The Charlie Kirk Show - Megyn Kelly Remembers Charlie Kirk

Episode Date: September 18, 2025

What was Charlie like day to day? How was he as a boss, and as a friend? Megyn Kelly takes her turn filling in Charlie's role as show host, and talks to members of his team to make sure every part of his life is remembered. Plus, she reacts to ABC's suspension of Jimmy Kimmel and the continued backlash against despicable statements by the media and the left in the past week.Support the show: http://www.charliekirk.com/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

POMAYOR. I'm going to be able to be. Hey, everyone. I'm Megan Kelly, and I am honored to be sitting in Charlie Kirk's studio. hosting the Charlie Kirk show. We're simulcasting it out right now for our listeners on the Megan Kelly Show, and we're also honored to be a part of this. We traveled out to Arizona last night and just stepping foot in the state. I mean, you can't go more than 100 feet without seeing something to honor Charlie, especially here at the headquarters of Turning Point, where you pull up and it is like something, the only thing I can compare to it is after Princess Diana died,

where you see the teddy bears and the balloons and the signage lining just the entire campus outside of this building. I mean, there's an incredible outpouring around the world for him. And I'm so honored to be sitting here in the studio. I'm here right now with Andrew Colvitt. He's Charlie's executive producer. Andrew, thank you so much for inviting me. Thank you for making the journey and the trip. I know it's no small task.

and you honored Charlie. Charlie would be so honored, and you were one of his dearest friends in this whole crazy media and conservative space. And he would absolutely, I started making calls probably within 36 hours. And I knew exactly who to call. And you were absolutely one of those people. And so thank you for making this work. Thank you. I feel like the one thing I can say about me and Charlie is, you know, I think you once described it as the weird chemistry he and I had together on the air, you know, because I absolutely loved talking to him. I can't think of somebody I wanted to talk to you more ever. When I saw it as a Charlie Kirk Day on the show, I knew he was going to be a great program. I knew he was going to bring something different

than what we would hear from everybody else. And one of the things that I knew I'd get from Charlie was humor. He always made me laugh. That's an underappreciated. quality of Charlie and I'm I don't want to give away where we're going with the show if you want to that's fine you're driving today but the people closest to him the people in this building they all have many stories about how Charlie just made them you know kill over laughing just because he was really funny he had a very dry sense of humor and it was very Charlie there was I don't know how you could really describe it they're going to have to tell you themselves but yeah and that came through in interviews with you it didn't come through with everybody but with you he had you guys

had this this rapport and I remember always texting back and forth with your team because you're on the air with them and he's on the air with you and we'd be like oh this is great oh my gosh this is amazing and I remember you going on Sean Ryan's show and he was like who should I interview and a lot of people sent me this clip I don't know if I ever told you that but I saw it and you were like you should have Charlie Kirk on it never happened and that's fine I met Sean a couple times and we were always kind of talking about maybe whatever but the fact that you were i just knew i because i felt like for the first couple of years that charlie and i were talking it wasn't by no means was that charlie was undiscovered he'd been discovered and he had already built this massive organization but in more

traditional republican circles he wasn't as well known and in some circles not as well understood you know they they establishment yeah they thought he was fringy and i would tell all my friends in that lane. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, you got to listen to him. He's hugely important to the future of the Republican Party and the country. And they would listen. You know, I mean, more and more, he was gaining friends, even among that wing, of course. But, you know, in the beginning, people feel threatened by somebody who's coming up in their lane. They don't want to lose their positions. Is he going to take over the Republican Party? And then Charlie, just by sheer force of will and personality and goodness, won them over. It was to know him

truly was to love him. And you're going to see that. I think very rarely, you know, people that work with a very demanding, hard driving person, which Charlie was, there's no doubt. Very rarely do you couple that with the more time you spend with him, the more you love him. And everybody in this building and Turning Point staff will have the same exact reaction. He was endearing in the most amazing way and i i had told so many people this actually i'm really proud that i got to before he died that you just can't help but love the guy because the mission his belief his faith and his he was generous to a fault he was loyal to a fault and he was trustworthy and he would never ever spill the beans no gossip i never heard him say a negative word about anybody no even on the air we

you know he'd come on we'd be talking about who's in the news and half our friends are always in the news because they say controversial things, what have you. And so you always got to, you know, treat it gingerly when you're going to talk about something like that. But Charlie was always, he would always say, I'm just never going to say anything bad about that person. He would own it, you know, like I don't care whether they're in the news or not. I'm not going to do that. Yeah. Even if he disagreed with them privately, you know, a lot of our friends would say things that would, you know, cause a big stir and there was pressure. You've got to condemn this. You've got to call this person out. You've got to do this. And Charlie was like, no. No. He never did. And

honestly, I'm now trying to live by that example. I'm not going to lose my generally cynical mofo nature. That's technically not a swear. I just want that clear. We don't swear on the Charlie Kirk show. I know. Yeah, no, poor Charlie. I would subject him to my potty mouth, and he was such a good sport about it.

But, no, we are on his show now. We will be good. So I'm not going to lose that. But it gave me pause to think about not being too quick to condemn people. who we like and who deserve the benefit of the doubt. In this moment, I know there's a lot of people online, we hear you, that are saying different things and that are, they're processing their guilt in the way that.

Their grief. Their grief. Thank you. And they're mourning in the way that they know how. And it's going to come out in a thousand different ways. And we are trying to give everybody space to do that. Obviously, I personally, Andrew Colvette, would do it one way. but other people are going to do it another way.

And we really do have to honor Charlie in that way and say Charlie was a master of collecting people. He was. And there is a reason for that. I couldn't agree with you more. I mean, I have always tried to not choose a side within Republican politics to try to keep the door open to everybody. He made me look like an amateur at that

because there wasn't any, you look at like America Fest, you look at the Student Action Summit, you look at any event that Charlie put on, you'd have everybody from all ideological wings of the party. He managed to hold this coalition together in a way few can. I mean, few other than Donald Trump can. No, for real. And I think, you know, and I've said this before,

but I just want everybody to keep hearing it, that Charlie looked at the virtues, the roles that one could play in society. And he was borrowing this from the Greeks and others, but being a statesman, being a philosopher, being a theologian are the highest callings. And he told me, some of the deepest conversations that we had before he died,

saying, you know, everybody can be, everybody can open a stream and say crazy things. But not everybody can be a statesman. Not everybody can be a coalition builder. It's really hard to build. And he was very proud that we have built something, that he had built something, that is an institution that's going to outlive him

with friends that, of all different parts of the party that love him and that admire him. And so we had, I'm not kidding, we talked for hours about this on a few different occasions about why that was the highest calling. And I could tell he was working that out with me. And not just working that out, but what I've learned just since Charlie died is working to be the person. I did not realize how much work Charlie put into these campus appearances and honing his game and making sure he was at the at the peak in terms of his ability to have these

exchanges he disciplined his body to do it from he was a biohacker he was religious about sleep he didn't put uh poisons into his body he he really understood that he had to get the most out of himself and he found time to do the most bizarre things like i i he jumbled he he read books He listened to books on tapes. He found ways to maximize every single second. I think one of the services you and Erica could, when everyone's feeling better, provide for his fans, would be to put together a list of what Charlie read.

I feel like everybody would want to see that. Just the best you can cobble it together. Just go to his bookcase, go to his, you know, Kindle, whatever, because I think people would love to know what influenced him. He influenced them, what influenced him. I'm here with his, like, top lieutenants, and they've been through so much over the past week, and they know Charlie so well. We thought it'd be great to bring some of these guys in and talk about some of their memories of Charlie, which we're going to do. This is Blake Neff.

He's, what, will you describe what you did for Charlie? I was a producer, you know, helped get guests for the show, but also especially talking points, researching issues. You know, what do we want to say about this? And he would come to me, Blake, what do we think about this issue? And, you know, Charlie is a busy guy, so sometimes it was my job to go and read the 400-page book about something so I can give him a 10-page digest of it later. Aren't you, didn't he call you his secret weapon? I'm told that. He didn't tell you that to my case.

I'll accept it. I heard he called you his secret weapon. And then there's Mikey McCoy. How are you doing, Mikey? Good. All right, and tell us what you did for Charlie. Yeah, I was his chief staff, worked for him almost six years. Yeah, organized his life.

So he took you out of your cradle. He plucked me out, saved me from going to college. He did, right? No, for real. I don't want you to go college. I want you to come work for me. Best decision I made. Yeah, so with him for six years, his Swiss Army knife, the problem would arise.

I'd go and solve it for him, kept his life organized, and traveled with him everywhere. He was always so complimentary of his team, Andrew. I mean, whenever you give him a compliment, he would give it back to you guys. He never took the compliment directly. And now there's a question about who's going to lead the team going forward and who's going to lead this enormously important organization. and I understand you have some news on that front. Yeah, since everything has happened, I think the number one question is what is going to happen with Turning Point?

What is going to happen next? And I'm pleased to be able to announce with you, and I think it's appropriate because of who you are and who this person is, that the Turning Point Board has unanimously selected Erica Kirk as the new CEO and chair. of the board and not only is that amazing in and of itself but I can assure you Megan that Charlie told me personally and he told others he probably told Mikey that if anything ever happened to him that this is exactly what he wanted. Wow I have the chills it had to be right I mean it's just I don't think anybody would accept a leader of the organization who they didn't feel completely understood Charlie and would be 100% dedicated to

fulfilling his vision for where this group is going. Well, and let me just add one more thing, and I want Mikey to chime in here as well. But in the immediate hours afterwards, Erica got a call from somebody very important. I'll leave that vague out of privacy, but she got a call from somebody very important, and the question was,

what do you know, sort of asking how much of what's going on behind the scenes and with the relationship like what do you know and her reply back was everything i know everything that's good you can tell um the bits of the two of them you know and showing like the clips that you guys have released show first of all their immense intense love story which has been so uplifting to everybody who's ever felt love or wanted to in their lives and we pulled this one that you guys ran because it's so touching. It's SOT 17, and it's her when they were engaged sitting on this set, I think.

Let's watch it. I'm not going to be able to focus sitting this close to him. Hi. You ready? What? Hello. Hello. I'm not going to be able to focus looking right at you.

I'm just going to be staring at you. Hello. Wow. Ready, Terrell? Hold on. We're rolling? We're not. All right, you'll be switching.

All right, I'll count it down. Wait. I'm kind of nervous, you guys. She's nervous, which is why we must get going. All right, we ready? No. Okay, three, two, one. Hey, everybody.

Welcome to this episode of the Charlie Kirk Show. You're going to have to do it again. Introduce yourself. Is that something like I'm going to say? Hey everybody. Welcome to this episode of the Charlie Kirk Show. I'm engaged. Would you like to introduce yourself or should I introduce you?

This is important about. How would you like me to start? All right, we'll try it again. Hey everybody, welcome to this episode of the Charlie Kirk Show. joining me is the most special guest my fiancee erika welcome to the charlie kirk show i don't know about you guys but i was holding it together just fine up until that their love story was something yeah um charlie knew how good erika was we know how good erika was and when she made her address the other night right next to this chair i think the whole nation found out

how good erika was the amount of strength that that took she she's our colleague She's our retribution. The memes. The memes are already going. Yeah, right. Well, there's more on her. I don't know, you guys. Today has a different feel for me.

I've been listening all week with J.D., the vice president, with the guys from Daily Wire, who I love with Glenn. And, of course, we've been covering everything about Charlie since, you know, last week on my own show. And just being with you all, I feel better. I don't know. Today just seems like we're able to laugh a little. It's not that people aren't in grieving, but it's a sign. of mental well-being that you can find a way to like chuckle here and there you know i i had my

first laugh actually the other day when my friend reminded me of my favorite exchange with charlie it was very funny and it was actually it arose out of a time when charlie was in trouble with the left for having said something that they thought was terrible and i knew wasn't terrible and it was part of his courage and saying something that everybody believes but they would never say it out loud it was about how they were so focused on hiring women and black pilots and minority pilots and going from 3% to 50, right? 3% of 50 that we were going to have to worry about who the hell was flying the planes because it was like, what do you mean?

There's black people only 13% of the population. How are we going to have 50% of them being pilots? Anyway, so Charlie said that, and then everybody said he was a racist, which was bull. Oh, sorry, sorry, which was bull. It happened. Never mind. Force to have it. And hold on.

let me find it here he came on my show january 2024 and made the following point as only charlie could sat 22 de i invites unwholesome thinking and i said i don't and i was saying in the clip that's not who i am that's not what i believe but what it does is it makes us worse version of ourselves megan that's the whole point of what i was saying is that i now look at everything through a hyperracialized diversity quota lens because of their massive insistence to try to hit these ridiculous racial hiring quotas. Three to four percent of current pilots are blacks right now, three to four percent. And now they want to say this is just a hiring class of candidates.

Are there enough candidates to fill the 50 percent quota? And the other question should be asked is, why is it a problem? Let's just ask the premise. Why is it a problem that 81 percent are white? And I just, I love the Axios guy. well white males are dominating the cockpit yeah those pesky safe flights are dominating our society Megan you know all those you know all those 25 years of commercial airliners that have kept on I mean dominating as if like the white male is like oppressing us with you know their beautiful

landings through turbulence and storms you know just because he said that at the end I think one of a great little Charlie thing every time a plane took off, he would say, Lord bless this flight right as it began to accelerate. And then when I joined, I would add, Lord bless this landing, because I find that a pretty important part of it. That helps. So tell us something about Charlie that we don't know.

Oh, man. Who's got one of those? Blake, Mikey. You know, I think we also have two, we have two new guest stars here. I want to tell everybody, we have Daisy Phelps, and we have Emma K. Bartles, and Emma Kate, you did Charlie's social media. And Daisy, you seem like you did everything.

Media director, I just kind of have explain it as podcast media, digital media, sponsorship media. Whatever Charlie said. Did for Charlie and now we'll continue doing for Erica and for turning point. We're all in it. Sorry, yeah. What were you going to say? So one of the things, Mikey and I agreed, we were really happy he got to do.

You know, one of the things about Charlie's, he was so famous. He had no anonymity anymore in America. And he actually really liked going out on walks. And so we were actually in Asia just the weekend before this happened. And we were in Seoul. And I'd been there a little bit early. I was going to a wedding for a friend of mine. And so when he got in, I was like, Charlie, the best way to understand the city,

just kind of walk around and see how it's different. And so, you know, we were there. He got in on a Friday. And so I think Saturday morning, he just got up extremely early, 5.30 a.m. And he just started walking around the streets of Seoul. And for once, he got to just wander a city. And he was just for most of the people there. He was just kind of this foreigner wandering around their city.

He's tall for my American stance. He would draw everyone's gaze. He would draw everyone's gaze, but for once he could just wander a city as a traveler. And he really liked to do that. I didn't realize what a big walker he was. Big walker. Yeah. My version of tourism is you stop at a cafe, you eat, you keep walking, you stop, you shop.

Charlie's is you just walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk. And it was 90 degrees, 90% humidity. We're sweating through our suits, and we're all like, what is he going to stop? What is he going to stop walking? Finally, he stopped at a coffee shop. And we were like, okay, we're going to get like 10 minutes here. No, two minutes, two minutes and we're back out in the heat. But like no vices, right?

Did he even get the coffee or did he get the midnight tea? He got the mint tea. Yeah, classic mint tea with two honey. No alcohol. Everyone's been getting now. There are so many outside of HQ people leave their, their mid-Madacy with two honeies. Did you see that story, Daisy? They posted it on X at somebody, an older woman, a grandmother went into a Starbucks and asked for that.

And they gave it to her. They wrote loser on it. Well, her family unleashed, holy, you know what, on the Starbucks to the point where they were temporarily closed when the family went back to find accountability. It's amazing, though. It's like the story's not about some loser who wrote loser, right? It's about people have had it. They're pushing back Charlie style because the confrontation was actually very polite, but it was like, you're not going to do this to us. Well, and what's funny is we had just at our student action summit.

in Florida we did approve me wrong which was kind of the first we'd done at one of our own events so it was supposed to be more lighthearted pretty much everyone that's there loves charlie is his supporter and so most of the questions some of them were like about the bears the cubs what if he likes waffles or pancakes and then what his Starbucks order was because we talked about it the other day but he would have these cough drops all the time and people would think they were zen they were just cough drops he had to have them for his throat and then people would ask what a Starbucks and everyone was guesting in the crowd and Emacate posted that video and

people, it went viral. They loved knowing what he had. They just love real stories of him right now. You're incredibly talented. Charlie's social media is next level. So I don't know how you manage that. But through the social media right now people are reconnecting with him or connecting for the first time in like a really unprecedented. I've never seen anything like it.

100%. I saw a TikTok this morning of somebody saying they tried to silence Charlie but I hadn't really seen his videos or paid attention to them. He was like, now I'm going down a Charlie Kirk rabbit hole. I'm watching every video. I'm listening to every podcast. We all are.

He was like, I can't believe I'm just now discovering this, but I feel so blessed that there's so much on the internet that even after his death, people are still getting to know him and love him. It's one of the few blessings around this thing is like all the hours of tape. I think I saw the same one where he was like, you guys made me obsessed with Charlie. I didn't even know him until this. Right. Now, speaking of obsessions, you two share one and Charlie tapped into it more than one. tell us just any sort of Taylor Swift news that come up he would just like explain this what's

happening and then when we were in the office when the news broke about them getting engaged and Charlie was so excited for them he was like this is amazing more people should get married and have kids this is a great example for everyone so on brand like yes exactly we're so happy for Taylor well that's I have a question for about Charlie for you guys so I mean he was human there were there were people who would irritate him I know because I talked to him about some of those people, would he, how would he handle that? Like, Taylor is one of them. She came out and she endorsed Kamala. She said it was because of Kamala's LGBTQ stance of Tim Wals, actually, was, I mean, crazy statements. So how would he get past that and then be had, like, he seemed

to be able to do that with everybody? I would say for the most part, instead of him getting irritated by people in pop culture, and more so just went to the side of him, and he wouldn't really pay attention to it until we'd be like, hey, this is, I remember one time, he's at, he's like, what is Brat Summer? Because everyone's talking about it. Like, it didn't annoy him because he didn't even know about it. He was just so focused on what he needed to do. Yes.

So what we're leaning here is Charlie was a nerd. Yeah, there you go. Which is fine. You know, I mean, Andrew was telling me about how they, like, intentionally made him not nerdy for the, uh, prove me wrong segments. Like, maybe we won't wear the suit. You know, maybe we'll wear a t-shirt. And that worked, right?

He gained a lot of extra fans. He still was pretty alpha. We got, I think we can all agree. Yeah. Well, it's an interesting combination. Because he was a brainiac, but he was alpha. Yeah, and he was like the ultimate pinnacle example of what being a man is. And so being more like Charlie, he would never drink alcohol.

He'd go to the gym. He always ate healthy. He always had that Starbucks order. He always took care of his vocal cords with his throat coats and everything. The discipline. He was a disciplined alpha male. And when he had to tap into the nerdy side of him to learn something, he'd tap into it. So he didn't want you to go to college and you agreed not to.

And then did he put you through college? Yeah, yeah. I think I learned more under Charlie, but I also, one of my favorite stories of Charlie, since we're all just kind of going around, literally, probably my favorites. We're at the RNC, and J.D. had just come out on stage, and whether you guys know it or not, Charlie played a role in J.D. being the vice president. And he comes out on stage. Charlie was so excited. We snuck on the floor. We didn't have a pass. We went to the very front. It was just me and Charlie. And J.D. says something about Joe Biden. And this was right after the debate. And everybody was like, Joe's got. to go. Joe's got to go. Joe's got to go. And Charlie turns around, looks at me in the cinematic way and goes, careful what you wish for. And I was like, oh my gosh. And then the next, I think a couple days later, I don't even remember Kamala Harris's. I know. And then it was like, no. Yeah, more fundraising, more battles. Yeah, more pain. Right. He, Charlie was very funny and he had so many funny one liners where he almost, he wasn't trying to be funny. But it was just, those quick little ones like I can remember on Juneteenth this year he sent us a video he said

I can't remember exactly what he said he said happy Juneteenth I'm on my way to work go to work today everybody have a good day you did not take off that national holiday no we did not we were here working but it was just those funny little selfie videos he would always send in our chats where most of them would get posted on TikTok or stories or whatever um like what like he would send videos of himself to the team just selfie videos just doing little quick commentary on whatever was happening or just telling a story or giving updates and it was always those really short ones that i loved the most because they were just so funny without trying to be funny and people loved them that's hilarious so it wasn't necessarily for social media but it was like for all of you yeah and we

We would post them a good amount, but it was just, you know, it was just kind of a little bit of behind the scenes Charlie that, you know, people love to see it. A really fun behind the scenes, Charlie, so he was a sports fan, and the way he would consume it had to be very intense because he doesn't have, you know, other than Saturday, you know, which he always was strict about taking off, you know, he didn't have the time to just lounge around watching a game. So the one I'll always remember is shortly after I joined, you know, we had the world. Cup in Qatar and he was all invested in the U.S. doing well and so he was watching the World Cup games on his phone during the show and was reacting to things in the game during the segments he'd also always have the iPad with him yeah always had an iPad with him and he was always watching sports on the side so the Cubs Erica mentioned the Cubs and did she say the Ducks Big Ducks fan huge no why why it's where his family went to college

and he wanted to inherit a college football team. And it was his. He was so passionate about that. He would sometimes say, you know, I just want to retire and go coach college football. That was what he would say if he was frustrated. Like, I should just quit and go coach college football. Same with the Olympics in March Madness. We had iPad set up all around the studio.

So he would constantly know what's happening in the games. Once you've been president, coaching a sports team seems like a great thing. And that was clearly in Charlie's future. I don't know how it's been here for you guys. But this is the first. I haven't laughed this much in a week. I don't know. It just feels good to talk about him in a more lighthearted way because that's who he was.

I mean, of course, the last thing Charlie would have wanted was for us to be all sitting around feeling sad, especially while talking about him. So to me, this feels like an appropriate way of handling grief too. I'm joined now by two additional staffers for Charlie, Danny Phillip, and hold on, Nate Walker. That's correct. You're Nate and you're Danny. And Catherine Locastro. Yeah, and you did all admin, you do all the Abbey stuff, it's from the sound of it, like admin organizing everything. Yes.

This must be so hard. How are you handling all this? Yeah, thank you. I mean, it's been really special to have the team that we have to lean on each other and get through it together. I think it definitely has been incredibly busy, and it's kind of interesting to balance the grief and the busyness of everything. but I think the will to work is contagious, and I mean, I'm just following Mikey's lead and Erica's lead and trying to do everything that Charlie would have wanted, which is to keep going and to just work harder than ever. So, yeah, definitely busy.

The busyness is a blessing. It is. I mean, it's amazing. Charlie's life work is keeping everyone occupied in a way that I think is good and is productive. So, Nate, tell us what you did for Charlie. Yeah, I was Charlie's executive assistant, the day-to-day Charlie. make sure he has his food, water, clothes, all the stuff that he doesn't need to think about. I would do for him. Clothes? How'd you do clothes? Yeah, you figure that out.

It was difficult. Not the easiest job. We have a clothing racks in the warehouse. Some days I would just have to guess, figure out what is Charlie going to want to wear today? And sometimes I'd be right, sometimes not. Well, can I ask you this is not to take it to a darker place, but we're all wearing these freedom shirts, the same shirt that Charlie was wearing. On the day he was killed, is there a story behind this shirt?

Yeah, so we usually bring a couple shirts to the campus stops, and I asked Charlie in the car, I go, Charlie, what shirt do you want to wear? He goes, I want to wear the freedom shirt. That's not controversial. What were the other options? Oh, I can't remember exactly. Did he wear like the one that my son has with Trump giving double middle fingers? No, no, no, not those ones.

It would always say something, never surrender, here I am, freedom. He liked his short taglines. I was actually, when you guys asked if I would wear this on the air, I was so honored, and I feel like I have such a treasure having this shirt. You know, this is such a treasure now. Danny, what did you do for Charlie? So I did, like, research and prep for him for the show, meetings, events. That's a heavy lift.

Yeah, stuff like that. Because he was meticulous. Yeah, and then it would also be like, okay, five minutes before the event starts. I need more on this. So find more on this specific person or something like that. So it was always something. What was he like in that way? What would interest him?

He would be interested in the most specific stuff sometimes. And then sometimes he wouldn't care. Mikey probably knows about this too. But yeah, he would want very specific details on very specific things that really no one else would think about. Yeah. And then other times he would just be like, I'm just going to wing it. And in his speech, I got it covered. And then you'd probably hear that stuff actually come up in one of the Q&A's on the

Prove Me Wrong segments is like, oh, wait a minute. Actually, he needed that. Yeah. Right? I mean, that's everyone's marveling right now on the internet at Charlie's depth of knowledge about everything. How? How?

Can anyone here explain that? How? Yeah. He was diligent, as we said earlier on the show. Was he constantly studying? Constantly studying, reading a book, and his time management was impeccable. If he didn't have time to read a book, he'd have time to read a book. he'd have Blake read a book for him, Danny read a book for him.

And he'd have people come out and mentor him and talk to him about details. And Frank Turek would be here and he would pour into Charlie and Charlie be taking meticulous notes and study it. And then everything was focused towards his campus tours. He wanted to give knowledge that he could glean from the world to all these students across America. That's an interesting question. Were the campus tours his dominant focus or was it the big student events or was it the show? It was everything. It was everything.

And how he was able to manage it all, I don't think anybody will really know. And he slept, and he still was able to do normal human things while managing a million tests. I can't imagine you trying to get him to, like, sit down with you and go over logistics when he is this, you know, busy and important. Correlling him and Mikey was definitely a challenge at times. But sometimes I would say I just need 30 seconds. I have a few things I need to go over. Would you just send him a video on the group chat? I should have done that.

I need you. Yeah, I would have been helpful. But you just needed a little bit of time to now things down, and we had a good routine. You know, you seem like somebody who can handle that. Not everybody has those executive management skills, so just meeting all of you, it's very clear. He had a very clear eye for talent. And everyone here is so young. I just feel I'm so sorry that you've had such a tragedy at such a young point in your lives.

Mikey, let me ask you because there are a lot of questions in conservative circles now about what's going to happen with the organization because turning points become very important to a lot of people. And I hope there are no turf wars. I hope there's nothing like, no, it has to go this way, no, it has to go that way. I think choosing Erica to be Charlie's successor is the perfect way to stop all that, just to keep it consistent with Charlie's vision. But what are your thoughts on how you keep it consistent with what Charlie wanted and keep it going without him? Yeah.

Erica said that the other night, he was an excellent person to pick people. He loved picking people and choosing talent, finding talent, and acquiring talent, and he would want to pluck somebody and bring them on the team if they were good a job. But I was telling you earlier with Erica that for the first time, I got a little emotional two days ago because for the first time when I was talking to her about where the organization's going, how we're going to continue Charlie's legacy, how we're going to really ten-x this organization to become what Charlie inevitably wanted it to become. I hearing her thoughts and the way she was talking and breaking things down I felt like for the first time I was speaking to Charlie for the first time again and he told her everything he private conversations everything he was shared with Erica she knew everything and from the way she texts to the way she talks and I can confidently say that I feel like it's Charlie still leading this organization and we just announced it that Erica is going to be the chief executive officer of turning point USA and for the operators to the people that helped run this organization with Charlie we know we know exactly what he wanted in his meetings what his vision was his push and the event coming on Sunday we all just keep sending close to each other more people make it bigger and it's we it's he's ingrained in us he's still there and it's just like every difficult situation every hard trial that comes up it's almost like

we have a blueprint that Charlie's just embedded into our mind can the the event on Sunday honoring Charlie's life, it's going to have heads of state. I mean, every administration official, like, that place is going to be in lockdown, I'm sure, first of all. But have you been overwhelmed with the number of responses? It's touching the amount of responses, not just with the event, but also outside of the event, the amount of people messaging me, everybody on this team, the organization, saying for the first time in seven years, 10 years, ever, this is their first time going back

to church, and that they sat in that empty seat that Charlie left in the sanctuary. And they turned to their neighbor and they said, Charlie brought me here. And the other messages said, for every Sunday after this, I'll go back for God. But for this Sunday, I'm going for Charlie Kirk. Oh, I love that. And the overpouring of responses outside of this event, it's beautiful. But the event specifically, you're right. Every head, there's heads of state coming.

The entire White House essentially is coming. Yeah. It's beautiful. And I believe when Air Force One lands, there's going to be a lot of people that you guys will see at this event. It's going to be very beautiful. Have you guys been, I mean, you knew Charlie. so well, you knew him on a day, you're getting his clothes, right, and his food. Have you been surprised at, like, the worldwide tributes to him, the massive impact that his loss has had?

Yeah, for sure. When you're with Charlie every day, he's not Charlie Kirk. He's just Charlie. And then, you know, something like this happens, and it just, his reach was so big. It was bigger than anything I think we ever even realized me personally, especially. He was just so... You think you're working for a company, not necessarily a cause, and then you realize it's something far more profound. It's way bigger than any of us, and it's bigger than Charlie. It's really cool.

Can I ask you guys, like, how did you get the news last week? Were you here? Yeah, me and Danny were both there. Oh, you were there on site with him? We were on site, yeah. Gosh, Danny. I mean, did you worry about security in advance of these events? because I know Charlie, he said openly he'd been getting death threats.

Yeah, we always would worry, but it wasn't really our job to worry. We were just kind of more so focused on doing what we had to for the team and whoever's job that was, you know. We trusted them and everything, and we still do. His team be great. So, yeah, it was never really, we were more so just focused on doing what we needed to for Charlie. I have to imagine there was a level of disbelief on your part, too, just like there was for those of us who weren't there,

who we're watching on TV. Yeah, just kind of state of shock at first, yeah. Has it been helpful to come back to the office and, like, be with each other? Yeah, absolutely. I think leading on each other's been the most important thing through all of it. It's sort of an unspeakable feeling

that I think we're all experiencing, but to be able to go through it together has been very, very helpful. Do you, like, I personally have been surprised at how many people feel this personally. I mean, people openly weeping who never met Charlie and actually who weren't even necessarily fans, not detractors, but not fans either.

And it's, I think, because of the content that's being pushed out, that they're getting to know him, of course, the violence with which he was taken, but also just the content. Do you have somebody going through hours and hours of Charlie tape and refreshing it for us? Like, how are we getting all this new content? What feels like new?

Yeah, yeah. I mean, Charlie would bank hours of content. He did four hours. a day and then on top of that he was doing five speeches a week he was he we were traveling like we're supposed to be in colorado state today we're supposed to be in nashville tomorrow he would just bank these these speeches and content we didn't even post all of them we have so many speeches that haven't even been posted yet he was speaking to it would groups on friday he was supposed to be speaking at a church event today he was supposed to be speaking to students at colorado state wow when we were in ha he was

speaking to a random group of japanese people and that at the america festival equivalent in Korea. But to their point, security-wise, I don't think it matters what the security was. Nothing was going to stop Charlie from giving his message where it needed to be. And he died too soon, but he was always ready to die. Everything he did, he poured into it 100%. He was always dedicated to his work, dedicated to his message. He knew that the truth was the truth. He'd always say north is north no matter what it's there's objective truths that need to be shared to the world and he was ready to share those when i saw you know found out that he'd been wearing a bulletproof vest i thought to myself oh my god like i didn't i didn't even know that it had gotten that bad

yeah like in terms of the death threats because we all sadly do get death threats in this in the public eye yeah um had it escalated prior to last week we've always gotten threats before um nobody's ever really acted on them in this way, but we have received stuff in the past. It's so sick, right? It's like that this should be the cost for saying what you believe. Truth. Now everybody wants to know what Charlie would think about everything. You know, I'm talking a lot of people, they say, well, what would Charlie think about this?

What would Charlie think about that? And I try desperately not to answer those questions because it's not up to me to say that kind of thing. I feel like Erica can say that and nobody else can say that. Exactly. But I do wonder, I feel like Charlie would might be happy about the Jimmy Kimmel situation. He put out a tweet. I literally, I posted on my story today, Jimmy Kimmel isn't funny. It was a tweet that he posted way back one. He was right. He hasn't been funny for a long time. As President Trump would say, Rosie's a loser. She's been a loser for a long time. As if it's like, you know, it's quantifiable. Exactly when she became a loser. And same with Jimmy Kimmel. He was,

one's funny and he's not anymore not anymore and like president trump with the anti with the with the antifa declaration today i thought that was amazing like that was a group that charlie called a lot of attention to yeah and obviously may have had some connection to what happened last week but what what do you make of the the kimmel termination i love it it's this indefinite suspension sweet justice i think we are all waiting for it it's i it's a shame i mean charlie's seeing it and he's loving it but to only see his reaction to it would have been priceless for all of us who worked so closely with him but yeah we love it nobody thinks shimmy kimball's funny anymore no so and the nerve i mean the nerve of that guy to suggest that that this guy was was maga i know

disgusted there was no way he was getting away with that and we're going to talk more about that when walter kern joins me next he's got lots of thoughts you guys i think i speak for everyone i say we are all sending you all of our love all of our support i am of course willing to do whatever whatever it takes to keep turning point going forward as robustly and strongly as ever. And I know everybody out there's failing it in terms of donations. You guys just keeps telling us what you need and we'll all be there. Much love to you. Thank you. It's completely an honor to be sitting here in Charlie's studio wearing the Freedom shirt and talking with Charlie's staff and about how Charlie lived his life. It's amazing here. Everyone is young. Everyone is energetic. Everyone is

you know in a weird way upbeat and by that I mean like they're obviously in deep grief but they are finding a way to laugh with one another and be with one another and forge forward and I will tell you this is the most optimistic I have felt since eight days ago about the future of turning point I just feel like these people we are in good hands like this organization will go forward and they can do it not only can they do it because they knew Charlie very well and they knew his vision and they've been doing it, but you can just tell it's a family, and they are more committed now than ever to making sure that this organization stands and grows and becomes even stronger than it is right now. And it's going to be, hopefully, other than logistically, it's going to be easy

because they have the support of the world right now. And they also keep getting bits of good news here and there. Like last night, the decision that Erica Kirk will take over as the CEO of turning point just saying it gives me the chills it's exactly of course what charlie would have wanted you know that from the tape you've seen of the two of them in what was one of the most beautiful love stories any of us has ever witnessed an inspiration even to those of us who have married for 18 years and are already happily married to do even better to try even harder to make our spouse even happier and think of what somebody like that can do at the top of this organization in the name of her husband I mean, it's going to be something to watch and participate in.

They need everybody's help. One of the other pieces of good news is that Jimmy Kimmel is no longer on the air and we're absolutely thrilled. We won't miss him at all. And frankly, all the liberal tear crying all over X is only making it better. What's the opposite of salt into your wounds? Sugar, I don't know. Balm, like, it's wonderful to see them upset.

I'm sorry, but it's like Stephen L. Miller, who's not to be confused with Stephen Miller, the Trump administration senior official, Stephen L. Miller, he's been on the show before. He's very clever. He's a great Twitter follow, and he tweeted out or posted on X. National media being more upset at Jimmy Kimmel losing his show than they are at Charlie Kirk losing his life is kind of proving the point. I couldn't say it any better than that. It's exactly it. They're so, they're way more upset about this news. about this guy, this talking head who's been such a buffoon for so many years, doing nothing other than being unkind. I'm trying not to swear. It says right here on the top of my packet. Reminder, no swearing because I'm on Charlie's show now. He's so wholesome. But in any event, being such a jerk for so many years losing his show, no one cares. Most normal people don't care. Walter Kern, do you care? He's my guest now and joins VVAS satellite. Walter, your thoughts on Jimmy Kimmel and the leftist. meltdown. Well, let me say something first. Two months ago, Charlie asked me to be on this show and had never been on it before. And I said no, I was too busy. I would get to him this fall. Well, he's not here. And now I'm on his show with him not on earth, which is a lesson to us all.

Don't put things off. Don't take things for granted and how quickly and terribly things can change. So I'm sorry, Mr. Kirk. I'm sorry that I delayed too long. Anyway, what do I think of Jimmy Kimmel? Well, I do a little showbiz. I write screenplays. I've had movies made in my books.

I've written on TV shows. Jimmy, that's showbiz. You weren't funny. You weren't any good. You wished death on half of your audience in not so subtle ways. Hey, weezy, rest in peace. You made a false claim that this case had been cracked and the culprit was MAGA. Other words, half the U.S. public. Now you're gone and you're gone legally and I think legitimately because ABC leases the public airwaves in order to make. make money and that lease comes with conditions and that is that it serves the public good basically and it wasn't serving the public good it was it was acting on behalf of a regime it was acting on behalf of its pharmaceutical advertisers that keep it you know that keep it supported it was slanting not just the news but every joke it's not cable Greg gutfeld is not comparable he's on cable news those are private wires that are laid in the ground this is the public

airwaves, a stage that we give people on the condition that they use it with decency and some sense of fairness and fair play, and in the interest of all of us who own it. We own that station. We merely lease it to ABC. That's right. And now they're finding out the hard way that there's a new sheriff in town at the FCC who actually is going to start enforcing these rules and regulations. Jimmy Kimmel wasn't sorry. Okay, we played the soundbite on our show for you yesterday. And I'll play it here now just for those of you who haven't heard what got him indefinitely suspended. He's fired. We'll see, unless Disney bends the knee.

But right now, it's not looking good for old Jimbo. Here's what he said in SOT 7. We hit some new lows over the weekend with the Maga Gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it. So he's a despicable pig. and he said that when he knew that it wasn't the case. The evidence had been ubiquitous about this person's left-leaning and commitment to left-wing ideology. We've gone through it repeatedly, you all know. And all of that was out before Jimmy Kimmel said that on Monday night.

Did he come out on the air on Tuesday night and try to correct his lie? No, because it was a lie. It was an intentional misstatement of fact meant to mislead you. It was not a mistake, as some left-wing defenders are saying right now on X. and his plan on Wednesday was not to go out and apologize that night either. His plan, according to the Hollywood reporter, was to go out and claim that he was the victim because it was taken out of context. And he was going to give us the proper context in which somehow his lie about MAGA at a time when MAGA is under greater threat than it's been in quite some time that he jinned up that hatred during such a time when MAGA's grieving in a way it hasn't been so profoundly since I've known it, that he did that in a way. way that was just simply out of context. Okay, more lies. And so the stations groups from NextStar

and others, by the way, it wasn't just Next Star, Sinclair, went to Disney and said, we're not running this show. We're not going to be a part of this. Not now, not ever. We're not, we're no longer going to be complicit in his lies. And the FCC commissioner, Brendan Carr, had said earlier in the day that he wasn't going to tolerate this, that they have an actual duty to uphold the public interest on the airwaves, and Disney caved, as it should have. He had no right. That's literally what some are saying. He had a right to be out there with his show. Swalwell. He's an idiot. He had no right, and now he's accurately and justly been taken off the air. So, Walter, your thoughts on the leftist claim that this is government interference, which does

make it a potential free speech problem. I mean, at least they have it right that when the government's involved, you have a potential First Amendment issue. But I mean, my own thought, on it is, yes, that's right, but government actually here does have a role. That's actually statutorily prescribed. It absolutely does. Imagine Yellowstone Park, a park that belongs to the people. And it grants a license to one particular company to lead tours. But it says, hey, there's two things. You can't abuse the wildlife and you can't be mean to the tourists. And then it starts abusing the wildlife and being mean to the tourists. Does the federal government have a right to fire that person or at least threaten them with it? Absolutely. Does that company that wants to keep

that lease, that special privilege that allows them to make money, have an interest in getting rid of that tour guide? Absolutely. So that's all that happened. The rest is bombast. You have a right to speak, and I'm sure he'll have a very popular substack or streaming channel. But you do not have the right to a stage that belongs to the people of the United States. And the broadcast airwaves, as I said before, are exactly that. They are a resource like water or land, a set of frequencies. You know, here's what I want to say about Jimmy Kimmel or Stephen Colbert, for that matter, in the podcast lane.

Of course, we love it, and we've now really made our livings in it. I mean, I've been over this lane for five years, and you're in it, too. So we love it, and it's meaningful, and it's the future. We know that. But here's what's so delicious. To Jimmy Kimmel, that's going to be horrible. Like his recognizing that that's where he has likely to land next is going to be a fate worse than the worst possible outcomes for him because he thinks he's of ABC and Disney. He's used to go into the theme parks and having his rear end kissed.

He wants to be at all the right parties and he wants to be the king of television. People are on television think television. The only thing it matters. So he's definitely going to suffer, which is delicious, because he's been the king of enjoying everyone else's cancellation for years, for years. Just to do a quick search for what he said about Tucker when he got booted from Fox for far less controversy than what he just caused. Listen, let's get some realism in here about show business and about network news and so on. Jimmy Kimmel was on his way out.

Trump predicted that he was next after Colbert months ago. I have a good friend who works in the very small world of late night comedy hosting, okay? Everyone knew Jimmy was not long for this world. So what he did was he went on a suicide mission at the last minute. He shot his mouth off doing something that would only please the partisans so that he could then pose as a free speech martyr rather than a sad, sack, toad of a bad comedian. Yes, that's exactly right. and it's like it's amazing to me because people are like speaking of swala he tweeted out he's a comedian and scott adams responded so was rosan do cartoonist count because of course scott adams had dilbert

pulled from him his comment pulled after he said something too controversial rosan got fired for a tweet she wasn't even in her lane he was on the air for disney jimmy kimmel was let's not forget they fired i tweeted this out last night walter they ABC the mouse fired Chris Harrison, who hosted the Bachelor, because a Bachelorette was unearthed to have had pictures at an antebellum-themed party years ago. And he said, oh, geez, shouldn't we judge her by like the way we were at the time as opposed to the way we are now? They fired him, his career never recovered.

So why wouldn't they get rid of Camel for this? Bill Maher was fired from his show politically incorrect, if I'm not mistaken. because he said something about the 9-11 hijackers. He said, whatever else they were, they weren't cowards because they were willing to die for their cause. Okay? Yep. He got canned.

He's got his butt. Sorry, I almost swore. I know. We're not allowed. No swearing. It says right here on my list. $500 to turning point for every swear that comes out of my mouth. But they kicked his butt off the air, and that's not a swear.

And he came back because he was talented, because he had a loyal fan base. And he, you know, I was on his show a couple of weeks ago. Jimmy Kimmel can land on his feet if he wants, but I doubt he will. Because the real wonder of it all was that Jimmy Kimmel lasted on the air for as long as he did. He was the most some, he had some Guardian Angel. He didn't have to be funny. He didn't have to pull ratings. He didn't have to speak to half America.

He was allowed to insult people at will. He actually campaigned on stage. I just saw a clip this morning of him. giving a long talk to Republicans in his audience about why they shouldn't vote for Trump. He wasn't news. He was worse than news. They used him to do things that news isn't allowed to do, like lie. Yeah, exactly.

So now he's reportedly very angry. This is what the trade rags are saying, is that Jimmy Kimmel is furious that this has happened to him, as though he is a passive victim who is really just. martyred here because he didn't do anything wrong. It was just taken out of context. And the mean, bad television executives are out to get him. And meanwhile, I just have to get this out. You've got people like on the left, like Ben Stiller. And there are many I could pick on, but I'm going to pick on Ben Stiller here, who decided to tweet out about this, but Jimmy Kimmel's indefinite suspension, this isn't right. Okay. It's not that pointed. Whatever, it's fine. This isn't right. That's his belief.

We went back just to see if he had said anything about Charlie. Nothing. He couldn't manage this isn't right about Charlie Kirk's assassination. But he wants us to feel bad for Jimmy Kimmel, Walter. It makes you wonder about Hollywood. Aren't they in the business of amusing and pleasing the American public? Apparently not. For a long time now, they've been curiously not in the business of making money,

pulling ratings, being right, making good movies. and addressing reality in those movies. They're often some Marvel comic book universe. What exactly are they showing solidarity with? I don't understand it. Do they believe they are a guarantee to future, even if they have the wrath of the American people? They think they're standing up for the First Amendment,

which is so ironic, given the way they've been behaving for the past six years. They're the ones who backed the Biden regime that censored all of us on COVID, on the Hunter Biden laptop, we could go down the list. They were fine with all of that. Megan, you know, you may not agree with this, but the public airwaves, meaning the broadcast networks,

which belong to all of us, were bought by the pharmaceutical industry, who are 70% of the advertising. They were purchased by them, and they were used in their behalf. One of Jimmy Kimmel's bits was to make fun of Ivermectin as horse paste and claim that anybody who showed up having used, used that at an emergency room should be allowed to, quote, rest in peace, i.e. die. Well, that drug, ivermectin, was a present danger to Pfizer's vaccine that was coming, and a way of treating people when there were no other real ways, pre-vaccine.

This guy sung for his supper, for his masters. It wasn't Jimmy Kimmel speaking when that ugly mouth opened. It was a huge industry that spoke through. him. And now he's acting like a free speech murder because that industry is facing the loss of their right to advertise on TV, which they've only had since the late 90s. And so they're drumming up a big First Amendment case so that they can go on buying the news. And that's how I really feel. It's really incredible. I mean, this is the same group of people who wrote, like Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader in the House, actually wrote a letter to Fox News demanding that they

not let Tucker Carlson air his special about the J6 event. And actively, like that's government actively interfering where it doesn't have any right. The FCC actually does have a right. And that's the funny thing, Megan. The government, which does have a right to intervene with public broadcast networks, took that right and extended it into places during COVID and during the Trump era generally, where it doesn't belong. platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and so on, cable news, et cetera, they tried to be the cops in other

people's towns. And they succeeded because they intimidated management. And they infiltrated it, frankly, over at Twitter. I mean, you just went from the FBI to Twitter management. And that's documented. True. And so now they are facing the worm turning. They are facing. a public that before Charlie's death was already changing in its complexion. Yeah, and now is absolutely outraged. One of our most beloved sons is gone, but his movement is not gone. And it is up to all of us to make sure it thrives. I hope you'll all join me in supporting TPUSA. It'll be an honor for us all. Walter, where do you think this goes? Where do you think all this grief and love and the complicated feelings the country's having right now goes?

Well, the history of civilization suggests that true martyrs, people who die for their beliefs, and die when enacting peaceful, you know, strategies. They're not in war. They're not in bitter conflict. Those are the most influential people in history. I mean, the most influential person in Western history. was one of those. But we have many cases. And I would imagine that for the people who wish to honor him and the people who are touched by him and the people who are just finding out about him, there will be a great and deep desire to carry on in his spirit, not just in his spirit

in terms of politics, but in terms, I think we've got a bigger situation on our hand. We've got a spiritual situation on our hand. It's leading to a revival. I've got kids who, I'm not talking about my own kids, who I know in their 20s, young guys sitting around in their apartments, drinking beer, doing their first jobs, who are having deep conversations and texting me. Hey, Walter, what do you think about this? Where it says in the Bible, I wasn't aware you guys knew there was a Bible. This is happening in the last week. That is a movement of the spirit and America has had revivals that have determined its history several times. On the other side, in terms of those who are hostile to it, I think they look like a bunch of screaming banshees who have been had the lights

turned on while they engaged in dark practices and they're exposed. I think that this is to some extent out of our hands. It's up to us to hold the standards of civil discourse and other values that Charlie held dear, even dearer than he did. He was obviously the threat. What he was doing, he wasn't a rabble rouser. He was a debater and he was a spiritual person. And that they identified as the biggest threat, which is why they eliminated it. That means to me that emulating his behavior is the biggest threat and the most powerful tool. And so I think people will pick it up. And I think things will change because I think the reestablishment of decency, first of all, common decency, which is all they're trying to do in this ABC case. But it looks

like radical action and they call it fascism now because we haven't observed any common decency for so long in this country. It's so true. I think things will change for the better. I really do, Megan. I cannot. They may get intense. They may be loud. They may be fractious. But I don't think that the release of a spirit like his into the public mind with the intensity and the drama around it that surrounds his death can't help it be a good thing. Yeah. And it's in those who don't accept his goodness and let it infuse them with the Holy Spirit and a renewed drive to stand up for the things we know are true,

but instead go to the dark place of mocking him or what he's. for God help them. God help them because their future is dark and it's grim and it's depressing unlike what the rest of us are about to do, which is going to be uplifting and uniting and could just save this country. Walter Kerr, thank you. I feel invigorated. I feel invigorated. And I was not someone watching Charlie Kirk every minute. I'm a little bit old for the people he was trying to address. But boy, I'm not too old now. Amen. Thanks for being here. Really appreciate it. again soon. I want to say thanks to all the folks here at Turning Point. They've taken such good care of me, not just today, but over the years and encourage all of you to believe in this

organization and get behind Erica, because let me tell you, being here, I can see it. Their future is bright. These are dark days right now, but their future is bright. I'm going to say goodbye with the following clip, SOT 19, the crowd outside of TPUSA. How sweet the town That saved the rich like me I once was lost But now I'm found But time, but now I see.

I'm going to be able to be. And so, you know, I'm going to be. Thank you. Thank you.