promises that they're making. that, you know, these are designed to get their vote, to get power, and then we see what they do

with it every time. You see where the Democrat Party is going in, you know, every election cycle since, you know, way before I ever met Charlie, but certainly since I met Charlie, you know, getting further, you know, radical more away from the rugged individualism that, you know, makes Americans, Americans, you know, I think, you know, we were saying it for a while and maybe it was hyperbole when we first started, you know, maybe it wasn't kind of full-blown communism, but, like, Now the thought leaders of the Democrat Party, these are DSA people. These are communists. So, yeah, they want your vote. They'll promise you this, that, and the other. And at the expense of your freedom, I can assure you in the long term, the trade is not worth it.

And so, you know, I'll actually, well, if I can make it to Dallas, my flight's been delayed by two and a half hours. So that's going to be a little problematic. You know, I'll talk about that in my speech tonight. And, you know, it's making sure those guys understand. You know, you may not be thrilled with 100% of everything going on on our side. that's unfortunately life, right? That's business, that's this. You don't get 100% of what you want, but there have been so many wins,

most of which have not been messaged effectively largely because we don't control the media, so they only talk about the negative. But, you know, really think about the alternative, you know, that alternative that the other side is proposing, the words that are actually coming out of their mouth, the things that they're not just saying, you know, in back rooms, but they're saying out loud right now, that future is very dystopian. It's very grim. And you have to understand that.

And, you know, you have to get out and vote. And, you know, sometimes, you know, again, you may not be thrilled with everything that's going on right now. But the alternative is so much worse that if you give them a chance, they're just going to chip away and erode the basic freedoms that we hold so dear. And, you know, they've proven that they want to do that time and time again. And so we are certainly there right now. And, you know, we can't go into this midterm cycle, you know, dejected because, you know, We didn't get 100% of what we wanted just yet. But think of what happens if the other side controls things where we actually end up in two years or four years or eight years, whatever it may be.

You know, when the youth of America that Charlie spent so much time talking to, you know, when they have their kids, if you have this continued degradation, where are you when, you know, where are they when they're your age now? And that's a scary place to be. And it's not just in America. I just look to the rest of the world who's been on this steady decline for so long. You know, that, that to me is scary. That to me should be, you know, the ultimate motivator, you know, to get out there and to continue to fight for what's right. Amen. Yeah, I mean, Blake always likes to point to, like, the U.K., you know, we basically had the same amount of earning, you know, relative to earnings per capita, real wages to the U.K., about, what, 15 years ago, 20 years ago?

Now we're about double the U.K. Maybe not quite. We have so many advantages over other people. and I love Don that you When you asked what was your message It was no apathy Because That was probably

I bet Sloth was Charlie's least favorite sin Of the seven deadly ones You want to watch Charlie's You know get a little fired up A little angry Yeah Be lazy or wasted time Be lazy, waste time

Don't care He fought against a lot of things But one of the biggest things he thought Was just the attitude of nihilism The attitude of not caring he cared so intensely about so many things and that was the root of why he was so effective and why so many people loved him

because they could tell he cared. Yeah, and the UK is a great example. I mean, you know, they literally have migrant rape gangs running around the country and the people who tweet about it and say, this is really bad, we should stop this. They're the ones getting thrown in jail, not that people actually committing rape. You know, if you want to look in an extreme view, you know,

that's it. But it's not extreme, you know, for the sake of extremism. I mean, it's extreme because it's actually happening and, you know, everyone's quiet about it. And, you know, if we think we're immune from that nonsense, we haven't followed history closely because we're certainly not. We just may be a little bit, you know, further on in the bell curve, you know, in that decline. But we do have the ability to stop it. But we're not going to stop it by saying, well, you know, I don't love this or that. And therefore, I'm just going to sit back and let's see what the Democrats do. I mean, they've made their points

very clear what they actually want to do. They're not going to message that. And the media is going to make sure to cover up, as we've seen in some of these radical extremists that are running for various House and Senate seats and governardships around the country. They're going to cover that part up and pretend like it didn't exist, just like they covered up Joe Biden saying, oh, yeah, no, we would never, you know, we'd never get rid of the Keystone pipeline. Even though it was like executive order number one, you know, they're going to run cover because, you know, the media knows that that would be a bad messaging. So you'll never hear about it. So we got to pay attention. We got to stay engaged. We got to stay informed. We got to know what's actually happening, and we got to vote accordingly.

And so, you know, I guess my final message would be just, you know, don't squander that ability, because once you give up those rights, once you give up those freedoms, you don't ever get them back. They don't just come back to you. And, you know, we got to stay in that fight. Amen. Don Jr., one of Charlie's longtime dear friends. And as you said, you spoke with Charlie just about every day for 10 years. and I know it's we're all kind of going through our own personal loss, those emotions today. I know you are as well done. And I know Charlie would be encouraging you to give a great speech tonight, leave it all out on the stage. And so we'll tune in for that, Don.

But God bless you, man. Thank you for making the time. I know it's a busy travel day and a lot going on. So thank you for honoring Charlie and honoring all of us and turning point for carving out a little bit of your day. Of course, guys. Look forward to seeing you soon. Sounds good, man. We'll get you back out on campus soon, Don.

That's what Charlie. Charlie would be literally texting him, you know, pressuring him to get back. I got a Clemson event if he wants to tag along. Yeah, me and Don Jr. on Clemson's campus. That'd be pretty fun of it. Don, you could do Clemson. That's Charlie at all times. I kind of think what was Charlie doing when he was off screen from my life?

And apparently based on why I've heard from everyone is he was just endlessly texting everyone. Yes. Admin, you should do this. Yeah, I should do this event. Don, you need to get on campus. JD, do this. Mr. President. I love we were talking about Charlie taking his sabbatical to go carry bags during the election

and that that was his habit throughout. So what did he do after the 24 election? Some of us didn't see him for about two months because he moved to Mar-a-Lago to interview. Not Mar-a-Lago, yes. He moved to South Florida for two, two-and-half months just to, because he saw that in 2016, personnel was policy. How critical that piece of the, you know, moving, the agenda forward was and so yeah he moved to florida and was doing his show out of the real america's

voice studio in west palm beach thank you uh parker and rob sig by the way for opening your world up to charlie in those months so that when the show rapped he could head over to the pvio and it was for real there there's a lot of people who would just love to be in in the king's court as it were hanging out to be seen but no i i heard endlessly from other people charlie was going through all these resumes, doing these interviews, doing really bankless stuff. And that was servant leadership at its finest. And he was always looking to do that. I remember there was a like hit pieces on him at the time where they, they were like, they're making them do loyalty tests to do BPO. That was not what it was. Charlie was just like, are you actually conservative? Like, do you actually believe

these things? Or are you going to get in there and knife the president in the back and the policy in the back that he ran on? There's a pretty obvious stuff. A loyalty test. Loyalty tests for new admin. Oh, man. So we've got a couple minutes left in this hour. We're going to take a quick short break. Oh, are we going to take this break? Or sorry?

Let's go a little bit over. And then we'll take a quick short break. And then we're going to have Officer Tatum, POSO, and others an hour two here in studio, which is going to be great. We have all this stuff going on at campus today. So on top of having dozens of staff and students at the R&T. R&C, the midterm R&C, we've got the UVU event. The whole campus here is transformed into basically a big, like we've closed off the street

and there's food. We just unveiled a bronze statue of Charlie, which is beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. We're doing worship music out front. People are going to be sharing their testimonies. And a bunch of the team's family members are going to be around. So it's a beautiful, beautiful way to celebrate. I think Mark a otherwise tragic sort of day in a, in a, in a, way that would honor Charlie. And so all that's great. I thought it would be really fun to go around

the corner here in this last few minutes and just say, what was the first time you remember meeting Charlie? What was the first, if you had to, because, I mean, it goes back pretty far for Graham, actually. Yeah. Do you remember? Well, am I in the current room? Am I the oldest one that met him? I think you knew before me. Okay. I met him at a SaaS event originally, the first time I actually... They were like at the, you know, the holiday inn. Yeah, right, yeah, like a mile from Mar-a-Lago there and the hotel was a day. But the first time I actually got to talk, talk to Charlie.

Classic Charlie, met him in a SaaS event. Hey, I like you. Hey, I think you're doing a great job, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. About two weeks later, I get a... You want to come to Phoenix? Sure, never been to Phoenix ever. And I, you know, it was way before this building was here. Oh, yeah.

It was just that first building in the front. Charlie didn't even have an office. Charlie would just take over other people's offices when he needed it. And it was pretty much a, hey, I think you're doing good work. I think that we could do good work together. Do you want to do this thing? Very, very, very Charlie Kirk. And then that same day, it's funny that Brandon's coming in later because that that same day we had that conversation.

It went with A to y'all's point, hey, I'm going to ASU to debate people who hate me. You want to tag along? And, you know, I'm not going to, I'm not going to be cowarded out in the moment. I'd never debated anyone publicly ever at this point. I was like, sure, it sounds like a great time. Let's go do that. And I'll never forget sitting up there on that stage, ASU. It was me, Charlie and Brandon, who's going to be here in a little bit.

I'm curious if he remembers this. And I remember the first kid to ask a question. It was the most intelligent young man. I've ever seen in my life. What do you guys feel about the difference of geopolitical structure around fossil fuels in the UK versus America? And I remember thinking, I have no idea with this kid even just said. I have no idea.

Please, please don't make me have to answer this question. And Charlie just kind of puts his hand on me like this. He's like, I got it. And I watched Charlie just rip for like five, six minutes straight. And that was my introduction to Charlie. And it was it was onward from there. And then Andrew, I met you, I think officially for the first time at the University of Florida. When me, you, Erica was there.

My wife was there. And I remember it feeling potentially heavy that day. Do you remember this? And we all just were kind of in the back just saying, hey, I think we need to pray over this event. And that was, you know, again, just the furthering as it went. And I know you didn't ask this. I have to say it. The last time I physically, not the last time I spoke to Charlie,

but the last time I was physically in the same room with Charlie, I came here. And I don't know if you remember this, he was sick that day. And like super sick. And yet Charlie still took the time to meet with me and talk to me about things that I was going back and forth in my mind. And then classic Charlie's like, hey, we got to do a show. You want to come on the show? You know, and now I realize it's probably because Charlie didn't feel the best in that moment. Let you take some burden.

wanted somebody to take some of the things. But that was Charlie. That was Charlie. You know, and so anyway, I'll shut up now. But that's how I met Charlie. That's great. Blake. I met him.

I was talking about this the other day. I met him for the first time in person at Amfest, 2022. And I remember he would have one of those isolated rooms for his like very brief personal breaks. And he was always going so high intensity. So he needed those, those IVs that he would get. That was the first. That was my first I've been to me. He's like, Blake, great to meet you.

Do you want an IV? No, I'm fine, Charlie. He got me into those eventually. I never got. I never got me. He's like, you should get one, Blake. They're like $85, normally, whatever it was. And that's also where I met Erica.

I can't remember if Erica got an IV two or not. No, I don't think I was not heard of that. That was my first encounter. My first encounter of any kind I remember was I pretty much just dropped into the show, like doing a cannonball off a diving board or whatever. And he joins that chat and he doesn't he didn't have Charlie as his name. He just had the American flag. And it took me a while to really, wait, who is this?

Why does he do that? I had that so many times in the first few months. I just remember raising my eyebrow and going, who exactly is this guy? I remember when Blake first met Charlie, he really didn't know what to make of him at first. And then I remember you like, I think it was like a year in, you ended up saying like something really, really sweet about. Charlie on air and it was it I think we all were taking a back like wow Blake gets it now and so it was it was it was pretty fun to watch that that dynamic between the two of you play out I first met Charlie and at a hotel in 2017 in Los Angeles and we had dinner and I just remember how tall he was and how he kept looking all around the room he had this ability to just like look at you but then you could tell he was observing it was always somewhere else yeah there was always while also being completely on you at the same time yeah it was amazing, amazing ability to multitask. You saw it in the show where he would answer your guys' emails during the show while he was hosting a radio show.

Truly, truly, truly, the most remarkable man that I've ever met. I think probably all of us would agree. And we were joined on set. We have one more joining us, and that is the officer Tatum, Brandon Tatum. Thanks for coming, man. Thanks for making it a priority. Man, it is a pleasure to be here. It's a heavy day.

You know, they say grief comes in waves, and man, is that true? I was doing just fine yesterday. Really, I was steady. Everybody kept calling me, worried about me. And then on the drive here, and then Jake doing this, and we've been having tech problems. Like an eighth of the internet in Phoenix went out. At one-eighth of the whole town, I have no idea why.

It's just this massive outage. And the team put, whipped up the Star Links. I mean, there's people all over the school. So thank you, Elon Musk. One of Charlie's favorites was Elon Musk. We would not have a show today without him. We'd be host. We were totally host.

Brandon, since you're just joining us, why don't you tell about, I've been doing this to everybody. So sorry to put you on the spot. But the first time you met Charlie, or the first memory you have with Charlie, Graham was theorizing that maybe you were part of that I don't know if it was the first for you or whatever, but.

No, I was just curious if you remembered the first time that we met, but go ahead and then what were your impressions of him when you met him? Yeah, first of all, my memory is terrible, I think, because too many head injuries. But, you know, I met Charlie. I had left the organization called Liftable Media. That's when I left the police department to work for them. They almost went out of business. And they let me go, which was a blessing, to be quite honest.

and turning point was on the map. I had heard about Charlie. I was introduced to Charlie, and I remember the spot opened up to be the urban engagement director. And I remember when I first met him, you know, I'm not going to lie, I thought he was a little corny, man.

I did too. That's what's so special about him is if you're nine out of ten corny, it's bad. If you're 10 out of 10, when you're that earnest, when you're that much self-confidence. But, man, he was, But, you know, the more I got to know him, the more I realized, oh, this guy is brilliant.

This dude is like in his 20s, starting an entire organization that is changing the world. And he's nonstop. I remember one of the first times I actually hung out with him, we went to eat at a restaurant. We were speaking somewhere. I can't remember. And I remember he had a garment bag with him.

And the garment bag, you know, you're not only supposed to have maybe a suit in there, he had literally a wardrobe in his garment bag because he's just going from place to place to to event to speaking and I have never seen anybody in my life with that much energy and him being that young inspired me right I was like I can't let this young dude out do me you know I need to step my game up so and then you know I'm gonna be honest you know Charlie bossed up when he met Erica to be quite honest you know she got him right it's something it's something about these women you know when you get married to a good woman they'll boss you up so you know over time Charlie began to get his swag up, and he just was so impressive.

I mean, year after year, he just kept getting better. Turning Point kept growing. He's on major scenes and speaking all around the world. And so Charlie was a pretty prominent influence in my life. And I have to admit that I don't think I would be here today if it had not been for Charlie in Turnipoint USA. That was my start. That was my first speeches.

I remember Charlie put me on the spot a few times because he couldn't speak at certain things because he's busy. And he says, Tatum, can you come do this event for me? In Newport Beach, it was a women's, conservative women's group. I had never spoken before. I never wrote a speech. Last minute, he'd go, can you do this for me? I can't make it? Can you go speak there?

And because how much I appreciate Charlie, how much I respected him, I never said no. And I showed up to that event, and it was a really good turnout. I remember it was another one in Florida, and I was in California at the time. And he said, hey, man, can you go to Florida tomorrow? I got to go to Fisher Island to do a like a fundraising speech and I'm like in my mind I'm like dude that's tomorrow I got to fly across the country

I never been to a donor event I don't know what to say I haven't prepared anything but you know with Charlie being the man he is you know I said you know I'll do it dude I got you and that ended up being a great event so he really inspired others to be incredible and Charlie would be missed

but his legacy lives on that's so Charlie by the way Charlie would just throw you into the deep end time and time again. I mean, we've all probably got stories like that where it was just like, oh, okay. And you just kind of had to rise to the occasion. I think it was his way of figuring out if you had it or not, right? Like, could you do it? And, you know, just throwing you there, no prep time, no nothing.

I almost kind of feel like it was one of Charlie's ways to see if you were who you seem to be kind of deal. So many of I was telling them before you came on the first time I met you was Charlie threw me into yours and his ASU event. Yeah, yeah. And we went over and did ASU and I had never, ever spoken anywhere. And so it was you and him together. So the crowd was gigantic already and all of this. And all these kids were asking questions way over my head because I wasn't ready at all.

So I was scared to death. but then Charlie would make it a point, you know, because you had already been doing your thing for a while, so you were used to it. I wasn't, and Charlie would make it a point. Graham, why don't you take this one? And he would just sit back, you know, and just kind of see. So too many of us have those similar stories.

I almost feel now that was kind of like one of Charlie's ways, like to figure out, are you who you say you are. Yeah, and his confidence is what got me to say yes too. I'm like, that he must be really confident in me, you know? Like maybe he believed in me and I don't even think I can do it And it pushes you to get out of the box And make it happen

And obviously, I think he can see the talent in people And so he gives you an opportunity And that was, that really changed a lot for me, man Being able to speak the way I do now It's all because of Charlie Put me on the spot, put me out there And I had to build confidence During the campus events

I mean I went to 20-something universities I think the first year I was with Turning Point The first year and a half and it just made me such a better person on campus debating and with his temperament. You know, I like to go. I want to go off on these people because they're crazy. But Charlie had this way about him,

obviously because he was a Christian and he was faithful to Christ for real. It wasn't a joke. And so he had that mannerism where he wouldn't get overly, you know, excitable with people. He would just hit him with the facts. I remember one time when Antifa came up on you,

it's just great clip. I wish we had it. just thought of it. And they were throwing the bike at him and stuff like this. And he grabs, Tatum grabs the bike, throws him down. I thought you was like,

I was like, I bet Tatum's about to get, they're going to file charges or something. But they did. I mean, they harassed and broke down our event. I'll tell you what. I was going to run through the whole Antifa crowd one by one.

But I thought about Charlie. I said, what would Charlie want me to do? You showed restraint. I showed a lot. I showed more than I wanted to. But, and like I said, it's because of Charlie.

I didn't want to make Charlie and turnip point look bad, right? I'm like, if I'm throwing haymakers out here and people doing to sleep on campus, I may not be able to go back. But, you know, Charlie would, like, the first time he got attacked, you know, they threw eggs on him. I forget it was in an event.

They were at a coffee place in the morning. They threw eggs and put water on them, and Charlie was just composed, man. That was in Philly, I think. I think it was, like early on, man. It was like one of the first major events that he had went to. And I admired it.

I'm a different breed, but I admire him, you know, taking it. You know, it's like Martin Luther King did, you know, and some of the activists in the civil rights movement, they just, you know, it was passive resistance or whatever you want to call it, where they, you know,

allowed them the other side to look foolish while they kept their composure. And it kind of made people, you know, realize who was at fault. Well, you're kind of talking about the students, and you're talking about the core outreach that Turning Point did. And we have these videos from some of our students. I think it's probably a good time to play them. They submitted these in the team.

team put them together, so I want to play them. It's not 35. Charlie wasn't just an activist. He was someone who made a real difference in the lives of so many people, including me. He used his voice to stand up for what he believed in, and he gave me the courage to do the same. His fearlessness and strong faith inspired me to grow in my own faith, and reminded me that we shouldn't be afraid to stand up for what we believe in. What I admired most about Charlie was how much he cared about making every student feel welcomed, valued and safe. He worked to create a community where everyone felt like they belonged, and that is something I will always remember. Charlie's legacy will live on through everyone he inspired and the

lives he's touched. I'm incredibly grateful for the impact he had on me, and he will forever be missed. And that's Club American Students. So that's a high schooler. Hayden Wimbled, and we've got, we have a bunch of them, apparently. We were loading them up right when our internet went down. but we have this one too. Sat 34. When I think about Charlie Kirk and his legacy, I think about the person he's challenged me to become. One thing I always admired about Charlie

was that he never separated his faith from his beliefs. He showed me that the two can go hand in hand. Charlie made me believe that I could make a difference. And when he died, that belief turned into responsibility. I didn't want to be someone who just said they were inspired by Charlie, but to be someone who took action. So I started a chapter. That decision completely changed my life.

And looking back, I realize it's because one person took the time to tell a generation that their voice matters. So when I think about Charlie and his legacy, I don't just think about him or his accolades. I think about the thousands of students he's inspired and encouraged. I'm a part of Charlie's legacy. And so is every other turning point student that chooses to walk in boldness every day. Thank you, Charlie. Isn't that cool? It's another high school student.

Yeah, and it's probably a million of those videos that people could make. The people lives that he changed and he made a difference. Even people that don't speak up, I mean, he's made a difference in so many people's lives. Even people who were haters, they became, you know, and the funny thing is, or the ironic thing is, I remember, you know, right after Charlie's passing, somebody in my family was like, he never followed Charlie Kirk. They're not even in politics. and we went to a fight together. It was my cousin, and he got tats on his neck and all this stuff.

And he was like, hey, you know that Charlie guy? You know, I went back and watched this stuff. Man, he'd be keeping it real, man. I agree with everything he's saying. And it's funny because when people have an opportunity to actually listen to what Charlie said and, you know, listen to the facts that he presented in the way he presented it, you cannot help,

but be changed unless you just don't want to change and you just want to be ignorant your whole life but if you were a genuine person that want to understand the truth you want to understand Christ Charlie was the perfect person to listen to maybe talk to that because you know it was interesting there was a big guardian piece that was just released on Charlie

it was a whole big thing and it kind of explains it from the left wing point of view that you know they a lot of liberals think of Charlie as being a hater and saying hateful things some of the stuff he said about black pilots for example and the way that the piece described it was you know these some of these things were ugly and cannot be easily explained

and it's like we literally did a whole episode debunking it's so easy to explain did you write this with an AI yeah exactly and but but it is funny that that is the liberal worldview I remember right in the aftermath Ezra Klein at the New York Times wrote a piece that said Charlie did politics the right way and Ezra Klein got absolutely attacked right for for just standing up for the decency of Charlie.

But, you know, you have a unique vantage point, right? And your family talking about Charlie Kirk kept it real. He really did. He just spoke the truth in an era when you're not really supposed to and you're not really allowed to. They don't hate the liars, by the way. Culture in the world will not hate the liars. They hate the truth tell it.

Right. Yeah. And the interesting thing is that these people on the left are mentally ill. And I'm being honest. I think they don't have the mental capacity to receive information. that challenges them, and that's the reason why they didn't like what he said. There's nothing that Charlie said that was hateful. The truth is not hateful.

You just don't like the truth. The truth just hurts. Right. And when you are a man of God and you live like Christ, people are going to hate you like they did Christ, and they're going to hate the truth, and they're going to hate being challenged. They're going to hate getting out of their own way of destruction. And so, you know, I often find myself being very upset, but I have to learn a,

get over it when people try to say Charlie was a bad person and that he was a racist. That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life. And you put him on a spot and you go, what do he say that was racist? They bring up the airplane thing. It's like when you explain it and you listen to what he said, that's not racist. Just because you can make an evaluation about DEI as a white man and then I be racist. But to be honest, they don't really care about what he said. They don't care about the truth.

They are challenged in a way in which they cannot respond. to so their first word to use is he's a racist and try to negate his legacy and what he did. But most people with common sense know Charlie was an honest man. He spoke very intentional. And I don't believe there's, I know for a fact there's no racist bone in his body, but I don't even believe there's anything questionable that Charlie Kirk has ever said if you actually listen to him. I agree.

Although this feels like a fun time to play Charlie Kirk on Michael Jordan. It's not 25. I define greatness based on pressure, right? Okay. How many NBA finals did Jordan lose? He lost. He didn't lose that. Six and O.

Jordan redefined the game. He brought the NBA from irrelevancy to the most popular phenomenon in every country around the world. Jordan had competition that no one else had. Jordan played against Magic Johnson. Jordan played against Isaiah Thomas. Jordan played against Charles Barkley. Jordan played against Stockton. And he never lost the final.

You know how you are the goat? You're the goat. Well, you don't have to keep on playing to your 40 and get your kid some sort of, you know, special job just because you're a billionaire. That's how you know you're the goat. The goat knows he's the greatest and he doesn't have to keep on playing to prove it.

That is hilarious. He had multiple Jordan LeBron debates, which is funny. Right. And he was 100% accurate on that. And, you know, it's funny. Stephen A. Smith, I was talking, I had an interview with him,

and he said the exact same thing about how. how Jordan is to go. Yeah. And so what would anybody say about, you know, Charlie saying it? Nothing. He's factual. Jordan is to go. And his character, you know, Jordan's character is, well, I don't know how he is his

teammate. People said he was really mean and people or whatever as a teammate. But as a man and as a disciplined man, very similar to Charlie, he had, he was focused. He was disciplined. He was consistent. And that's why he was great. No one that has ever achieved any semblance of true greatness of any kind. So to your point, the Michael Jordan thing,

what's the documentary called? The last dance or something like that. Charlie loved that. Yeah. That was a great documentary. So, you know, Jordan just straight up says, like, you know, hey, was I mean sometimes? Did I get into people sometimes?

Absolutely. Because we were there to do something nobody else had done. People that achieve greatness are not normal people by society standards. They are different. They are disciplined. They do not tolerate certain things. They do not tolerate less than. And so, yeah, I could see why Charlie looked at Jordan that way, but also Charlie was that way.

He was. Charlie, you know, on the outside looking in, you'd probably be like, man, you know, I don't know how normal this is. We were even talking about getting IVs in between like podcast interviews and things that. Speeches and speeches and this. Normal people don't understand that. They're like, wait a minute, what, you know, kind of thing. But Charlie operated. He had a motor within him.

And I know all of us have said this over the past year. he had a motor inside of him that none of us could match and that none of us could keep up with. And, you know, and Andrew, I think you're the one who said this. It all bleeds together. But, you know, God gave him that because God knew Charlie how much time he had. And God knew that Charlie had a lot to do. And so Charlie, Charlie wasn't normal. Charlie didn't live his life normal.

And that's what makes him great. As a matter of fact, one of the. things that Eric and I always say to each other because Charlie used to always say it to us he would look around and kind of have there was these moments where he would give himself like one just small little moment to kind of acknowledge like how crazy his life was and he would look and he go this isn't normal this isn't normal and um and you know this is why we make statues to the man I guess uh we just unveiled this right out front of the HQ right now I think it's like a nine-foot statue.

Wow. It's just beautiful. A bronze statue of Charlie, throwing the hats into the crowd, which is, you know, how I always want to remember him anyways. Wow. It just...

Yeah, he deserve a statue in D.C. too. Yeah. Big monument. I think they're doing one. I think they're unveiling one in Times Square as well today. And they're doing it at 1223. And I want to say to everybody watching in the audience, we're going to be observing a moment of silence.

at 1223 mountain time, which would be 223 Eastern, 2.23 Eastern. So we're going to be on the air still with Real America's voice. Jack is graciously, he's going to be joining us during that hour, but we're going to be keeping on the Charlie Kirk Show on Real America's voice and streaming. And, yeah, so beautiful testament. Oh, is Tyler joining us? Talk about the statue? Yeah, I mean, I don't know what.

We'd have to do a hot swap here. And Tyler, if you want to come on and tell about the statue, maybe Graham could. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So this was Tyler's baby. And it came out beautiful, man. It really did. I'll just pop in and Graham can pop back in.

Yeah, don't go anywhere, Graham. We need you back. Yeah, no, it's incredible. I think a great testament. The artist is actually here. He's here today. Wow. Young man from Utah.

Oh, wow. So in his early 20s, super young. The exact, yeah. That's a 20-year-old artist. So he's incredible, Quentin McCann, and he did a bust of Charlie that was the greatest likeness. We're like, yeah, you're the guy, and worked together closely with Erica, with the team here,

and developed what is incredible, what Erica refers to as this Jordan moment, which is on campus. We're just talking about it. I knew it was, you know, sometimes God works in mysterious ways. We were just talking about Charlie's love of my. Jordan so yeah so there was a lot of different things that we could pick that we could choose from yeah there's a great picture of Charlie that we've seen painted over and over

get that one with his fist up in the air there's the one the great rally yeah but Erica thought the Jordan moment was it was just this is where he lived and died where he was murdered doing the work they loved converting the hearts of of young souls across America and there's some really cool things that are in the statue so So you'll notice it's kind of the final motion of him throwing the hat. So his hand pointed towards God, which is intentional. If you actually go up to the statue, you'll see some very specific things.

So you'll see his wedding ring that's on his left hand. It's clear there. It's behind. You can see it. On the hats, you can down to the logo of the turning point logo is on the hat. So it's not just any MAGA hat. It's the Turning Point MAGA hat, which Charlie loved and we produced hundreds of thousands. Hundreds of thousands.

So you see those seas of red at college campuses. They're all turning point mag hats. Yeah, there's a little turning point logo on them. So if you've got one of those hats, hold on to it. And then lastly, the cross that he was wearing, they wore every single day outside his shirt. And you'll see in the pictures that it would pop out of his shirt when he was throwing, right? And so you see it loosely falling out of his shirt and then across, obviously, the freedom shirt, across his chest. And then wearing his joggers that he loved to wear every single day, a piece shirt.

In his actual Jordan-esque, you know, vibes. You can't open the pockets, but if you were able to, you'd find the throat lozenges. The lozenges are in the pocket. That is not depicted. By the way, that was so funny. So when he was, I forgot about this. By the way, we did a best of thought crime, which is our Thursday night streaming show, that we managed to wedge into Charlie's schedule somehow, and he was so faithful to it.

And the audience loves that one. I always tell people it's like, it's amazing. Even today, it does like 20% more downloads on the podcast when we put it up. up there and it was always an audience favorite but he was reflecting back on the Cartman as Charlie Kirk you know South Park episode and he was like

they did a really good job even the water he said they forgot the lozenges they didn't get the lozenges and then he did that to save his throat because he just spoke so much so often talking all day long it was it peak 24 where he we were on the campaign trail and his voice

goes totally out yeah and so he's doing the whole show yeah no yeah I had to help him with a Megan Kelly interview one day, and then Jack had to go to Penn State because he completely lost his voice. And luckily the whole event ended up getting canceled. We got a great promo video out of it with all the red hats and thousands of students showed up.

But he couldn't speak at all. And the campus actually took away the amplification system from us anyway, so it kind of worked out. But you know what's crazy about that day? And I was just thinking about it with the freedom shirt on the bronze statue. And Daisy could probably tell the whole story.

I only know bits and pieces of it. But like Charlie, Because he's usually sitting in the sun. So he's sitting there hot, you know, underneath that tent for three hours. So he always wanted dark shirts, you know, because you're getting all sweaty. And all of a sudden the dark hit it really well. Yeah. It was the first time ever that we did a white shirt.

And Charlie requested the white shirt. And it was the only time. Yeah, you'll see in all the former ones. He's almost always wearing a black shirt. Yeah, black or dark blue or something. And it was the only time that he ever did a freedom shirt. And it was the only time we ever did freedom on the front of it. Really?

Yeah. And it's like, it's one of those weird things where you kind of just, it was almost like God adorned him, you know, in white. And now, and now, it's final day with us. And now that shirt is like basically we were talking about is like the MAGA hat 2.0 is, you know, we have the freedom hats all over still. Everywhere. People still wear them all over. I just, I mean, I just wanted to put a pen. We're so grateful for Quentin, the statue.

you mentioned it belongs in D.C., Brandon. So we fully expect that this was intended to ultimately end up in the U.S. Capitol. Good. So we've talked about this before. We believe Charlie had, you know, he was such an iconic American figure. Yeah, he belongs in the U.S. Capitol. The speaker of the house has the ability to do it. We think that this will happen.

So this is just a stopover point right now where we're at with the, with the statue, but it will be hopefully in the capital. Yeah, probably here in two places, here and at the U.S. Capitol. What are they called? Statuary Hall? So, if you go to the U.S. Capitol, there's statues everywhere. Statuary Hall mostly is statues that are appointed. So each state gets two by law in the U.S. Capitol.

But then there's other statues that can be placed by the speaker. If you go through, you'll see them. There's like a Hungarian revolutionary from the 1800s has a statue there's like random people that really shouldn't be in the u.s capo in my opinion including including some you know non-states like dc shouldn't really have statues and in the and and in statuary hall yeah they better but i tell you what they better make it happen you know republicans need to make sure they make this happen they i think while we're in power they better make this i think they will you know i think they will i i think they

will i actually i trust you in i did a tour with uh speaker johnson not too long ago and And I forget about it until this moment, but he brought it up to me. He's like, hey, you know. We have a, we have a, we have a, we have a, we have a nice spot picked out. Let's say, we're measuring the drapes. I hadn't, I hadn't seen the statue yet. You were kind of keeping this very close to the vest here for a while. And the reason is, is because this was Erica.

Erica was the one. So she had made, so some of the pieces to this is she made some adjustments like, and again, getting a statue right is really hard. It is. Like if you've seen the ones they put out in front of like down in Miami of Dwayne Wade, after the Hall of Famers. The Kobe Bryant ones outside. Like some of them are really bad.

And they're really, and again, I'm not trying to attack artists that are out there. It's tough. It's tough where I can never do it. But the inspiration from Quentin to get so much right.

And then Erica's involvement with, I mean, she, we, the test sculptures we had in her office. And, I mean, she had gotten to the point

of just, like, touching his face and just like making sure everything works and and his eyes like little little small things like i knew charlie really well you knew charlie really well and the things that she was pointing out was like oh yeah that that's like just how his eyes down turned a little bit more and um you know even with him he he had he had he had his eyes were not so sometimes like with glasses when he had his glasses there's actually

there's actually a whole trove of episodes where charlie had glasses on yeah it was when he got uh yeah i don't know if it was it LASIC or something well he got a contact and then then he used to wear context, but he would, when he didn't have his contacts, and he had to wear glasses. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then he got LASIC and then he didn't have to wear them anymore. But even just how his eyes function when he's looking at things or he was focusing on things is a little bit different. And Quentin got just about every little detail just right. That's great. And made him look. And in the statues, I didn't realize this in the process. You have a little bit of Greek features to it. Like what they do is like they give you the best

version of yourself, which everybody wants, right? Everybody wants and so. But, you know, Charlie was a physically fit guy, especially up until his, until his, he was a biohacker to the end. He was a biohacker. He literally was always, I mean. And his hands are just, just right. And there's like he's, again, the sneakers are just right. The how is joggers fall? Like, it's really special.

So I hope everyone can come see it. It was a laborer love. I know, I know it because I heard you talk about it. It takes like a year to get something like this done. And it was just in time for today. And so we're really, really grateful to Quentin. He's in totally, truly inspired individual. We will have a few of these, but then there's also a bust version that's just of his face that he's done, his head.

And we actually will be producing a very special 31 of those to match the 31 years that he lived. That will be in special hands across America. So look out for that. That's great. I love that we have an opportunity to just keep his legacy going. You know, I was thinking about this other day, and I was using Charlie's name in past tense. I said he was, he was.

And it done on me is like, no, no, Charlie is still alive and well in the world. You can go on right now and look at his YouTube channel, and you can hear him just as well as he's almost like sitting here. You can still hear his words. He still lives in so many people, their testimony, their stories. It doesn't end. The body is gone. but Charlie's legacy is just continuing you know and I think he talked about evergreen issues you know so like those videos you talk about the videos they'll they'll always be important yep I mean hundreds of years from now yeah yeah they will be important we've seen we've seen a lot of that already just with the course of the last year and again we'd be remiss to to say that today he should be speaking at the RNC convention he would he lived for that

He lived to influence, particularly the, what we call the establishment, to go the right direction. He lived for that. That is the establishment. That is the group, right? That's the heartbeat of the Republican Party. And he liked to be influential with those people. And he was. Beyond reaching young people, he wanted the conservative, the machine of the conservative apparatus to be more like its voters.

constantly. Thank you, Tyler Boyer. This was awesome. We're going to do, I'm going to play a quick video of Charlie talking about the start of TPSA, and then Blake's going to read your emails, because you've been sending hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of emails. We're going to get to some of those in just a second. We'll do a hot swap with Graham Allen. So let's go ahead and play SOT 26. It was June 5th, 2012. It 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 spoke at a tea party rally out in Rockford and the journey started no money no connections and no idea what I was doing started the barnstorm Illinois and in 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 I was wanted to grow this thing more than anything imaginable. I poured every part of my being into this. As Napoleon Hill would say, conceive, conceive, C-B-W-A was the daily mantra that I would have. Wow. See, believe, work-achieve. Man. Well, I mean, so many places we could go here, but Blake, why don't you read some of these emails from, they've been flooding in my, I've seen a getting them all week. I've been trying to flag as many as I can.

This is one. On this day, we remember what Charlie stood for in honor of Charlie for his courage and steadfast faith. Our family will remember him today and always through the name of our son and I won't reveal the full name but their baby's middle name has Charlie and it was born back in March.

So thank you very much from Brittany. Exactly one year ago today. This is from William. I was departing my cancer treatment at 2.30 p.m. As I was driving home, the president was on our local radio station announcing that Charlie had been shot and had died. I was so taken aback. I ran off the road and into a ditch.

I am haunted to this day over Charlie's death and his transfer into the arms of our savior. This is from Jan. Not one day has passed since Charlie was assassinated that I haven't thought about him and all that he did for America. As I watched Erica at the RNC convention last night, I could viscerally feel her broken heart. I cannot imagine the strength of Charlie's family and all of you at Turning Point USA. You must have to continue to make Charlie proud every single day. But I do believe it must come from your faith in God. Your work is so very important.

Bethany, I am sure you're getting bombarded with emails about how much Charlie meant to so many people. I'm just one more, but I wanted to share. I had a six month old when Charlie was assassinated. His death affected me as it did so many others. I went back and I listened to old Charlie Clips. He and Erica spoke about the importance of family and children. And this radically changed my perspective on being a mother to my baby. My husband and I are now expecting our second.

And I can honestly say it's because of Charlie's advice to have more kids than you can afford. I actually didn't even know that was going to come out of this one because we actually actually got a separate email from someone who also said, let me get it here. I wonder how many babies there are. I genuinely wonder because I think that's the fifth. JD and Usha literally had another kid because of Charlie. And this was another one.

This is the other one we got today that I've seen. I haven't even looked at all of them. One year without Charlie is hard for all of us to believe. I just wish I could thank him for the biggest blessing in the world. Because of him, me and my husband decided to start trying for a baby. Our baby girl was born on the 4th of July of this year. We will always remember Charlie and we will teach our daughter who he was and his message praying for you all.

That is so beautiful. I'll remember the day one year without an amazing man who gave his all. I was watching Steve Gruber that day who told us Charlie had been shot. My husband and I went to our knees praying he would be all right, knowing that he was a messenger from God. We hoped he would be okay, but that did not happen. What an amazing. I got one.

My barber told me. they literally had their baby on a year ago today and he said that you know of course he loved charlie and thought it was great and he he said his unfortunately for him too is that he don't even remember a lot of the birth because he was so distraught over what happened to charlie he couldn't stop thinking about it but it it happened to be that the birth of his baby was the same day that charlie was assassinated you know it's it's a sad and also a beautiful day because you know as Christians we kind of get so worldly we forget what what the transition looks like you know you got a young man that dedicated his life to christ i'm pretty sure charlie

had a prayer one day and said god use me any way you want whatever you need for me let me be your servant he prayed that all the time and and god honored that and gave charlie a tremendous influencing platform even after his death but then charlie goes on and in my opinion i think that Charlie went to heaven, which is one of the greatest accomplishments you can ever accomplish at the end of his life. And so there's a bitter part of it, which is what we experience in the natural, and then there's a celebratory part of it, which is what you experience in the spiritual. And I'm glad that Charlie was consistently faithful. He was a good man. He kept God first to the very end. You know, it wouldn't have been the same if Charlie would have went off the

reservation and started being crazy and doing this, but Charlie stuck by his message of Christ. And I hope that he inspired some of these pastors out here to do the same and to stick with Christ and to make every political ideology you have rooted in your faith and not separate the two. The problem with society today is people are too cowardice and they want to separate the two. you should there's no such thing in my opinion is is politics outside of your faith i agree you know go ahead no no no i can you go ahead and i'm just reading mikey mccoy's a substack it's mikey mccoy 1776 is substack and he's talking about one year without charlie and this was funny because some of my favorite moments with charlie were on a plane and he says

i remember one flight in particular charlie and i were flying into bracket field airport in california on a small twin prop Merlin when we found ourselves in the middle of an intense storm the turbulence became so violent that the plane was being thrown back and forth through the air and the lights in the cabin

were flickering in and out lightning was striking all around us Charlie and I were the only two people in the cabin I remember being terrified looking across at him and yelling we're going to die and wondering how on earth he was so relaxed

Charlie looked back at me completely calm with a big smile and said don't worry we're not going to die yet we haven't suffered enough. Yeah. And it's funny because it was such a Charlie thing to say, Mike, he says, in the moment he was contemplated whether we're about to fall out of the sky, he somehow managed to create a laughable and teachable moment.

And it's funny, I was on a plane during the 2024 campaign with Charlie as well. We were flying into Atlanta and we flew through wake turbulence. I don't know if you guys have ever experienced wake turbulence. The whole plane just goes, like, and like sideways. Yep. Like we're doing a 90 degree angle like this. I'm not a good flyer anyways, and I'm sitting there going like, what just, I mean, it was smooth as butter. And all of a sudden, the plane just gets rocked violently multiple times. And, and I look at Charlie, I go, you know, I'm about like, I'm not okay. And I look at Charlie, he turns around and smiles at me and smirks. He goes, having fun yet?

And I just, he was just calm as a cucumber in those moments. It was like unbelievable. And it's a great piece. I recommend everybody read it. Mikey McCoy says, 1776. That substack.com. It's just beautifully. Mikey has a way with words. It's, you know, his whole family and he's been around Charlie.

It's just a beautiful piece. Since we're reading something, do you guys find if I read something? No, please. I read something. So I'll try to do a better job than I did in my show this morning. It turned into a blubbering fest this morning. But right after Charlie was taken from us,

I wrote just a short, just a short little note. And, you know, it basically said, you know, dear Charlie. And just basically that I promised that I would do my best to live by the example that he left for us and I would do my best. I think I ended something along the lines of I'd do my best to fight the best way I could, the evil that took him from us. and so this morning I wrote my dear Charlie a year later type of thing so I'm going to try to get through it so it's not that long I promise I think we all can agree that this year has gone in many ways some that we probably thought and then others that we probably never could have imagined that it went and so I just wrote and I'm going to read it so I don't mess it up so I apologize and I I just wrote Dear Charlie, as you're looking over us right there. It's been one year since you were taken from us, and I'm not going to lie, it's been a rough one. I miss your calm words.

I miss your wisdom in times of chaos, as you were just talking about. I miss your leadership, and I miss your friendship. I promised you that I would keep fighting, and I've tried to keep that promise. I could have done more, I'm sure, but I've tried to do it the way that I think you would have wanted me to. Erica is doing a great job. She is so strong. She's stronger than all of us.

And I know you see everything. And I know you know all the bad, but I also know God is using all of this for his good. It's been 365 days since the world stopped on 9-10. We miss you, Charlie. but we're going to keep on working for what's right. Keep looking down on us, my brother, and we'll keep up the fight from here.

It's beautiful, but thank you. It's been a rough year. And you look back and you ask, you know, did I do enough? Could I have done more? Did I fight the right way? Did I do it like Charlie? would have done it and I know I know that I didn't

Charlie was always the one Brandon to your point that would calm me down but you just sit here and you reflect on the past year and everything that's happened and all I know is to say that you know we miss you Charlie we miss you and um

it's uh it's been a it's been a long year but a tough year yeah sorry I didn't mean a dad in the mood there no no I mean it's a real emotional feel we all feel the same way you know i'll tell you what i'm i try my best not to and made fun of me online crying man so i'm trying not to tear up but i can't wait to see the videos from this morning yeah but you know that's a real emotion from real men from you know uh showing

respect to a good man if he wasn't a good man we wouldn't be crying you know and would be sad and he wouldn't be his missed but you know he's left a tremendous impact on all of our lives and this year has been really crazy and I have to say I'm proud of all you guys that are here of standing up for Charlie man when some people have turned their back on him and went crazy and off a cliff

but it's people like us and others who continue to fight and continue to stand up for him or continue to speak out against people who are trying to attain his legacy and you know Erica has been absolutely tremendous I was at the trial with you for 30 hours of testimony,

and you guys may have went to the final. I did the bindover, yeah. Yeah, and so, but Erica being strong in those moments and, you know, showing true raw emotion and his parents have been strong and hanging in there. And I'm sure Charlie's looking down, he's very proud of Erica. And she hadn't got in the mess,

she hadn't got her hands dirty in the mess with these people that are just out here saying the craziest things ever. She just keep her composure. She keep believing in God. And she's steady, you know, she's a steady example of a quality woman and it's the reason why Charlie married her.

And so I'm very proud of Erica. I don't get a chance to say it enough, but my goodness, Charlie picked right. Yes. You know, she's been great for him, even in his death. She's been a great example for the kids and for everybody in America.

She's been a warrior. You know, I obviously have gotten to know Erica a lot more than I did back when Charlie was still here. Obviously, I talked to Charlie all the time. I didn't talk to Erica all the time. And, you know, and my wife is out there right now. And, you know, I know all of us have seen the moments of shattered with Erica behind the scenes. And it's so hard because all I can see in those moments is my wife in those moments. in those moments and it makes it so difficult and I think as men we you know we want to do something

but there's nothing that we can do and then to see her pick herself back up literally quite literally off the floor yeah and then to walk out there either into that courtroom and and you know we won't get into all of the things there but but to look into that courtroom or to get in front of a camera and deliver what she needs to deliver and say in those moments It's been, it's been, yeah, you're right, Charlie knew, Charlie picked right, 100%. And it's been an inspiration to see, I'm sitting here tearing up and compared to what Erica is out to endure is nothing. It's not even in the same stratosphere. And yet we all, we all kind of look to Erica, you know, like, and it's Charlie knew, Charlie New, Charlie picked right, Charlie knew.

You know, I think we're going to end up taking a quick little break here in just a minute. And we're going to have hour three today again. Jack Posovic was gracious enough to allow us to keep going. And Rob and Parker, there's a lot going on, the R&C, all this stuff, but they made it a priority to have our show. Honor Charlie. And I'm just struck right now, just thinking about literally a year ago right now. life was just how it always was. I think right now Blake and I were having a group chat with Charlie as he was in the car to the venue at UVU.

And why monogamy was great. So talking about marriage, societal, advanced, civilizational tech. Why was monogamy so? That sounds just like Charlie. Yeah, he was beefing up on monogamy, I guess, because he was going to Utah. But it was like our last group chat was probably literally right now. and everything was just normal. And in about 26 minutes, everything will change.

Everything is about to change. If we want to do a break here, the White House posted a two-minute tribute for Charlie. Yeah, let's play that on the out. And then we'll bring Poso in. We've also got Riley Gaines and Savannah Hernandez. And thank you, Officer Tatum. I appreciate you.

Thank you guys for having me. It's an honor. Thank you for making it a priority. Yeah, let's go ahead and play. that on the out and we'll go back in just a minute. On that terrible day, September 10th, 2025, our greatest evangelist for American liberty became immortal.

He's a modern now for American freedom. Do you know you are part of something bigger than yourself? You know that you are part of the most exciting, diverse, powerful movement in the history of this country. This movement is about the citizens versus the oligarchs. This movement is about we the people versus the ruling class.

This movement is about America versus the globalist. This movement is about all of us against them. One of my favorite sayings of the Bible. In Hebrew, it is Heineen. Here I am. It means Lord used me. What are my marching orders?

Abraham at the binding of Isaac. He said, Lord, here I am. Moses at the burning bush. Lord, here I am. Samuel, Isaiah. Here I am. It means give me the orders. American history.

You still live in the greatest nation ever to exist in the history of the world. There is still so much to be hopeful and to be thankful for. Have that posture here I am. I can't wait to see how this whole story plays out. The state's survived. We have only begun to fight. Welcome back, everybody. Hour three is just beginning.

Thank you again to Real America's voice, to Jack for letting the Charlie Kirk show be on in this hour. This is in, what is it, I guess, 18 minutes. is the moment we're going to do a moment of silence and we're going to invite the team here to part of the show to come join us on set and just observe that moment of silence and thank you, Sav for joining us now.

Charlie always, Charlie loved him Savannah Hernandez. He always had your back and believed in your talents and abilities, so thanks for joining us here too. Don't make me cry already, Andrew. Today has been so hard. He's going to mess the whole show. I'm sorry, he complained about you a lot too.

I'm holding it together. I'm holding it together. But not as much as he complained about Andrew. Well, so, okay, I guess we've got Mike Lee also trying to join. I mean, this is live TV. It's just happening on the fly here. Jack, this is normally your hour in the Real America's Voice Network. Why don't you just today, what does it mean to you?

What's going through your mind right now? Well, you know, it goes through my mind, I think, is the mission. And I just keep thinking about how Charlie was always mission first. And whether that, whatever the mission was, if the mission was, we're going to campus and we're going to have a debate, then that was the mission. If the mission was we're going to win election and harvest ballots and Chase and knock doors, that was the mission. And the mission was all. If the mission was, I'm going to memorize this chapter of the Bible and know it by heart, word from word, then that was the mission. And he would not, as you know, you would not stop.

until it was done. Or I'm going to read this book and I'm going to read every single, you know, page of the book, et cetera, et cetera. And so, you know, it, and people keep, you know, there's that sort of perennial question this time of, you know, when things like this come up, oh, what do you think he would say? I'm like, I put words in his mouth. But, but I imagine he'd be mission focused. I just imagine that it would be that. And, you know, coming from Dallas last night with, uh, where I mean, it was just incredible seeing Erica there and that, that moment really for me when the entire crowd a year later on the eve was up on their feet every single person was on their feet chanting charlie charlie charlie and it was it was a moment that showed that no matter what

the left thought they achieved that day that they completely failed because the mission does continue and unfortunately for them they did inspire so many people to get on board and give more people a why and um you know one one other thing that i wanted to do when i was here so um this is the first time i've been back to phoenix since i was at the CPAC in the UK and like you remember when uh when charlie went to oxford and cambridge and he was so excited and just you know just just actually excited to really just being honored to be able to be speaking there in the vein of so many people who had come before and so many of the great the writers and Burke and and and and lock and smith and uh there was a moment at the gala that we held there where CPAC UK wanted to give out they started this new award

and they called it the Winston Churchill courage award and of course for the inaugural award they wanted to award it to Charlie. And of course, Charlie wasn't able to be there. And they asked if I would be able to bring it back and to give it to Erica. And so I actually have it right here. And this is the inaugural Winston Churchill Courage Award. And I told them that, I told them that, well, Charlie had Churchill right in the studio. We'll put that next to the other Churchill.

Yeah, put it right next to where Churchill already is. Oh, that's awesome. He loved Churchill and just was one of his absolute inspirations. And I don't even think they knew that, actually, about Charlie. I mean, this is one of his absolute role models and how he was stalwart in his defense of the nation, stalwart in his defense of freedom. It was his model for defending America. A hundred percent.

You know, we're beset on all sides. The odds are against us. The enemy is coming upon our shores, and we're just going to fight like hell no matter what. Never surrender. Never surrender. Never surrender. So I said, well, the next time I'm back, I'll sure to carry it with me. Thank you. Thank you, Jack. We'll put that. If you're offering, we're going to put it up here. Hey, it's not mine. You talked about his mission focus. A lot of people say they want to change the world. But what set Charlie part is he had that goal, but he was so skilled at reducing that to what is the thing I can do today. Yeah, that over time will change the world.

So yeah, it might be memorized that argument about the Bible. I've mentioned this a few times that when he needed to learn something, he'd say, Blake, give me the four talking points. Right. Don't give me 10. I won't remember 10. If you send me four, I will memorize them. And he followed through on that.

He would. And then you do that one day and then the next day and another day. And you do that for 31 years straight. And you are Charlie Kirk. And I was speaking to the ASU chapter of Turning Point because they were holding a vigil last night and I was telling them that that is one of the most valuable lessons you can take from Charlie that we played that Michael Jordan clip earlier. I think about Michael Jordan if you wanted to be Michael Jordan, well, too bad.

You're not six foot eight and you probably can't shoot a bass, whatever, whatever Michael was, and you can't probably shoot a basketball as well as he did even if you tried for 10,000 hours. But actually, all of us have the capacity within us to do the daily disciplines that Charlie did. His talents were the talents that are available to everyone. I think that should inspire us. I think I remember him saying once somebody asked him, you know, how did you start

all this? And he said, I got a table and a chair and I went onto a campus. That's it. A table, a chair. Showing up is 90% of the battle. It really is. Yes. That's what you do, said. Yeah. You know. As you show us every day. Even when sometimes

we wish you wouldn't because you go by yourself into some pretty heinous territory. I know, I know. You know, this last entire week, I have not been able to focus, and I couldn't understand why, and I realize that it is because of the underlying feelings about what this memorial means

for not only myself, but the entire country. And so it's been a really, really difficult week, but it's been really great to see how everybody has carried Charlie's legacy on over truly this last year. And, you know, knowing that I was going to come on the show today, I was like, okay, what do I want to talk about? And what I did want to highlight, I think the most important thing that Charlie did for all of us was he helped grant so many of us our American dream. I'm a homeowner for the first time because of Charlie Kirk.

Charlie hired me on to do front lines. He let me carve my own path here. And I feel like I am one of many, many, many young people that Charlie believed in and gave a chance to. And he always met us where we were at. he always gave us the platform he always picked up the mic and he showed up and he was there and i'm so grateful because charlie gave us such a beautiful blueprint for how to achieve our own american dream right get married start a family tell the truth um do things even when they're hard be courageous by the country exactly um and so his legacy is still so strongly felt and Andrew when i was outside

and the statue is being unveiled as they pulled the the cloth off the top and we saw it for the first time. It was kind of an insane moment because the American flag immediately started waving. It wasn't waving prior and it immediately started waving as soon as it was unveiled and it was just such a beautiful moment. And I just feel like Charlie Spirit is of course here with us today. It's here with us always. And this legacy of courage and telling the truth is so strong and prevalent now more than ever. Still a very hard week though. Yeah. I agree. I am the first to admit I didn't know how I was going to be this morning but it's been harder than I anticipated and so it's a perfect time to send throw over to senator Mike Lee who's one of Charlie's best friends Charlie a little secret Charlie didn't always have a whole lot of love or nice things to say about elected officials that was not at all true about Mike Lee Charlie loved Mike and he's with us now he's traveling with his family

And here he is willing to come on with us. Senator, we're about nine minutes out from the moment. And everything changed in nine minutes one year ago today. Your thoughts? No, I was supposed to be with him that day. Charlie had called me a few weeks before the UVU event. They called me during August and said, Mike, I'm going to be at Utah Valley University on September the 10th. And I want you right there with me.

I was planning to be there with him. And I told them at the time, I'll be there if it's humanly possible. There's a chance that there will be votes that day in Washington that I can't miss. And if that's the case, I'll have to take a rain check. It turned out I was not able to be there. But I was texting with him and talking to him on the phone in the days and hours leading up to the event.

The last text message I got from him was shortly after he landed in Utah. And he somewhat presciently said, you know, I think today's event is going to be huge. Now, he was right, but not in the way that we had imagined, not in the way that we had hoped. And to this day, 365 days later, I can't believe he's gone. He's one who I have expected, like Tom Sawyer, to show up to his own funeral. Charlie is someone who was taken to us from us far too young. But he made a profound impact on this world, and his influence lives on, his legacy. he lives on, I think what happened when the left killed him and then celebrated his death,

the left created millions of aspiring new Charlie Kirk's. And I think nothing that is short of living and being able to continue his earthly mission would have made Charlie prouder or happier than that. So well said. If I may, Senator, I just wanted to say thank you personally as well, because you did show up at that preliminary hearing, a couple of, you know, back in July, I guess it was, two months. And, of course, you being from the area, obviously with your legal background, it, and of course your relationship with Charlie, it meant so much to have someone there who was a familiar face,

but also who could kind of walk us through that terrain in a way that really, really only you could. And I remember there were a few moments during that hearing where there was frustration with the process, frustration with the emotion of the event. And I know you were arriving what really meant so much. I mean, I'm not just talking about myself, but I remember with Charlie's family there, with Erica, with his mother and father, you being there really meant a lot. And so I just wanted to say thank you for about that. Yeah, you've been tremendous, Senator. You have been just and I see all the tweets. The whole team does. And it means so much to us. And we hear all the ways that

you defend him and keep his legacy alive. So, To echo Jack's point, thank you, Senator. Thank you. I appreciate that. And Jack, it was an honor and a privilege to be there, especially getting to sit next to you and just behind Erica and Charlie's parents at that event. We saw and heard some evidence that day. It was hard to take in. It's hard to see that stuff.

These are things that no one should have to see. But sometimes people have to bear witness two hard things in order to warn against them happening in the future. So we are grateful for so many good things that have happened since Charlie's death, all of them because of what Charlie did while he was alive. We miss him every day. And it really is awful. But in a broader sense, he has brought about a movement that will not be squelched, that will not go away.

And it's only going to get bigger. We're seeing the tip of the tip of the iceberg right now. and you all are such a huge part of propelling that legacy forward, and I thank you for that. We're coming up on the exact one year mark, which means a year ago right now. Charlie was witnessing to the gospel for the last time, because you might remember the first question at UVU was a guy who was arguing over whether, I think it was Mormonism versus evangelicalism, but it was Charlie always loved every opportunity to. witness to that. And I'm glad that was the last full, yeah, the answer

he was able to give to something. You know, and I always appreciated how he approached my faith. As a lifelong Latter-day Saint and devout Latter-day Saint. I get the fact that some folks struggle with our beliefs, some

folks in regards some of our beliefs, is heretical. Charlie never spiked the ball on us. Charlie always praised what he could praise and brought out the best in everyone, including Latter-day Saints. And we saw that right up to his last moment. And I remember this moment exactly a year ago right now, because I couldn't be there, I was keeping tabs on what was happening. I was asking my staff in between meetings, in between votes and meetings and hearings

for a play-by-play on what was happening on the ground. And when I got the unfathomable news that there had been a shooting, I couldn't think about anything else until I found out what happened. And it took several hours before I could find out what had occurred. I actually had to call the president of the United States to get the final word as to whether he had made it. And it was tearful. But I couldn't believe it at the time. Still can't believe it now that he's gone.

But we're so grateful for what he did. We are three minutes away, and we're going to do something here with the team. Feel free to stay with us, Senator. I want to bring all the team that's a part of this show and New Charlie behind the scenes, and we're going to start gathering around the back of this set. Just come on in, guys, and we're going to get ready for the moment of silence as we, you know, it's just wild because you know everything was going on just as we always expected it to and as we always had and in three minutes everything changes i was uh i was on air

was in an interview with your colleague senator ron johnson couldn't couldn't even tell you what we were talking about and you know i just had the show the live chat up you know as i usually do and it was like something shifted and suddenly every count comment Charlie Charlie Charlie and I was hoping it was a hoax originally and I remember and the senator of course you know he kept kept going and I just couldn't even hear a word he's saying because I was trying to figure out hey what's what's going on I just you know I've got producers in the year trying to figure it out and we were in Europe I never forget that because for front lines we were expanding our coverage you were in Europe yeah we were in

up and we were expanding our coverage. Charlie wanted us to go and highlight, you know, again, not only the illegal immigration crisis and migration crisis here in the United States, but also abroad. And so I just remember that trip being very pivotal because it was a shift for the front lines team for how much we were growing. One minute. Yeah, just right behind. Come on in, guys. Bring it in. Bring it in. Bring it in. Come on in, guys. Just pile it in. light on the backside 30 seconds yeah one year ago this moment of the world lost a great saint and a great murder you can go to the wide shot guys and we'll just do it all together it was a sacrifice five seconds so we're going to take a moment of silence and pray for the kirk family pray for tPSA and pray for the

country and remember charlie it's now 1124 local um thank you guys appreciate it our father sure let's do it go ahead and lead us jac our father who are in heaven hallow be thy name thy kingdom come that it will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us lead us not into temptation but deliver us from me Mine is the kingdom and the power and the glory are yours now and forever forever. The reason I say sacrifice is because Charlie knew there was a threat, obviously. He had the security, but he knew that any day, any given day out there on campus, something could happen.

But it was because he had this vision in his heart, inspiration from God. that he still had to go out there to fight the fight, to go on that field, and not let any threat get in his way. And the sacrifice is because he wasn't doing it for himself. It's because he was doing it for his family, for his country, and ultimately, like, he did all things for God. And that's the purest definition of a sacrifice.

That's right. I'll throw you an image. This is Charlie in 2013. He said, good men must die. 176. Good men must die, but death can't kill their names. I'm going to let the team here clear out. But let's play cut 29 and just, yeah, play cut 29. I want to honor God and all that I do. I want to be a great husband, a great father. I want to serve this country. I want to try to continue to lead this movement and to speak truth and to never lie.

To stop thinking about yourself all the time and said think about what you should do to help other people and to defend this country above yourself. I am so inspired this army of freedom fighters. We're going to be around for next 100, 200 years because we know in the end our ideas will win. God should be the most important thing in your life. But then beyond that, it's getting married,

having children, building families. My kids are my most important thing in my wife and my kids in our relationship for God, the top three things. And the more often that you choose, the deep, the difficult, but the right path over the easy path, is one that will reward you, your family, and this beautiful nation. Well, here I am, Lord. Send me. He wanted to be remembered for courage for his faith, and that's how we remember him. And we have two more friends. And this is what's so amazing about today, actually.

You know, you've got a whole thing going on in Dallas, and we have our friends that came to Phoenix because of Charlie. And that is, of course, Riley Gaines, turning point contributor, and Joe Bob, one of the opening acts for Charlie for so many campus stuff. And now you're doing big things, and you're growing, your audience is growing, and you have a show on Real America's voice, and Charlie would be so proud of what you've accomplished in the last year, too, Joe Bob.

Listen, sometimes a show is, you know, there's no words for how to navigate a show. So I guess, Riley, I'll start with you, you know, in this moment. What are you, what's going through your mind and what does this day kind of mean to you? Yeah, you know, you have no words to navigate the show, but I feel like I've had no words. to navigate the past year.

It's really heavy being here on the ground at headquarters and, of course, being able to spend time with the Turning Point family, but to see all these beautiful memoirs and, you know, reminders of Charlie everywhere, looking at this seat in person. I think people handle grief and obviously the traumatic circumstances, the horrific graphic circumstances of of course 9-10 last year and everything that has ensued since. I think people handle that in different ways. And I will say for me, I don't know, I've been relatively like, I don't know a good way to put it, maybe emotionally avoidant. Like anytime Charlie has popped up on my screen, I don't know if this is like an immature way of coping, but I've just

been so quick to scroll by. Like, it feels like a punch to the gut, even still to see his face and to listen to his voice and to hear his message. Because I think with confronting it and realizing that you're not going to get any more videos, new content made by Charlie, it makes it all the more real. And so I feel like the past year, maybe as immature as it sounds, I have been emotionally avoidant. And so being here in person and seeing this, for me, it just makes it all the more real and heavy, of course, today, but even understanding what tomorrow is, 9-11.

And like, it's a pretty dark week. And in a world covered and surrounded by darkness, Charlie was not just a light. He was the brightest lights. He was the best of us. And so to know that that he's gone, it's pretty deep, pretty devastating being here. But nonetheless, just be surrounded by family. That word gets thrown around, but it's real. Just when we've been through what we've all been through, you see so many comments online

of people who feel like they knew. Charlie personally even though they've just seen him on you know reels and clips and TikToks the people in this building did know him personally so that word family yeah it's it's the literal sense we asked other people job up how did you first encounter oh man so I wish I was able to get a so I first encountered him working as a videographer at an event that he was speaking at in 2019 and maybe I'll get you guys the clip to to play or a post or something but I when you're working in productions, right? You don't really want to ask for a photo because that's, that's, like, not cool. And literally yesterday, I had gone through a bunch of the photos from that

day, but I, there was some B-roll, and I found a piece of B-roll of Charlie, he was talking to Larry Elder, and I got in the back of the photo just to see if I could get a picture with it, not actually asking, because that's, that's, like, not cool. We've all kind of been there. You don't want to ask for a photo because that, you know, you're working. So your first picture So my first picture is photo balmy lady, Larry Elder and Charlie. And this is, I was a big fan, but this is, you know, three, four years before I started doing anything with Turning Point. And I was thinking about it. And that kind of mentality kind of carried through my, my entire time here at Turning Point.

And we never actually got a posed photo together until one of the last stops on the spring tour of 2025 when Mikey, when Mikey found me and said, hey, hey, Charlie wants a photo with you. And I was like, I didn't believe him because Mikey will pull your leg all the time. But he said, no, no, he's serious. And so we have from the first encounter with Charlie way back when I was a fan and I was working behind the camera and kind of sneaking in a photo bomb to that one photo that we have that's posed and we're both mean mugging. and it's I don't know it was

he was always a larger than life figure even while working with him and I I don't know if this is this is the same for a bunch of other people there's just hours of footage of just

content talking me and him and several other people but what I find myself going back to is the the small moments that some people

might see as insignificant off camera where he'd just say something or something would pop up. He, this is a, this is a, a couple months after we started doing the show on Real America's voice, I get an email at like 45 minutes into the show. And it, the headline says Charlie Kirk, the name on it.

And all it says, it's just the subject that says, big fan, nothing in the box. I'm like, okay. So somebody just changed their, like, you know, thing. And then I click the email and it's freedom at Charlie Kirk.com. And so I started asking people, hey, are you messing with me? Are you joking? What is this?

No, it's Charlie. Come to find out, it was actually Charlie who emailed the show. And it's those little moments that, you know, I can go back and watch all the footage and I have, but it's those small moments that weren't captured on camera of, you know, passing by in a comment that he'd make that are the ones that really have been jumping to mind over the last year. I feel the same.

I remember the little private moments the most. you know Charlie and I did a campus together it was at San Francisco State University I remember that and there was a girl who got up to the microphone and asked a question about abortion Was that the campus that you got locked in

and that was you guys going back It was the return to San Francisco State But this girl gets up to the microphone and you know very angry presumably leftist and she asked a question about abortion And Charlie, I don't remember what the question was But he's like okay I'll entertain you

let's take Riley here. Let's pretend she's 20 weeks pregnant. I was 20 weeks pregnant. And I hadn't told anyone. Like I hadn't told the only people who knew were, of course, my husband and like my immediate family and maybe some of my closest friends, but no one in the turning point orbit knew that I was pregnant. I was able to like, you know, my bump wasn't that big. I could conceal it for a while. And so I'm sitting there. I couldn't even focus on like the whole rest of the time on the, the, prove me wrong because I was like, he knows. And there was a part of me that was so fearful to tell him because I think, you know, internally, you're of the mind that, of course, with pregnancy and with delivery comes maternity leave.

And with turning point being an employer, there was a part of me that was fearful in telling him because I was like, he's going to get mad at me because I'm not going to be able to travel and to go on the road. And so it was, again, totally, I placed that fear and that worry on myself internally. And so after the fact, after the prove me wrong, I went out to know. And I was like, Charlie, you know how you answered that question? He said, let's take Riley and pretend she's 20 weeks pregnant. He was like, yes.

he's like tell me you're pregnant i was like i'm 20 weeks pregnant and of course he said riley there is nothing more fruitful or purposeful or rewarding or satisfactory or fulfilling that you can do as a woman than bear children he said i am so happy for you once you have this baby have many more babies we're here for you we support you don't worry about you know making this this quick rush to return back um we're we're just happy to of course that you're a part of the team and that you're bringing life into this world, that you're engaging in the act of creation our nation so desperately needs it in the way that Charlie, of course, you would imagine that he would respond. And so then I felt so silly for ever thinking of the, you know, he would have another

stance on it, but it was rare what he said. So that's when I was like, no, he's a prophet. He knows. How does he know that? Yeah, he was a prophet. He was a prophet. And I've said it before. I'll say it again, you know, I always thought that we were just doing campus events, you know and then I remember tent revivals there's a tent and everything they were literal tent revivals and the young people would flock to him by the thousands to hear him preach and proclaim truth and it was it was almost like God had to revamp the format so that this generation didn't immediately you know write it off because they if you said hey this is a tent revival they wouldn't have come but a campus debate they would and he still preached the gospel. He still proclaimed the truth. And lives were changed. And I kind of think about, you know, in the scriptures where it says some of you will do even greater things than these.

And I'm not saying Charlie was greater than Jesus. No, Charlie was just a man. Jesus is Jesus. Charlie worship Jesus. But you think about the era of social media and the billions of views and the billions of views and the millions of lives changed. He was a prophet. even in death. It's been amazing to see some of the comments from people online on TikTok on social media who say, you know, I never knew Charlie, but either his time on this earth radicalized them in a

positive way and brought them to the Lord or brought them, you know, maybe they became a first time conservative voter because of Charlie. But I think especially in death. And maybe it was Charlie himself and they're getting to go back and, you know, get beyond just the headlines and the little clips that are taken totally out of context and they're they're watching these debates and they're realizing wait, Charlie is unusually kind. He's unusually compassionate and decent and genuine and honest and effective. That's not what I was told. You know, that's not what I thought to be true. And so you're seeing people who, or either that, or it's the response of the left. Again, you're seeing healthcare workers, school teachers, government employees who are celebrating his assassination.

Maybe that's what radicalized them. Don't know of what the deal is with nurses and school teachers. Isn't it scary? Those are like the two worst profession. These are the people who are entrusted with educating the youth or saving your life. Or being on a jury at Lindsay Clancy trial. It's crazy. It's crazy.

Why'd you have to mention? I don't know. Because Charlie would. He would. He would. Definitely one of the five stories where you just, you think, how would he have reacted to this? He would have been losing his mind. He would have, I can just imagine every weird development we would have post.

to one of those videos of the jurors saying something baffling, and he would just reply, OMG, or possibly, I quit. Those were his two exasperated telegram responses to bizarre things. Man, I want to play something like uplifting, though,

because, you know, we play a clip all the time, but it really, as we're getting to the end of our third hour here, you know, and again, thank you to Real America's voice for taking it.

I know we've blown all the breaks, Michael. Talking to you, Michael, and thank you for being so gracious to us. We've played this clip a lot, but it really is, as we're nearing the end of our stream here, this was the culmination of so much of his political activities, and this is, of course, election night, 2024. I know you love it as much as we do, and I don't ever get tired of seeing it. So here it is. It's not 23. Fox News decides Donald Trump is president of the United States. We've got our report. Public back, folks. Let's go.

There it is. Everybody should remember this moment. Look, I'm going to echo Charlie from earlier. Remember where you were when this happened. Remember where you were when you realized that the unit party and all of these, you know, just the establishment, you said it's time to actually participate. And look what you guys have done. And if anyone deserves to get tears in his eyes, it's Charlie.

I think we all agree. I think Erico has worked harder than the break room. No one has worked harder than Charlie for this. We got to hear some words here from you, Charlie. You put all this together, my man. Let's hear it. I am just humbled by guy.

It's all got it. It's all got it. God alone. Got alone. Decision desk has it. Pennsylvania. It's done. It's beginning.

You know a lot about a guy by, you know, what comes out of his mouth in a moment like that. And it's such a testament to Charlie's faith that that was the first thing that he said. You know, it. Humbled by God. It feels, so when you're close to something, right? When you've been here, when you've been doing something,

sometimes you miss, or at least I'll speak for myself, the explosiveness of the moment. You know, I've been doing these college events with Charlie, for three years. And after that moment, and obviously all the moments leading up to that moment, I think people really understood what Charlie was all about. And Turning Point has always been a first foot forward on offense organization.

And Charlie's always been a first foot forward on offense organization. But something happened in the culture, and we've all seen it over the last couple years, to where people are looking for something. and at that time, at the moment, Charlie was the thing that they could go after and say, this guy's being honest with me. He might not agree with everything he says, but this guy's being genuine and honest. And I say that to say, the crowds just grew without, I didn't recognize it.

We're, the last, the last American comeback event tour was the biggest he'd ever done. and it caught me entirely by surprise because we were doing these rooms 800,000 people 1,500 people big and then Texas A&M happened and I think we've all seen the video of the students there at Texas A&M

That's crazy And there's 3,500 people or whatever the capacity of that building was That was after a huge event during the day That was after an event during the day And it was packed And for me, because you know You're close to it, you kind of don't realize

what's going on the outside I walked out on that stage and went oh my gosh like he has built something so massive and so instrumental honestly simply by being a guy who says what he believes unashamedly

and people right now in our depraved culture are looking for anybody who will be honest with them and Charlie was that guy I remember the moment where it really hit me what he was becoming and it was either late 23 or early 24 but I believe it was San Diego State and so we're going to

public college in a pretty blue state in a blue city and we'd been to a few events and he was getting hundreds of people show up and suddenly we walk in at San Diego State were you at that one as well? Yeah yeah yeah and it's way bigger they've completely filled this huge room thousands of people

he's this gigantic celebrity and I just remember thinking wait what happened something has happened over the past few months he's such a do you think it was like the usage of social media at that that point. That was around the time, frankly, he started using TikTok.

He gave it another shot. And I think the alcohol took. TikTok was, because they kept banning him on TikTok. And Ryan kept telling us to take another shot. There's so many young people who were. Ryan gets a shout out here. They were, who were denied truth on TikTok. I can't even tell you how many times my account was censored or banned or suspended.

And I think it's probably just like, it's like when you were in middle school and you did that experiment on like bacteria doubling in a petri dish. and you know if it takes for it doubles in the last thing and so i think it really was that he just grew and grew and he he became more and more formidable as a debater as a christian and he finally just got that point where suddenly it could it could double in a few months and then it doubled again and so you go from a few hundred people at your event in fall of 23 to one of the most probably the most famous you could say the most famous non the most famous lay Christian in the world

by the summer of 2025. Do you remember, so that event was actually, and I wonder if that was when he started to recognize it too, because I remember, so we were in the back area, right, so it was a ballroom, so it was like a hallway, and Charlie was behind a door, and he comes out, says hello, and he's kind of looking, numbers looking good, and it was, and he's like,

okay, cool, I'm going to go meditate for a little bit. And then he left for about 15 seconds and came back, and was like, all right, cool, how are we going? He was like ready to go. It's like when he didn't take him now. The moment I, yeah, the moment I realized that what he was becoming was, it was Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. And it was out on the like, it was just an outdoor kind of tabling event. And it was all these young men, all these students, all of a sudden they just start singing the national anthem.

Like impromptu. Charlie didn't even tell them to. They just started doing it. I probably brought like tears to his eyes. It was amazing. We posted all over social and it was just like we went from years of being outnumbered on campus of being put upon by protesters and Entief and all this stuff

and in this moment it was like uh-uh we got numbers now and it was just this powerful powerful we talk a lot about faith but I do think a secondary but still very beautiful thing about Charlie is the degree to which he loved America in I sometimes say it's like he if you read about Americans in the 1800s.

Their level of patriotism, even to us who love America, it can make you raise an eyebrow. The way these people really do, it's like if someone disrespects the American flag, they will snap and try to beat you up. Or you read about the Civil War. Lincoln comes out and he's like,

they fired upon the American flag and hundreds of thousands of people sign up to fight in the Union Army in response to that. And that's Charlie's level of patriotism. He just, he absolutely, loved America in this uncompromising, straightforward, intensely prideful way. He loved this country.

He thought it was the greatest thing to have ever happened on this earth after the incarnation. And it's that earnestness that he brought to things that I think won so many people over. I'm just thinking back because, you know, what was striking about when you first met Charlie's, how much he cared about things. And I think that like had this ability to inject optimism into everybody around him. And I'm, I'm remembering as you're sitting next to me, Riley, when you first, like that San Francisco state thing happened, it was like you had, I don't know how many followers. But all of a sudden with overnight, it was like you had a half a million. And then it was like a million.

And I remember we were talking to you during that whole phase and like Charlie was talking to you. I was talking to you. And we've asked this about everybody. Like your first, your first memory of talking to Charlie or meeting Charlie was it around that? time or was it did you actually been around that time maybe yeah i mean it was it was right around then either before or after but it was uh some of my first memories i mean jo bobby used the phrase like larger than life and maybe like a metaphorical sense but in a literal sense for me i just remember thinking like dang he's tall i think so many people who are like online are otherwise like pretty

small and short and scrawny guys and Charlie was a large physical presence and so that was one of the first like you know observations I had but the thing that like you kind of said it actually was the thing that really drew me into to Charlie was that he believed in me when he really had no reason to he had no reason to believe in me I knew nothing about our government our government structure about you know the I knew we had three branches and I didn't really know what they did and and I still don't really know what they do. And I don't even know if they know what they do half the time. You were just upset that, you know.

I was just a college age girl who knew what I experienced was wrong. But Charlie saw that and he believed in me. And it was almost like a transfer of confidence. You know, him believing in me allowed me to believe in myself. And I'll never forget following the election, of course, in 2024, we're at Mar-a-Lago. And it's like this like, who's who of who. Everyone is there. All the cabinet secretaries who were not yet cabinet secretaries were there.

and someone was running late and Charlie's like Riley I need you to get on stage and speak and I'm like Charlie I'm not you like I need to prepare for these things I need to jot down some bullet points like I'm and just not that girl who can get up on stage and like occupy five to 10 to 15 minutes temporaneous speaking and he looked at me and he said Riley you've got this I wouldn't call on you if I didn't think you could do it and it was that was all I needed to hear like I he was someone who I mean I genuinely would have followed into war And so him saying that to me, it was like, you know what? He believes in me. I can believe in myself. And you get up there and it was one of the most, I mean, we just saw that clip, like consequential moments in this country's history where President Trump is in the Oval Office for the second time.

And you, it just came out with like, it was a breeze standing on that stage. You know what I remember when I realized what you had become was at the RFK event. when RFK endorsed President Trump. It was here in Phoenix and we did that big event. You gave one of the speeches in the lead-up to it. And I remember it was, first of all, pitch-perfect. It had so much energy and the crowd was wrapped by the things that you were saying. And I remember kind of going like, whoa.

I remember Charlie told me, he was like, look, you have like seven minutes, whatever it was. I had an allotted amount of time. And I remember thinking to myself, like, I hope I say and now. He told me, if you don't, like, the music is going to cue and, like, you're basically going to get pushed off the stage. And so I'm standing there and I'm giving, you know, I'm just talking and I wasn't really keeping up a time and I looked down and I had so much left to say. And I, like, I was in the negative.

And so I'm like, oh, gosh, the music is going to go. But I just keep talking and I'm like, once the music goes, I'll wrap it up then. And so finally I finish. I probably went like more than double the allotted time. And I get off stage and I was like, I'm so sorry. I went over. He was like, you know what? if it weren't so powerful, I would have cut you.

But everyone was loving what you were saying. It was amazing. And I just remember thinking, like, oh, I'm so embarrassed. You listen, the opposite of DEI was all merit. He was, he would have given you the yank. You know, that rally was one of the most, I don't know, like, in understanding what the conservative party had become and what Charlie had really built, I don't think a lot of people realize, like, just how much of a behind-the-scenes player he was

and who President Trump even still currently has closest to him in those cabinet positions and otherwise. He was really a coalition builder. And so that to me, when you saw the likes of RFK and Tulsi Gabbard coming out and supporting and getting behind President Trump, it showed me how we really were the party of unity. And that was something that Charlie was dedicated to building and to fostering and to growing.

The other side for so long, they had claimed to be the ones that were, inclusive and diversive and we're all accepting and welcoming and blah blah blah all the buzzwords but in that moment it was like the left isn't any of those things they don't embrace diversity because they don't embrace diverse thought here we have Charlie

who has really fostered RFK Jr. I mean a Kennedy to be with President Trump. It was a perfect symbol of the umbrella of unity that Charlie was really dedicated to creating. Yeah that's well said. I

We're just getting to the end of our three here. As we celebrate, well, he's going to celebrate. We mark one year without Charlie. And I wanted to bring on Quinton, who is the sculptor and the artist who made that beautiful, beautiful statue that is now temporarily outside. You can take my seat. All right. Go over here, Quentin. The statue is beautiful.

Yeah. And I want to just thank you and take a moment. to throw up that image. This is Tyler and Quentin right next to the statue, 181. Right now it's in front of Turning Points HQ here in Phoenix, Arizona, probably, just temporarily, according to Tyler. Quentin, tell us about your journey making this. It's a lot of work that goes into this. Yeah, it was a lot of work.

Make sure you get close to the mic there. Yeah. Yeah, I started it a year ago today. I started sculpting his portrait a year ago today. Wow. After that event, I just had to do something. I started sculpting his portrait. I stayed after work.

I told my wife I wasn't coming home. I just listened to videos on Loop from Charlie. I started that portrait, and it took me a few months to kind of get his likeness. And then my dad's cousin saw what I was working on, and he got me connected with Tyler. And then Tyler called me and asked if I wanted to make a monument. and it was the greatest honor I could have ever received is to use my skill and what I love to do to honor Charlie. It's so cool how you say, you know,

I knew I had to do something because I think that's how so many people felt, especially in the immediate, is you knew you had to do something, but there was like, what do we do? We just witnessed one of the most horrific things. So to hear you say, like you used your skill set that God gave you to honor him in this way, is really beautiful. And the statue itself, of course, is amazing.

Yeah. What is it, I don't know, to hear that it might end up in statutory hall at the U.S. Capitol eventually. I mean, it sounds like Tyler's going to pull all the strings. So let's just assume it happens. Yeah, that's unbelievable. Let's hope he does. And it looks like it will. I did not expect something like that early in my career.

I'm kind of an emerging sculptor. I've worked on some large monuments as an assistant. and done smaller things on my own. And I was working towards us, 35. Yeah, that's like baby for sculptors. Yeah, there's not too many sculptors out there. The ones who are well known are older than me. Yeah, that's amazing.

I'm more established, and I'm working my way in that direction. Well, man, thank you for honoring Charlie the way you did. I think that's such a good point you made, by the way, is that Quentin's story is the story. People ask me all the time, they're like, what is Charlie's legacy? What is Charlie's legacy? I'm like, you will not know the depth and breadth and scope and all the ripples that are going to emerge and emanate from Charlie's life for 40, 50 years. Because somewhere out there is a 12-year-old that wants to be like Charlie Kirk and wants to live a life like Charlie's. And I think the impact that they're going to have on future generations and the fact that everybody had this collective response of what can I do, what can I do to do more?

to be better, to be a better husband, to be a better father, to be a better student, be a better activists. I just, I think it's a tremendous, tremendous insight. And I think it's just more proof that I'm right about this, that we won't know for 40 or 50 years. And from there, we saw the slogans, of course, of pick up the mic, and we are all Charlie Kirk. And it gave people, again, that sense of security and confidence that while Charlie, of course, is one of one, and saying we are all Charlie Kirk, that's not saying that we were

looking for some, you know, replacement in the immediate of who could fill this void. No, Charlie had the belief that this is a country worth saving. And if all of us as individual average people could, could have a small part in that to do what we can as just one person to, to contribute, to make this country worth saving to, especially for the next generation, then we're not going to do half bad. So. Amen. Thank you guys for joining.

Thank you, Quentin, for honoring Charlie. in such a beautiful way. We're very touched by it, genuinely. I want to remind you all that we're going to start streaming again at 4.30 Pacific, so I guess 730 Eastern ahead of the UVU event tonight, remembering Charlie. And so join us for that. And we're going to wrap it up in another tribute to the one and only Charlie Kirk. We miss you, brother. We hope you felt honored today.