Sept. 21, 2025 - The Benny Show - Benny Johnson
05:04:31
Participants
Main voices
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| Speaker | Time | Text |
|---|---|---|
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unidentified
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And you will always be you will always be holy, you will always be holy for | |
| a great God, | ||
| see with me, have God and all will see how gray have rain God splendor of a king the splendor of king clothes | ||
| in let all the earth rejoice all the earth rejoice he wraps himself in life and darkness tries to have it trembles at his voice, | ||
| trembles at his voice, we sing together how great God see with me, how great all will see how rain age to age | ||
| And age to age He stands And time is in His hands Beginning and the end Beginning and the end The God in three in one You are | ||
| Father, Spirit and Son The Lion and the Lamb The Lion and the Lamb How great is our God Sing with me How great is our God All will sing How great | ||
| How great is our God Name above all names You're the name above all names Worthy of all praise And my heart will sing How great | ||
| is our God How great is our God How great is our God How great is our God How | ||
| great is our God How great is our God How great is our God How great is our God How great is our God How great is our God | ||
| How great is our God How great is our God How great is our God How great | ||
| is our God And therefore, therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name. | ||
| Then at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that he is the Lord to the glory of God the Father. | ||
| Amen. | ||
|
unidentified
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Amen. | |
| Come on, could we just live our hands all across this place? | ||
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unidentified
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Name of all the heart will see how great suck God. | |
| The name above. | ||
| The name above all names. | ||
| Worthy of all praise. | ||
| And my heart will see how great. | ||
| Sacchar. | ||
| # # It is well with my soul # # It is well with my soul # | ||
| Ladies and gentlemen. | ||
| please welcome pastor rob mccoy Good morning, everybody. | ||
| Thank you for coming out to honor Charlie Kirk. | ||
| God bless all of you and all of you tuning in online around the world. | ||
| And I'm asking myself the same question. | ||
| Charlie Kirk called me his pastor. | ||
| I called him my friend. | ||
| I was with Charlie about uh little over two weeks ago in Korea as he was supporting the persecuted Christians over there as a raiding churches and imprisoning pastors, and he spoke to the youth there that now are chanting on the streets. | ||
| I am Charlie Kirk standing for freedom across that country. | ||
| In a conversation with Charlie in the green room in Korea, he said something to me that he'd said a number of times. | ||
| He said he kept calling me his pastor, and I stopped him. | ||
| I said, Charlie, since the president's gotten elected, your your stock has risen through the stratosphere, and I don't see much of you. | ||
| I mean, he wasn't a very good congregant, he was on the road 320 days a year. | ||
| But he said, Rob, not only are you my pastor, but you're America's pastor. | ||
| And I said, Charlie, if if we were at a tabling event on a campus where you had the table said, Prove me wrong, I'd win. | ||
| And he looked at me with that sheepish grin that he always has. | ||
| Thoughtgone it if he wasn't right. | ||
| I mean, I wasn't America's pastor two minutes ago, and I won't be after this, but for right now, he proved me wrong. | ||
| In a moment, you're gonna hear from the most powerful political people in the free world. | ||
| You're gonna hear from the who's who, and they're gonna assemble in this place to talk about what Charlie Kirk did in 31 years on this earth. | ||
| He had more lifetimes in 31 years than all of us have in the entirety of our own. | ||
| And as I was thinking about that, to recount all that he's accomplished in 31 years is quite a feat. | ||
| I mean, I was just telling the turning point staff as I walked in here. | ||
| Everyone is is worried that the turning point isn't gonna be successful, and I looked at each and every one of them. | ||
| And for those of you who are negative, without Charlie Kirk's presence, they pulled off the largest event in turning point history. | ||
|
unidentified
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Let's thank them. | |
| Turning Point is alive and well. | ||
|
unidentified
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All right. | |
| I appreciate that, but you're taking my time here. | ||
| Sit down. | ||
| I want to do two things, and then I want to do what I've been called to do. | ||
| First of all, I was thinking of Abraham Lincoln when I was reflecting on Erica and their two children, and for Charlie's parents and his sister. | ||
| Abraham Lincoln said to Mrs. Bixby when she had lost sons in the civil war. | ||
| He wrote these words, "I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming." We can't bring him back, but we thank you for raising him. | ||
| We thank you for loving him. | ||
| Erica for being the strength in his life. | ||
| And we we pray for this family, we ask God's comfort and peace upon you in Jesus' name. | ||
| Amen. | ||
|
unidentified
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Thank you. | |
| Now my responsibility, entrusted to me by my friend and his wife. | ||
| You're gonna hear of what Charlie did, but I'm here today to tell you the why and what he did. | ||
| The why brought him the courage. | ||
| The why brought him the wisdom and the strength. | ||
| The why is the one that Charlie wanted to welcome as the guest of honor. | ||
| The guest of honor, his resume is long. | ||
| He's the King of glory. | ||
| He's the Prince of Peace. | ||
| He's the Savior of the world. | ||
| He's the living God. | ||
| He's the God of all mercy and grace. | ||
| The total embodiment of love. | ||
| The total embodiment of truth. | ||
| And he's here today to call his children back to him. | ||
| From the thin veil of heaven Charlie declares to all earthly powers and principalities who will gather here They have come into the presence of the God of all creation Charlie wanted his savior to be the guest of honor He wanted all of you to receive this gift from him the why and what he did and Charlie was never afraid. | ||
| Because he knew his life was secure in the hand of God. | ||
| Jesus left the glory of heaven's throne for the humiliation of an earthly cross. | ||
| He was fully tempted, yet was without sin. | ||
| For those of you who struggle with the word sin, it's real simple. | ||
| It's an archer's term. | ||
| Where the bullseye is and where the arrow lands, that's called the sin distance. | ||
| How far you've fallen from perfection. | ||
| And there are none righteous, no, not one. | ||
| We've all missed the mark, the bullseye. | ||
| And we try to get to God by our efforts, but there is no effort that will bring us back into the presence of a righteous God. | ||
| You see, the wages of sin is death. | ||
| Charlie knew this, and at an early age, he entrusted his life to the Savior of the world. | ||
| Jesus came to this earth, was tempted in all ways, yet was without sin, was crucified upon a cross. | ||
| His blood was poured out because blood must be shed for the remission of sins. | ||
| And his death upon that cross was sufficient for all the world's sins, but only efficient for those who, like Charlie, would receive him as their savior. | ||
| Jesus has come to seek and save that which is lost. | ||
| And I would say this to all of you. | ||
|
unidentified
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The Lord loves you. | |
| He wants to save you. | ||
| He wants to give you a new life. | ||
| He wants to cover the multitude of your sins by the blood he shed upon the cross. | ||
| The Bible says, if you believe in your heart and you confess with your tongue, Jesus is Lord, you will be saved of the glory of the Father. | ||
| You see, Charlie looked at politics as an on-ramp to Jesus. | ||
| He knew if he could get all of you rowing in the streams of liberty, you'd come to its source, and that's the Lord. | ||
|
unidentified
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*applause* | |
| In the time I have remaining, I'm going to ask all who profess Christ as their Savior to remain seated. | ||
| The Bible says, if you profess me before man, I'll profess you before my Father in heaven. | ||
| It requires an act of faith. | ||
| You stand. | ||
| That's what Charlie did every day on campus with death threats. | ||
| He stood because he knew in whom he had trusted. | ||
| And he wants to give you the gift of the why and what he did, and that is his Savior Jesus. | ||
| While believers are seated, if there's any in this room and across the globe that would desire to receive Jesus as their saviors Charlie did as a young man, and now is in the presence of his savior. | ||
| And I'd ask you to stand right now to receive the Lord. | ||
| Don't be ashamed. | ||
| Stand. | ||
| amen amen The Bible says, the Bible says that when one sinner gives their heart to the Lord, the angels in heaven rejoice. | ||
| and I gotta tell ya, there's one up there right now, Charlie Kirk, he's stoked and he's excited about your commitment to his Savior. | ||
|
unidentified
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Thank you. | |
| For this remaining moment, if you've given your heart to the Lord and someone is seated next to you, I want that person who's a believer to stand and pray with you. | ||
| And please, up on the screen, I want you to take a picture of this QR code. | ||
| We are going to give you everything you need to walk this walk with Christ. | ||
| Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the word of God, and it's time to get into a Bible-believing church. | ||
| And pastors, if you didn't want to give Charlie Kirk the time of day, these folks are going to be showing up at your church, and they're there because of his life. | ||
| God bless you, and may the Lord keep you. | ||
| Amen. | ||
|
unidentified
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I've got just one move With my arms stretched wide Ladies and | |
| gentlemen, please stand and join us for the national anthem. | ||
| Forward, march! | ||
| CURSE! | ||
| CURSE! | ||
| CULTS! | ||
| PRESENT! | ||
| ORBS! | ||
| Oh, say can you see By the dawn's early light What so proudly we hailed At the twilight's last gleaming Whose broad stripes and bright stars Through the perilous height O'er the ramparts we watched Were so | ||
| gallantly streaming And the rocket's red glare The bombs bursting in air Gave proof through the night That our flag was still there Through the night That our flag was still there | ||
| Oh, say does that That star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free And the hope of | ||
|
unidentified
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the pain And the hope of the | |
| pain And the hope of the pain | ||
| Please welcome to the stage Rebecca Dunn. | ||
| Charlie Kirk was scheduled to speak at my husband's upcoming memorial. | ||
| Instead, I am here speaking at Charlie's Memorial. | ||
| It means a lot to share my story. | ||
| Almost twelve years ago, I met this bright young man filled with optimism about his plan to reach young people. | ||
| I was so impressed that I invited him to come to our home and tell my husband and me more about his organization. | ||
| That young man, of course, was Charlie Kirk, and his organization was Turning Point USA. | ||
| Charlie told us how he wanted to start two chapters in North Florida. | ||
| When asked how much money it would take, he told us he thought it would take about $50,000. | ||
| Not knowing anything about this young man except that he sounded impressive, we told him that if he could raise the first half, we would give him the remaining twenty-five thousand. | ||
| Two days later, Charlie called to say that he had raised the money. | ||
| He was not in his hometown. | ||
| He was not even in his home state. | ||
| He was 20 years old and yet he met our challenge. | ||
| I laughed and I told him I said, "Well, Charlie, I guess we owe you a check." That was Charlie Kirk's first challenge grant. | ||
| After that initial grant, we followed suit with multiple challenge grants, each one larger than the previous, eventually growing into the millions. | ||
| In the early days, Charlie felt like a son to me. | ||
| More recently, I was the one looking up to him. | ||
| Charlie never disappointed. | ||
| He met every challenge with optimism and grit. | ||
| Today, I feel like Charlie is challenging us. | ||
| Will we meet his challenge to fight for freedom, for family, for faith? | ||
| More importantly, will we do this the way that Charlie did? | ||
| with a heart that loves God? | ||
| Before you answer that question, I would like to share something else with you. | ||
| Shortly before I met Charlie, I had become very discouraged about the atmosphere in our country. | ||
| I even suggested to my husband that maybe we should stop trying. | ||
| It seemed that the money and time we were giving to freedom causes did not seem to be making a difference. | ||
| Bill asked me to read an article by Larry Reed. | ||
| The essence of the article said this. | ||
| If we truly believed in freedom, we must never stop trying to preserve it. | ||
| We had a moral obligation to fight for freedom. | ||
| And as long as there is a breath in our bodies, we must fight. | ||
| By encountering Charlie, we met a true freedom fighter. | ||
| Today, there is no doubt that Charlie Kirk fought for freedom with the last breath in his body. | ||
| Thank you, Charlie Kirk. | ||
| And thank you to everyone who will not stop fighting, to all who will meet the challenge Charlie gave us. | ||
|
unidentified
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thank you Please welcome to the stage, Larry Arnn. | |
| Good morning. | ||
| We had the pastor, I'm the school teacher. | ||
| I have uh one short story to tell you about Charlie Kirk, my friend. | ||
| He became a friend of mine because I interrogated him one time. | ||
| Nineteen year olds are my specialty. | ||
| I asked him some questions he couldn't answer. | ||
| And he was already becoming famous. | ||
| And I noticed his reaction. | ||
| He said, What should I do? | ||
| And I said, Well, you have to suffer. | ||
| If you want to grow, you have to suffer. | ||
| Hard to learn. | ||
| Into the night. | ||
| Crackle dawn in the morning. | ||
| Start with the Bible. | ||
| Read the classics. | ||
| Study the founding of America. | ||
| In those places you will find that there's a ladder that reaches up toward God. | ||
| And at the bottom of it is the ordinary good things that are around us everywhere. | ||
| If we can call them by their names, they have being. | ||
| And the beings of the good things are figments of God. | ||
| You will find that article in Aristotle. | ||
| You will find it in the Bible. | ||
| You will find it in Madison and Jefferson. | ||
| How do I learn that? | ||
| said. | ||
| I said you have to suffer, you have to study, you have to think. | ||
| I thought I'd never hear from him again. | ||
| Within a month he got hold of my cell phone number and he texted me a copy of a certificate of completion of a Hillsdale College online course. | ||
| He would go on to do that 31 times. | ||
| I keep a list in my head of the six or eight young people, and I'm very privileged I get to know many inspiring young people, who are the best I ever saw. | ||
| Charlie is the only one who was never a full-time student at Hillslock College who was on that list. | ||
| We will miss him dearly. | ||
|
unidentified
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He can't be replaced. | |
| You know, a good thing is a thing that has being. | ||
| An assassin is not a thing that has being. | ||
| The assassin must give up his humanity to destroy something that has being. | ||
| Charlie lives on. | ||
| The assassin will die. | ||
| My wife who's here with me today and I have set up a scholarship in the hope that Charlie's children will go to a good college. | ||
| I have one in mind. | ||
|
unidentified
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And this May the 9th. | |
| Erica doesn't know this yet. | ||
| We are going to give Charlie and Erica the greatest respect a college can give. | ||
| an honorary degree Charlie, you see, has suffered enough. | ||
| He's gone to the Lord. | ||
| He deserves his reward. | ||
|
unidentified
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Thank you. | |
| Please welcome Mikey McCoy, Stacey Sheridan, Tyler Boyer, and Justin Strife. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Hello everyone. | ||
| My name is Mikey McCoy. | ||
| I had the unique honor, blessing, and privilege of a lifetime to not only call Charlie a precious friend, mentor, but to travel with him literally everywhere. | ||
| The first time I met Charlie was when I was driving him and his then girlfriend Erica to the airport after he had spoken at my father's church. | ||
| The entire car ride, he was grilling me on Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, American history. | ||
| At the end, he said, don't go to college, come work for me instead. | ||
| At 18, I canceled my college plans, moved to Arizona. | ||
| My life was forever changed by Charlie. | ||
| All of us in this room have that in common. | ||
| My first day working at Turning Point, I met an incredible girl who Charlie was interviewing on his podcast, sharing the story of her family who had survived a totalitarian regime, whose grandfather was imprisoned in the gulags for ten years for preaching the gospel. | ||
| Elizabeth and I were married a year later. | ||
| Thank you, Charlie. | ||
|
unidentified
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Thank you. | |
| When Charlie would speak on college campuses, he'd often wear t-shirts with inspiring taglines like, here I am. | ||
| Never surrender. | ||
| Freedom. | ||
| But as I've watched back so many clips these past 11 days, my favorite and so often worn by him was live free. | ||
| Eleven days ago, my friend was martyred for using his voice to engage in peaceful dialogue. | ||
| Charlie's assassin thought that he could steal and silence his voice by putting a bullet in his neck. | ||
| In the words of Soren Kiergaard, the tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule has just begun. | ||
|
unidentified
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Thank you. | |
| Charlie was not silenced. | ||
| His movement is only beginning. | ||
| The voices of millions globally have been awakened, furthering his cause in mission far beyond Anyone's comprehension. | ||
| We won't cower in fear. | ||
| We will never surrender. | ||
| We are resolved to live free from lies and seek out what is true. | ||
| We will respectfully, boldly challenge what is accepted by culture in order to seek out what is true and acceptable to God Almighty alone. | ||
| To everyone here today, live free. | ||
| True freedom is not found in doing whatever we want, but pursuing Christ in doing what is right. | ||
| In Charlie's words, get married. | ||
| Have more children than you can afford. | ||
| Build a legacy, pass down your values, pursue the eternal, seek true joy. | ||
| Charlie led by example. | ||
| It's not only seen in the incredible wife, Erica Kirk, his two beautiful children, the legacy he built, his values, his love of God, and true joy he found in his Savior Jesus Christ, but in countless people, especially young people like Elizabeth and I, whose very lives are the fruit of Charlie's example of faithfulness. | ||
| Charlie, it was the honor of my life to serve you as you serve Jesus. | ||
| And now we will all continue to serve you as we continue to serve Jesus. | ||
| Thank you so much. | ||
| I love you, Charlie. | ||
| I can't wait to see you again. | ||
| God bless Erica Kirk, CEO and chair of Turning Point USA, the Kirk family, and God bless America. | ||
|
unidentified
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Thank you. | |
| Oh my goodness. | ||
| Charlie's having some serious heavenly FOMO right now. | ||
| Look at this. | ||
| You have no idea how much Charlie Kirk wants a bullhorn down here right now. | ||
| He always said to me, if we could just figure out how to bring the Holy Spirit into a Trump rally. | ||
| I think you've done it. | ||
|
unidentified
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My name is Tyler Boyer. | |
| I was the CEO of Turning Point USA and now the CEO of Turning Point Action. | ||
| You may know me from the Charlie Kirk Show or our weekly podcast, Thought Crime, with Charlie, Jack, Blake, and Andrew. | ||
| But I'm also the longest tenured employee at Turning Point. | ||
| I met my friend Charlie in 2014. | ||
| We connected when Turning Point USA was just in its infancy. | ||
| Sharing the vision for what the conservative movement should be. | ||
| Charlie was just a kid then. | ||
| I was a little older. | ||
| We had a lot in common. | ||
| I didn't like rhinos, he didn't like rhinos. | ||
| He was the youngest guy at Tea Party meetings. | ||
| Charlie didn't go to college. | ||
| I went to ASU, so I basically didn't go to college. | ||
| You're welcome, Dr. Crow. | ||
| We went to work every day on a 24-hour clock. | ||
| When Charlie turned 21, he didn't have a home. | ||
| Turning Point USA was in his first year of raising real money. | ||
| He was just a kid to me. | ||
| But donors would ask him where he lived, and he took personal offense to the suggestion he still lived in his parents'basement. | ||
| Amen. | ||
| Although his parents probably wanted him to be there all the time. | ||
| He was a grown 21-year-old man after all. | ||
| He was rarely home in Chicago. | ||
| He lived on a plane and zipped back and forth as Turning Point USA became his life. | ||
| All his personal mail came to a little detached garage at 217 and a half Illinois Street, whereas Charlie would constantly remind you, like every good startup, Turning Point USA was founded. | ||
| So anyways, we worked 24-7. | ||
| He would tell every supporter of ours between me and him, we were a team that was never off the clock. | ||
| Full coverage. | ||
| I would usually stay up until 2 or 3 in the morning, working on the next big Turning Point USA project, and text Charlie reports of what our team that day had accomplished. | ||
| It was like this every day. | ||
| Work, report, and wait to see my text messages to Charlie flip from, from delivered to red as soon as he woke up on the East Coast, so we can be firing away feedback, thoughts, and a flurry of brilliant Charlie Kirk ideas as soon as he opened his eyes. | ||
| I'm not kidding you, this was every single day. | ||
| And it takes his all it takes is two dudes to dream up big stuff and talk each other into really insane ideas, which Charlie and I did often to one another. | ||
| We would go back and forth with those ideas, perfecting them, turning into bigger, more insane and impactful things, and of course, expensive concepts. | ||
| The ideas literally never stopped. | ||
| It was around the clock problem solution chat that worked to dream big for the conservative movement. | ||
| Come up with new ideas, plan new things, fix all problems. | ||
| My job was to turn them into proposals and presentations, and voila, we would work to execute. | ||
| Charlie would take red eyes from coast to coast, going all over the country like a crazy man on any and every possible donor, meeting with every possible donor who would take a meeting. | ||
| So our ideas and fixes for the conservative movement could help young people once and for all. | ||
| I oftentimes would go with him and marvel at the deranged 22-year-old lifestyle of bathing in airport bathrooms, eating full plates of vegetables and meat at 10 p.m. | ||
| at night after a long day's work. | ||
| He was the best at doing all of it. | ||
| Our success gave me the job of a lifetime, and I'm grateful for it for the rest of my life. | ||
| I got really good at recruiting the best young talent in the country to come work for us. | ||
| And it was nonstop. | ||
| We were a hell of a team. | ||
| And that's how it worked. | ||
| Turning Point USA was built, and the Charlie Kirk vision was delivered. | ||
| I had the special honor at Charlie and Erica's wedding to give a toast speech for Charlie the groom. | ||
| It was significantly less pressure than this room. | ||
| An incredibly beautiful wedding, but small and an important room of people. | ||
| I can admittedly say I didn't think that I would have to give another Charlie Kirk speech this soon. | ||
| At his wedding, I told the story of talking Charlie into moving to Arizona. | ||
| He was an adamant Chicago boy. | ||
| I needed to break that. | ||
| Selfishly, I wanted him to love Arizona because we I had recently convinced him to move turning point USA to Arizona. | ||
| It was a hard sell at first, and that was until I hosted the first Trump rally in Trump rally history right here in Arizona in 2015. | ||
| I got a call from Miss Erica Kirk, Miss Arizona 2012. | ||
| I just want to help, she said. | ||
| So naturally I put her right behind the president at that first rally. | ||
| After that, we talked. | ||
| It was obvious she was the perfect person for the job that Charlie and I had devised in one of our 24-hour planning sessions. | ||
| I wanted to hire her. | ||
| I only had one problem. | ||
| Charlie Kirk wanted to date her. | ||
| Long story short, I was very worried he was gonna scare her off and screw it up. | ||
| And I was gonna lose this incredible prospect. | ||
| Like all things he put his mind to, Charlie accomplished everything he put his mind to. | ||
| They immediately fell in love and I lost an employee. | ||
| But now she's my boss. | ||
| I'm sure you've heard. | ||
| We love Erica Kirk. | ||
| Over the years, we built a lot of things, the largest field operation of the conservative movement between high school, college, faith, and action. | ||
| The first ever ballot chase operation that won the election for President Trump. | ||
| The largest events in the conservative movement, most of which have been huge and but in convention centers. | ||
| In 2021, in the aftermath of COVID, we weren't sure if society was ever going to bounce back and ever get back to normal. | ||
| So we began planning what was one of the crazy ideas known as America Fest. | ||
| I hope you'll all be there this year. | ||
| We decided to move it to Swing State Arizona and hope and pray that this would work after the world shut down for so long. | ||
| Charlie, like all our 24-7 ideas sessions, texted me in our VP of events, Lawrence Onsich late at night, and he said he showed us and said, This is my vision. | ||
| It was an image of a full stadium. | ||
| A few seconds later, he sent these images of full stadiums of people, hoping for that to be a future turning point event. | ||
| Well, Charlie, my friend, I'm happy to report we're standing in your vision. | ||
| You did it, buddy. | ||
| We love you. | ||
| You are sitting in the vision for Charlie Kirk. | ||
|
unidentified
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God bless. | |
| My name is Justin Streit, and I'm the Chief Off Chief Operating Officer for Turning Point USA. | ||
| Since September 10th, my thoughts keep returning to one thing, and that's time. | ||
| Charlie lived only 31 years. | ||
| Yet when I reflect on those years, I see more impact and more courage and more achievement than most men accomplish in a lifetime. | ||
| I've known Charlie for a decade, and I'd like to share a little of what I learned from him. | ||
| Charlie often said that having courage is one of the easiest things in the world because all it requires is you to say yes. | ||
| Courage does not require talent, it does not require natural ability. | ||
| Courage requires a personal decision. | ||
| It's interesting that people often describe Charlie as completely fearless, but the truth is simpler and much more profound. | ||
| Charlie simply refused to let fear stop him from carrying out God's will for him and his life. | ||
| His courage, his courage was a daily choice, a yes, no matter the cost, and it cost him his life. | ||
| This truth forced me to reflect on what we can't control. | ||
| Time. | ||
| It's fleeting, it's fragile, and it's sacred. | ||
| Charlie knew this better than anyone else. | ||
| He didn't waste time. | ||
| He lived every moment with conviction. | ||
| He lived as a man of character and truth and courage, and he taught us not just through words but through actions. | ||
| Charlie was the same person in private as he was in public. | ||
| And that's why we trusted him. | ||
| That's why we loved him. | ||
| That's why we all feel this loss so deeply. | ||
| His honesty, his compassion, and his insistence on truth drew people in, even those who disagreed with him. | ||
| Charlie stirred patriotism in us, but more deeply he stirred our hunger to live united under God. | ||
| He told us to stop and think, to use common sense, to grow up and pitch in. | ||
| He asked us to hear the words that God wrote on our hearts. | ||
| I am the Lord your God and you shall have no other gods before me. | ||
| This is not a message of comfort or safety or peace. | ||
| It's a message of love, a love of God's will. | ||
| Charlie's life was anchored by that love. | ||
| Every day he left his home, the comfort of it, his wife, his children, to face criticism and threats and angry mobs, and ultimately death. | ||
| He loved God more than he loved safety or applause or even his own life. | ||
| That's because the last 31 years weren't his career. | ||
|
unidentified
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They were his calling. | |
| Charlie's legacy is this. | ||
| He showed us how to be better people. | ||
| He gave voice to truth and he followed God's will. | ||
| He started with nothing more than the idea than an idea and a folding table. | ||
| And over 13 years with time and courage and faith, he built a movement that changed the world. | ||
| Now that Charlie's gone, what happens next? | ||
| It's up to us. | ||
| Time is fleeting, but the decisions we make here, right now, are eternal. | ||
| So let us honor Charlie by doing what he did. | ||
| Stand for truth, confront evil, live courageously, and we do it the way that Charlie did. | ||
| With compassion, but never compromising on truth. | ||
| Demanding the best from ourselves, from each other, and from our country. | ||
| Charlie reminded us that courage requires only a yes. | ||
| And he said yes every single day. | ||
| And now it's our turn. | ||
| It's our turn to say yes, to speak boldly, speak honestly, to fight for our families, to love our country, to honor God, and to wisely use the time that we've been given. | ||
| And it's to do the do for the next generation what Charlie did for us. | ||
| Because this, all of this, right here and right now is our turning point. | ||
| We love you, Charlie, and we won't let you down. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| My name is Stacey Sheridan. | ||
| Eight years ago, I met Charlie in a crowded ballroom in West Palm Beach at a David Horowitz Freedom Center event. | ||
| We spoke briefly, we exchanged cards, and I thought nothing of it. | ||
| What ultimately made me want to join Charlie's cause and Charlie's team because he began a quest to hire me after meeting me. | ||
| I was reluctant at first, but it was his naive audaciousness to change the world that ultimately sold me. | ||
| It was the best decision I've ever made, and I've never looked back. | ||
| Yes, technically, Charlie was my boss, but it really never felt that way. | ||
| Far more than my boss, I felt like he was my little brother. | ||
| So the guys that went before me spoke about him as a boss and a leader. | ||
| I'm gonna speak about him from my heart as a family member. | ||
| In 2022, my husband Mike became sick with cancer. | ||
| Two years later, that cancer took his life. | ||
| Throughout those two years, Charlie called me consistently to ask how he could help us. | ||
| At one point, he had critical medication and an oxygen machine sent to my doorstep without my knowledge. | ||
| I still to this day have no idea how he made that happen. | ||
| But that was Charlie. | ||
| He did the right thing. | ||
| there was no limit to how far he'd go to help a friend. | ||
| He wasn't looking for publicity or credit. | ||
| He did it because that's what a leader does. | ||
| That's what a friend does, and that's what a Christian is supposed to do. | ||
| Sometimes I would express guilt to Charlie that I couldn't do my job at a hundred percent. | ||
| Charlie's response every single time was family first. | ||
| When Mike ultimately passed away, Charlie and the entire team were there for us yet again. | ||
| They helped my daughter Grace through the unbearable tragedy of losing her father on her ninth birthday. | ||
| But Charlie's help didn't stop there. | ||
| This January, I lost my home in the Pacific Palisades fire. | ||
| Charlie's response was very clear and very direct. | ||
| This is a sign you and Grace belong in Arizona now. | ||
| Within a few months, we moved here, and Charlie and Erica welcomed us into their family. | ||
| While enduring our various tragedies, my daughter Grace would ask me at least once a day, "Why would God do this to us, Mom?" My honest and only answer was, Someday we will look at each other and instantly know why all of this had to happen. | ||
| And it will be for something far greater than we can ever imagine. | ||
| In my first conversation with Grace after Charlie's death, Grace said to me through tears over the phone, Mom, this is the answer to my question. | ||
|
unidentified
|
This is our why. | |
| Now we can be there for Erica and Gigi at Mac the way they were there for us. | ||
| Looking back today, it's so clear to me that Grace was right. | ||
| I know for certain that my late husband Mike, Charlie, and God were guiding us here for this very moment in time. | ||
| It was always written. | ||
| Erica. | ||
| Grace and I will support you and your babies. | ||
| The way you and Charlie were there for us in our darkest days. | ||
| Charlie. | ||
|
unidentified
|
We will miss your words of wisdom. | |
| Your high-pitched laugh is kind of awkward. | ||
| And the way your voice would always soften when you spoke to Erica and your children. | ||
| and I promise we're going to make TPUSA so big that it reaches you in heaven. | ||
| Everything Charlie prayed for in his life, a restoration of faith, a rebirth of patriotism, is coming to fruition in his death. | ||
| And right now, he is beaming at us from heaven. | ||
| The fact that we pulled this off in seven days is a miracle that only Charlie Kirk can deliver, by the way. | ||
| So in Charlie's words, let's get to work, everybody. | ||
| We have a country to save. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Well, you're about to embark on something that is much bigger than yourself. | ||
| So check your ego at the door. | ||
| This is not about you, okay? | ||
| I don't care about your feelings if you're having a bad day. | ||
| You know, go figure that out yourself. | ||
| This is about us. | ||
| This is about the country. | ||
| And the eyes of the whole nation are again on turning point. | ||
| We do the best events in the movement. | ||
| In fact, we do the only event. | ||
| Are there any other events in the movement? | ||
| No. | ||
| We've got to put everyone else out of business, right? | ||
| So we are the only standard of excellence. | ||
| And so we hold ourselves to a higher standard. | ||
| We don't do mediocre around here. | ||
| We try to raise the level of excellence because we are constantly trying to push the conservative movement and the country to a place that's ever been before. | ||
| You guys know this. | ||
| Turning point USA is the most important organization in the country, period. | ||
| Find me another organization that's been able to move millions of people the way that we have, that does the events, that does training. | ||
| Nobody does what we do at Turning Point USA, but it starts with all of you. | ||
| We're building something bigger than you, bigger than me. | ||
| We're building experience to help save the country. | ||
| And if this type of intensity bothers you, well, then don't go work for Turning Point USA. | ||
| You can go work for the Department of Labor or something, okay? | ||
| Because here we do excellent things, we do big things. | ||
| We take history here at Charlie Point USA. | ||
| It's gonna be early mornings, it's gonna be late nights, but you all get to know that you're doing something rewarding that is not just, oh, a career, and you type the box, but lives will be changed. | ||
| And how blessed are we that we get to be here celebrating the country, and this is our job. | ||
| It's pretty awesome. | ||
| There's the one thing that I hear from speakers throughout all the years. | ||
| Why is it everybody? | ||
| Because for us, we hold ourselves to a higher standard. | ||
| This is not just another DC gig. | ||
| This is about saving us from civilization. | ||
| We are the most important organization in the country. | ||
| You are part of it. | ||
| It's something bigger than all of us. | ||
| And it will have ramifications across the country. | ||
| I'm so thankful for you guys. | ||
| You guys have really defied gravity, and let's continue to make history here. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Andrew Colvette. | |
| Thank you. | ||
| Just give us a moment. | ||
| Hello. | ||
| My name is Andrew Colvet. | ||
| I am a spokesman for Turning Point USA. | ||
| I'm a business partner of Charlie's. | ||
| I was the executive producer. | ||
| I am the executive producer of the Charlie Kirk Show. | ||
| But most of all, I'm a longtime friend of Charlie's. | ||
| Charlie and I built the show over the eight years. | ||
| Brick by brick. | ||
| And I'm so proud of what we accomplished together. | ||
| And these wonderful people standing behind me are the geniuses, the camera ops, the board ops, the producers, the editors, and the social media team who made the show happen every single day. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| You uh preempted my applause line, so let's we're gonna do it again. | ||
| They deserve it. | ||
| They have performed their duties heroically this last week. | ||
| So please join with me in a big round of applause for them. | ||
|
unidentified
|
It's been... | |
| Excruciating to do this show the last week. | ||
| But we knew it's exactly what Charlie would have wanted. | ||
| And I want to thank you, the audience. | ||
| You helped us work through our grief and our broken hearts, live on camera, streaming everywhere. | ||
| And I hope that we've been able to help you do the same in some small way. | ||
| But I will tell you something. | ||
| It's remarkable that in the midst of everything else Charlie had going on in his life, fundraising, traveling, speaking, running two organizations, that he even had time to fit in a daily radio show and podcast. | ||
| But I'll tell you something. | ||
| That show became the favorite part of Charlie's daily routine. | ||
| It was his one constant amid never-ending change. | ||
| Even when he was on the road, even when he was overseas, even during Amphest or our conferences, we did the show. | ||
| But mostly it worked because Charlie loved you. | ||
| The audience.com. | ||
| Send us your thoughts if you agree, you disagree, and we want you to keep sending us those emails. | ||
| I have no idea how he did it, but he really read every single one of them. | ||
| And this is a true story. | ||
| At the end of every show, I had a little ritual of my own. | ||
| I would go into the scent folder of Freedom at Charlie Kirk.com, and sure enough, every single show I would find debates that he was having with his audience that disagreed on some minor point. | ||
| There'd be email chains, six or seven emails long, all why Charlie Kirk was hosting his own show. | ||
|
unidentified
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It's truly remarkable. | |
| And you, his audience, the grassroots, the muscular class. | ||
| You all were his firewall for freedom. | ||
| You were his North Star. | ||
| When he met fancy elites who tried to take him off course and try and tell him what regular people really cared about, he knew better because he knew all of you. | ||
| Yes. | ||
| He knew he had a secret weapon. | ||
| And it was you. | ||
| And he never forgot about you because he loved you and he respected your wisdom. | ||
| You see, it's only now that I'm beginning to realize what was going on all these years that I spent with Charlie. | ||
| We called them campus tours. | ||
| Now I know they were really tent revivals, complete with a tent. | ||
| Amen. | ||
| We call it the Charlie Kirk Show, but it was really just Charlie confronting the lies in the culture and pointing to the truth day in and day out, and millions of you tuned in. | ||
| You see, I see it now clearly that Charlie Kirk was a prophet. | ||
| Not the fortune telling kind that could predict the future, but the biblical kind. | ||
| He confronted evil and proclaimed the truth and called us to repent and be saved. | ||
| Amen. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Amen. | |
| And he wasn't mean about it. | ||
| He was kind and he was loving. | ||
| And you could hear in his voice that he desperately wanted the best for you and for all of us. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| So friends, look around you. | ||
| We've been worshiping, we've been singing, we've been joyful. | ||
| Our hearts are grieving, but we do not grieve as the world grieves. | ||
| Because it says in Scripture, O death, where is your victory? | ||
| O death, where is your sting? | ||
|
unidentified
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Christ has overcome death. | |
| And Charlie, we are so grateful for the harvest that your life and legacy is producing all around us. | ||
| And you can see it. | ||
| The workers. | ||
| There's a whole lot more workers than there were before. | ||
| And so let me leave you with this. | ||
| For all the fans of the Charlie Kirk show out there, you'll know the line. | ||
| We will see you Monday. | ||
| Until then, buckle up. | ||
| Here we go. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| God bless you. | ||
|
unidentified
|
God bless you. | |
| Blessed stay, never stay, peace of love for my soul. | ||
| ladies and gentlemen. | ||
| Please welcome Benny Johnson. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Fight for Charlie Kirk. | ||
| Who feels the Holy Spirit in the house tonight? | ||
| Who can feel that revival happening right now? | ||
| How does it always work? | ||
| What man intends for evil, God intends for good. | ||
| Evil thought that there would be a funeral today. | ||
| God has created a revival right here in this house right now. | ||
| Charlie always had that revival energy, didn't he? | ||
| When Charlie first met me, I was a degenerate loser. | ||
| I'm still a loser, but I was addicted to alcohol. | ||
| I had no wife, I had no kids, I had nothing going for me. | ||
| After ten years of work with Charlie Kirk, after his witnessing to my life, I have become a Christ-centered man. | ||
| I am happily married to the woman of my dream sitting right there with our youngest son who just turned eight today, eight months, and he's wearing ducks for Charlie's beloved Oregon ducks today. | ||
| That's Baby Whitaker in honor of Charlie. | ||
| All of you had a Charlie moment in your life, didn't you? | ||
| Raise your hand if Charlie Kirk centered you a little closer to Christ. | ||
| A little bit more. | ||
| Did Charlie have that effect? | ||
| Look at every single hand. | ||
| Stand up. | ||
| Say amen. | ||
| If Charlie Kirk had that effect on your life. | ||
| Look at this. | ||
| One hundred thousand Americans, millions watching online, standing up and saying that is the revival spirit of Charlie Kirk's life. | ||
| And that is the power of martyrdom. | ||
| Because Charlie Kirk is a martyr in the true Christian tradition. | ||
| If you take out a tyrant, his power goes away. | ||
| You cut down a martyr, his power grows. | ||
| And that's what we see time and time again. | ||
| We're seeing it across this country. | ||
| Who's seen the full churches, the full parking lots? | ||
| Who knows somebody now who's a Satanist or an agnostic, who's now looking at Charlie's life in this revival moment in our country and going, maybe I got it all wrong. | ||
| Maybe I do need a Christ center my life. | ||
| This is what Charlie always wanted. | ||
| This is how he wanted to be remembered. | ||
| In the mold of Stephen, the first martyr. | ||
| Stephen was killed for speaking the truth about Christ, much like Charlie Kirk. | ||
| The martyr Stephen was the same age as Charlie Kirk when he was martyred. | ||
| At that time, Christianity was just a few very scared Christians in Jerusalem. | ||
| And after Stephen's martyrdom, Christianity sped spread throughout the known world. | ||
| The power of martyrdom. | ||
| This is how God and Christ always advances his kingdom, and he's doing it right now with Charlie Kirk. | ||
| It is a wonderful thing to see. | ||
| We were all witness to a miracle. | ||
| Charlie's life was a miracle. | ||
| We could all see it. | ||
| Those who worked up close and those who watched from far away. | ||
| We got to witness a miracle in Charlie's life. | ||
| Someone who was there that day when Stephen was martyred was Saul. | ||
| Saul was the one who was taking the garments so that Stephen could be killed. | ||
| And through Stephen's martyrdom, the Apostle Paul was reached by Christ to go out and write the majority of the New Testament. | ||
| There was no one who is irredeemable. | ||
| And that is what Charlie would have wanted us to know about his faith in Jesus Christ. | ||
| The power of Christ's blood and the power of martyrdom speaks through Charlie. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| The Apostle Paul would go on to write the book of Romans. | ||
| And I'd just like to close with this. | ||
| In Romans 13, the Apostle Paul talks about a godly government instituted by our Lord and Savior. | ||
| And what does he describe? | ||
| The Apostle Paul describes how God establishes the rulers of the nations. | ||
| In the audience right now, there are rulers of our land. | ||
| Represented right here is the State Department, the Department of War, the Department of Justice, the Chief Executive. | ||
| God has instituted them. | ||
| God has given them power over our nation and our land. | ||
| God saved our President, President Trump, from an assassin's bullet for this moment. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| And what does the Apostle Paul in Romans say about a godly leadership? | ||
| He says that rulers wield the sword for the protection of good men and for the terror of evil men. | ||
| May we pray that our rulers here, rightfully instituted and given power by our God, wield the sword for the terror of evil men in our nation in Charlie's memory. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| I want to live in a country where the evil are terrified, and where the good and the faithful and the moral people of our nation can live in peace, debate in peace, disagree in peace, and start families in peace. | ||
| And so we want to thank the administration for being here and carrying out that godly mission of wielding the sword against evil. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| In conclusion, I'd be remiss if I didn't say this to all the young men in the audience, and I can see so many young men out there. | ||
| Charlie really reached young men and women, but this is the advice that Charlie gave me. | ||
| Center your life on Christ, fall in love, get married, have a million kids, and live out your American dream. | ||
| And by doing that, we can create millions and millions and millions of Charlie Kirks, and we can save our land. | ||
| That will be our turning point. | ||
| God bless you. | ||
| And God bless Charlie Kirk. | ||
| He's looking down on us, smiling from heaven. | ||
| God bless you. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Please welcome to the stage, Dr. Ben Carson. | |
| Thank you. | ||
| It's wonderful to see so many people out here for such a sad but also a wonderful purpose. | ||
| You know, we at the American Cornerstone Institute grieve with everyone as we think about the loss of our friend and partner, Charlie Kirk. | ||
| But did you hear a political figure last week saying that Charlie Kirk was ignorant because he didn't have a college degree? | ||
| I've seen him run circles around people with college degrees. | ||
| I wonder if that political figure realizes that most of learning in life comes outside of the classroom. | ||
| And I am delighted to see the young people of our land merging with the older people like me and moving in the same direction and understanding that our nation was founded upon the kind of principles that allowed us to rise from nothing to the pinnacle of the world in record time. | ||
| That was no accident whatsoever. | ||
| That was because of what we believed, including our Judeo-Christian beliefs, that our rights come from our Creator and not from government. | ||
| Now, for many decades there have been people who are trying to fundamentally change who we are. | ||
| And there was a man by the name of Cleon Scalson who wrote a book called The Naked Communists in the 50s. | ||
| And he exposed the things that were being done by the Marxists to gain control of our country. | ||
| Such things as gaining control of the public education system and the teacher unions so that you could infiltrate and indoctrin our young people. | ||
| It was a radical leftist who said, give me your children to teach for four years, and the seed that I sow will never be uprooted. | ||
| That's why that's what's going on. | ||
| They also had a goal of gaining control of the media and Hollywood so they could change the culture in America, making sexual perversion normal, natural, and healthy. | ||
| And speaking of that, pushing God out of our society and changing the gospel to the social gospel. | ||
| Have you noticed that a lot of preachers don't want to talk about what's in the Bible? | ||
| If it's counter to the social gospel, well, I challenge the ministers out there to talk about what the Bible says and not what the leftists say. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| And get on board. | ||
| Get on board of the revival that is coming. | ||
| We are not going to be able to stop it. | ||
| You see evidence of it right here in the stadium. | ||
| We're all going to be a part of it. | ||
| I love the fact that Erica is going to take over, and uh we're going to grow the turning point to a very significant level. | ||
| And I want us all to remember you cannot be the land of the free if you're not the home of the brave. | ||
| You got to stand up for what you believe in. | ||
| And in closing, I want to read a passage from John 12, 24. | ||
| Remembering that Charlie was shot at 1224 p.m. | ||
| Verily, verily I say unto you, this is Christ speaking. | ||
| Except a corn of wheat fall onto the ground and die, it abideth alone. | ||
| But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. | ||
| And I want to thank Charlie for his sacrifice because much fruit is going to be realized. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| Please give a warm welcome to Congresswoman Anna Polina Luna. | ||
| I just want to start out by saying there would be no Congresswoman Luna without Charlie Kirk. | ||
| I still remember the phone call that changed my life. | ||
| Hey, Anna, it's Charlie. | ||
| I'd like to offer you a job as TPUSA's National Hispanic Outreach Director. | ||
| Charlie believed with every fiber of his being that the youth of his nation would save it. | ||
| His fierce patriotism, his unyielding boldness, his prophetic foresight, these were the sparks that lit the path for me on the eve of my departure to medical school to decide to change course and join TPUSA, where I could help Charlie battle the socialist indoctrination on college campuses. | ||
| The year I spent at TPUSA traveling with Charlie is where I honed my voice in the crucible of politics and ultimately forge the past that led me to Congress. | ||
| I saw Charlie grow from a young man with conferences of a few hundred people to one of the most powerful men in the world, walking alongside presidents and titans. | ||
| I saw him grow a beautiful family, all the while remaining a humble leader who quietly raised up others to forward the movement. | ||
| Today, we honor a patriot whose love of this nation burns as brightly as the founding fathers during the birth of our republic. | ||
| Like George Washington, who sacrificed his peaceful life at Mount Vernon to lead a militia and a small army against the mightiest empire on earth, risking everything, his fortune, his family, his very life, to secure liberty for generations unborn. | ||
| Charlie poured out his youth, his energy, and his unshakable resolve to awaken America's youth from the slumber of complacency and to mobilize millions this past election cycle to reclaim the principles of truth and self-governance that define our exceptional nation. | ||
| His name will stand etched in the history, besides the likes of JFK, who boldly challenged a generation to ask what they could do for their country amid the shadows of the Cold War, and Dr. King, who marched into the jaws of hatred, sacrificing his safety and ultimately his life to bend the arc of history towards justice. | ||
| These giants, Washington forging a new nation from revolution, JFK inspiring the innovation and resolve, and MLK redeeming it through moral courage, change the outcome of eras, just as Charlie altered the trajectory of our modern fight against cultural decay and ideological tyranny. | ||
| He didn't just speak of patriotism, he lived it. | ||
| Giving everything to ignite a movement that turned the tide for conservatism, Empowering young voices to challenge a status quo and to secure a brighter future for America. | ||
| And as I stand here today, looking at thousands of young people in this crowd, I realize that Charlie's vision is ablaze in every single one of you. | ||
| The generation that he entrusted to restore the soul of this nation. | ||
| So I ask you, will you live boldly as Charlie did? | ||
| Will you rise to the challenge as Charlie did? | ||
| Will you speak truth without fear as Charlie did? | ||
| And will you pray with unwavering faith as Charlie did? | ||
| If one man can awaken a generation and save a nation, imagine what 10,000 can do. | ||
| And we are all Charlie Kirk now, and his legacy has just begun. | ||
| God bless all of you and these great United States of America. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, MOUS, | |
| In my soul, in my soul, in Israel, in Israel, in my soul. | ||
| Please welcome to the stage, Jack Posobiec. | ||
| Charlie Kirk. | ||
| Jack Posobiec. | ||
| Charlie Kirk was my friend. | ||
| Charlie was my brother. | ||
| Charlie was my commanding officer. | ||
| And we will never, ever let the left, the media, or the Democrats forget the name of Charlie Kirk. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| The Bible, we'll get there. | ||
| Hold on, we'll get there. | ||
| The Bible tells us that on his last day, Moses climbed to the top of the mountain. | ||
| And he looked across the River Jordan. | ||
| And he saw the promised land. | ||
| He led the people there. | ||
| But he did not cross himself. | ||
| For he was taken. | ||
| And he died on that mountain. | ||
| And he was brought to God's kingdom. | ||
| On his last day, Charlie Kirk was on the top of a mountain. | ||
| And Charlie Kirk led us there. | ||
| and Charlie Kirk has brought us to the promised land. | ||
| Charlie's death was not just a murder. | ||
| The true word for what Charlie did sacrifice. | ||
| The difference between murder and sacrifice is that sacrifice is a gift. | ||
| Sacrifice is that last full measure of devotion for God, for country, and for his people and for his family. | ||
| Charlie Kirk died for all of you. | ||
| And Charlie's gare, Charlie Kirk's gift of his sacrifice means that Charlie Kirk will live forever. | ||
| Not just for all of us, not just for his family and Erica and for his children, but for all future generations of Americans. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| And the question of our time, will Western civilization endure? | ||
| Or will it fracture in two like so many predict? | ||
| Well, I say to you that a century from now, when they write of the two or three pivotal moments that led to the saving of Western civilization, they will write that the sacrifice of Charles James Kirk was the turning point. | ||
| And the ugliness that has been revealed by Charlie's murder will be and is already being overcome by the beauty of the outpouring of love and prayer around the world. | ||
| Seas of a thousand candles that have been litten from coast to coast. | ||
| for Charlie's sacrifice for all of us. | ||
| We will overcome their evil. | ||
| And Charlie's sacrifice has given us all, and I see it in your eyes, I see it in the eyes of every man, woman, and child who has come to me since this unspeakable evil happened. | ||
| We have it now. | ||
| Charlie gave it to us. | ||
| He gave us that last bit of courage, that last bit of fight, that last bit of grit and resolve to say no more. | ||
| We are done. | ||
| done with all of it, and we will now stand and fight. | ||
| Because if you took Charlie Kirk off that line, then every single one of us will rise up and we will replace that line and we will be there and we will remind them what they did for Charlie, what they did to Charlie, and we will never ever let them forget the name Charlie Kirk. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| Our civilization will endure. | ||
| For Charlie, we will continue the mission. | ||
| For Charlie, we will end the evil disease that split us and took Charlie from us. | ||
| and for Charlie, Turning Point USA will last forever. | ||
| And we will come to find, we will come to find that in the final moment that Western civilization was saved through Charlie's sacrifice in the only way possible. | ||
| By returning the people to Almighty God. | ||
| For greater love hath no man than this, than he who lay down his life for his friends. | ||
| Are you ready to continue the mission? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Are you ready to fight back? | |
| And are you ready to put on the full armor of God and face the evil in high places and the spiritual warfare before us? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Then put on the full armor of God! | |
| Do it now! | ||
| Now is the time. | ||
|
unidentified
|
This is the turning point for Charlie. | |
| God bless to all of you. | ||
| God bless to everyone to Charlie's family, to all the families. | ||
| And Charlie, till we meet again, brother. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| Erica wanted me to share with you what happened after that shot rang out on September 10th. | ||
| I was standing 25 feet from my beloved friend just off his right. | ||
| Why was I there? | ||
| About years ago, Charlie asked me if I would mentor him in the evidence for Christianity. | ||
| Because that's one of the things I do. | ||
| Now it's gonna be difficult to mentor someone smarter than you. | ||
| However, the only thing that surpassed Charlie's intellect was his humility. | ||
| And so the few things I knew that he didn't he wanted me to share with him. | ||
| When that shot rang out, I took a step toward him, but his security team was on him immediately. | ||
| And so Charlie being like a son to me, I ran toward the security team and we ran to the SUV together. | ||
| No father would stand back and go, No, you just take my son, take him, I'll meet you at the hospital. | ||
| I got into the back of the SUV, and let me tell you something. | ||
| His team was amazing. | ||
| When this when this full investigation is done, I think you're gonna see that his team did everything they were supposed to do. | ||
| In the car, Justin was driving. | ||
| Dan was in the front with the GPS. | ||
| Rick was to my left, he had Charlie's head, and Brian was at Charlie's feet, and Charlie's so big we couldn't even shut the door. | ||
| He's so tall. | ||
| And I'm pre I'm perched over the back seat. | ||
| And while they're administering all sorts of first aid, apparently my skill, my job was to yell. | ||
| I was doing a lot of yelling, and I want you to know that we did everything we could to save Charlie, but Charlie was already gone. | ||
| His face was looking at mine, but he wasn't looking at me. | ||
| He was looking past me right into eternity, and if it's any comfort at all, I learned later that Charlie felt no pain. | ||
| He died instantly, but we had to try and bring him back. | ||
| We couldn't, we couldn't save him. | ||
| Now I want you to know that Charlie right now is in heaven, not because he was a great husband and father, not because he saved millions of kids out of darkness on college campuses, not because he changed minds and chased votes to save the country, not because he sacrificed himself for his savior. | ||
| Charlie Kirk is in heaven because his savior sacrificed himself for Charlie Kirk. | ||
| Now look, there's only two things you can get in the afterlife. | ||
| You can get justice or you can get grace. | ||
| Ladies and gentlemen, does anyone in here, does anybody out there watching around the world want justice from an infinitely just being? | ||
| I don't want justice, I want grace. | ||
| Well, the only way to get grace for an infinitely just being is for him to punish an innocent substitute in our place. | ||
| Where can he find an innocent substitute among us? | ||
| He can't. | ||
| We're all fallen. | ||
| So what does this infinitely just and infinitely loving God do? | ||
| He adds humanity to his deity. | ||
| He comes to earth. | ||
| He allows the creatures that rebelled against him to torture and kill him. | ||
| So he could place their punishment upon himself, and then by trusting in him, every one of us can be forgiven and then given his righteousness. | ||
| Ladies and gentlemen, this is the greatest story ever told. | ||
| And it happens to be true. | ||
| There's evidence for this, and Charlie knew it. | ||
| Watch his videos. | ||
| Charlie knew that life wasn't just about money, it wasn't just about sex, it wasn't just about power, it wasn't just about prestige. | ||
| He knew that the purpose of life is to know Jesus and to make him known, to make heaven crowded. | ||
| Charlie's eyes were fixed on eternity. | ||
| Where have your eyes been fixed? | ||
| What have you been doing with your lives? | ||
| What do you been doing? | ||
| What are you gonna do now? | ||
| You know, in every evil, God brings forth some ripples of good. | ||
| In this case, he's bringing a tsunami of good. | ||
| Look around. | ||
| You're seeing it. | ||
| And if you think a martyrdom is going to stop this movement. | ||
| Well, we all know Charlie was inspirational. | ||
| But Erica Kirk is a force of nature. | ||
| You're gonna see her later today. | ||
| In fact, I know what's going on in the spiritual realm right now. | ||
| Every morning Erica gets up, the devil shrieks. | ||
| Oh no! | ||
| She's awake again. | ||
| And ladies and gentlemen, let's honor Jesus. | ||
| Let's honor Charlie. | ||
| Let's honor Erica so that when we wake up every morning, the devil shrieks. | ||
| Oh no, they're awake again. | ||
| They're born again! | ||
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Thank you. | |
| Amen. | ||
| We're going to take another | ||
| moment to honor Jesus And sing what we heard this week is one of Charlie's favorite songs. | ||
| This is what John One says about Jesus. | ||
| In the beginning, the word already existed. | ||
| The word was with God and the Word was God. | ||
| He existed in the beginning with God. | ||
| God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. | ||
| The word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. | ||
| The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. | ||
| He came into the very world he created, But the world didn't recognize him. | ||
| He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. | ||
| But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. | ||
| Not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. | ||
| so the word became human and made his home among us he was full of unfailing love and faithfulness and we have seen his glory and the glory of the father's one and only son From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. | ||
| For the law was given through Moses, but God's unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. | ||
| No one has ever seen God, but the unique one who is himself God is near to the Father's heart. | ||
| He has revealed God to us. | ||
| Will you pray with me? | ||
| Jesus, you are the way, you are the truth, you are the life, the only way, the only truth, the only life. | ||
| You are the bright morning star that shines in the darkness. | ||
| You are the living water to a dry, thirsty soul. | ||
| Let anyone who is thirsty come, let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life. | ||
| You say in Romans 10, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. | ||
| If we declare with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead, we will be saved. | ||
| Jesus Christ died on a cross, was risen on the third day, and is coming again soon. | ||
| Lord, help every searching heart see you and know you today. | ||
| Let the door of every heart be opened to receive you. | ||
| Jesus, you are the blessing we're singing about. | ||
| Let the name of the Lord Almighty be praised today. | ||
| Amen. | ||
| Let's sing together. | ||
| Amen. | ||
| Amen, amen, amen | ||
| Amen, amen, amen Lord bless you and keep you Make his face shine upon you Be | ||
| gracious, say, the Lord turn heads Face toward you And give you peace And we say, amen, amen, amen We | ||
| cry, amen, amen Amen, amen Amen, amen | ||
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Amen, amen Amen We're free, amen, amen We're free, amen We're free, amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen | |
| Amen Every promise of every promise is taken. | ||
| May His favor be upon you and a thousand generations and your family and your children and their children and their children. | ||
| May His favor be upon you and a thousand generations and your family and your children and their children. | ||
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May His favor be upon you and a thousand generations and your family and your children and their children. | |
| And this children may be a body and generation with your family and your children and children and this children may spread for the fight and be high and we shall hear he is with you, | ||
| We're calling and we're leaving And you're calling and you're calling And you're leaving and we're flashing Peace for now He is for you! | ||
| Amen, Amen, Amen. | ||
| May His favor, may His favor be upon you. | ||
| Let His love, generations, your family, your children, their children, their children. | ||
| May His presence go before you, behind you, and beside you, all around you, within you. | ||
| He is with you! | ||
| You're calling! | ||
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You're calling! | |
| Amen. | ||
| he is, Pete, God he is.. | ||
| Jesus, we can never give you a gift one more time as we shared. | ||
| Oh, Amen. | ||
| Amen. | ||
| He shall praise your faith in His God. | ||
| Amen. | ||
| Jesus, Lord, He is.. | ||
| Hallelujah. | ||
| He is for you. | ||
| Amen. | ||
| Jesus means I know. | ||
| For the babu's time is that. | ||
| So it's gaz. | ||
| Yes, he does, doesn't he? | ||
| Hi, DJ. | ||
| When is your bedtime? | ||
| Time. | ||
| I'll see you in the morning, honey. | ||
|
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Okay. | |
| I'll see you when you wake up, all right? | ||
| I love you. | ||
| Before he was a leader to millions, he was mine and theirs. | ||
| Hi! | ||
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Hi! | |
| Yes! | ||
| That was a big ball. | ||
| Isn't that the best? | ||
| I have to say this without getting emotional, but I'm very proud of my husband. | ||
| And I know many of you are too. | ||
| Well, I'd never met anyone quite like her. | ||
| I remember I called Tyler and I said he's gonna have to find talent somewhere else. | ||
| And Tyler was trying to coach me down because he said that she was way out of my league, and he's still right, by the way. | ||
| I mean, my wife is the best person ever, and she's a patriot, and she's a believer. | ||
| 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? | ||
| For young people out there, if you want to find meaning, find something worth taking responsibility for. | ||
|
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Yeah. | |
| It's been a fun journey, Fun Red I'm just getting started. | ||
|
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Yeah. | |
| Grateful for you. | ||
| Thanks for joining the Charlie Kirk show. | ||
| You're welcome. | ||
|
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We should do this more often. | |
| He was 18. | ||
| No money, no map, only a call from God. | ||
| My political journey was in the midst of the Obama craze in Chicago. | ||
| As someone who is generally conservative, I realized this generation millennials is gonna be the most progressive generation in history if we don't do something about this. | ||
|
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We're we're uh active in about 15 campuses, and we're growing very, very quickly. | |
| And keep in mind, this is not just the flash in the pan movement. | ||
|
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Uh, we're gonna become an institution to give them the power and the confidence to stand up and let their voice be heard. | |
| I was 18, no idea what I was doing, no connections, no money, unlimited energy, enthusiasm, and I actually thought this was possible, which was kind of crazy if you think about it. | ||
| Bill was one of the first people to believe in us at Turning Point USA and believe in me. | ||
| After he heard me speak, he said, You can't go to college. | ||
| I said, Who are you exactly? | ||
| He said, Whatever you're doing, it's gonna be bigger. | ||
| He said, You're gonna start a youth organization that's gonna catch the whole world on fire. | ||
| Only in America can a young man with a dream change the world. | ||
| So starting in that garage in Lamont, Illinois that Bill had for us at 217 and a half Illinois Street and growing from that forward was a battle. | ||
| So the first year you raised $20,000, which at the time was the unbelievable amount of money, right? | ||
| We didn't have an office, we didn't have a staff, it was just me just traveling the country doing this pure grit, pure energy, and I was driven by core ideas and core principles that we should be thankful, not angry to live in this country. | ||
| Would you agree? | ||
| We should be thankful, we should be kissing the ground and say we are the luckiest human beings ever to exist, that we are able to live in this country at this time, America is the greatest country ever to exist. | ||
| period bar none is the greatest country ever to exist right he loved debate because he loved the truth and the people on the other side of the table because they all were made in god's image So I go to college campuses, and there's a lot of error. | ||
| We're all sinners. | ||
| We are all live in error. | ||
| We as Christians are called to go into the public arena to correct Error with truth. | ||
| I'm far more interested in what God wants of me than what I want of from God. | ||
| 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. | ||
| To be perfectly honest, I love the debate. | ||
| I love the exploration of ideas. | ||
| I think dialogue is a gift given to us by God. | ||
| Prove me wrong. | ||
| I have no notes. | ||
| I have no AI. | ||
| I have nothing. | ||
| Tell me why you're correct. | ||
| For three hours, I will sit there and everyone will watch. | ||
| It's a gladiatorial match for the best ideas of the West. | ||
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And their needs changed him. | |
| And he changed them. | ||
| You see, you're being called upon to be a leader, let's say, that's not merely political. | ||
| That's why my understanding of it. | ||
| Correct. | ||
| It's an enormous responsibility. | ||
| Enormous. | ||
| I also need to balance as Christ would say, being as much truth, which of course I'm inclined towards as love. | ||
| What is God's plan when I go on a college campus? | ||
| I just believe I will only tell truth. | ||
| I will not compromise, and I'll love on the lost. | ||
| He was no stranger to threats, to being hated, to being doubted. | ||
|
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But he went out anyway. | |
| For America. | ||
| For you. | ||
| Turning Point will live longer than me. | ||
| That's my mission. | ||
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He carried his love for the nation in his hand. | |
| And in the other, he carried us. | ||
| You have worked so hard. | ||
| And I know a lot of you have seen, obviously, his videos on TikTok and all the stuff he does on campus, but no one gets to see him from my angle except for myself and our children. | ||
| And the sacrifices that he made this year. | ||
| He's amazing. | ||
| I'm very blessed. | ||
| And I I would not have been able to do any of it without Erica. | ||
| When it comes to your child, you are tasked to protect them both physically, spiritually, and emotionally. | ||
| Once you have kids, there is this primal thing that comes into you where if you think you have worked hard before, when you have to go feed a child and provide for a family, you are willing to go to the ends of the earth and push yourself in ways that you never thought possible. | ||
| And that is your initial and most important task as a father. | ||
| Every single person in this building, we owe something to Charlie. | ||
| He was a joyful warrior for our country. | ||
| He loved America. | ||
| He devoted himself tirelessly to making our country a better place. | ||
| He was a critical part of getting Donald Trump elected as president, getting me elected as vice president. | ||
| And so much of our success over the last seven months is due to his efforts, his staffing, his support, and his friendship. | ||
| The media said the Turning Point could never run a ground game. | ||
| They weren't experienced. | ||
| They didn't know Charlie, right? | ||
| 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 want you to remember that we did not earn this. | ||
| This is God's mercy on our country. | ||
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What he built will endure. | |
| What he built will endure. | ||
| Taking the deep, but sometimes the difficult road is the way that you should configure your life. | ||
| Getting married and having children is a difficult but deep decision that I hope every single one of you make at some point in your life. | ||
| Because for every single one of you, there are a couple thousand students that wish they could speak out like you do. | ||
| And courage is a choice. | ||
| It takes no skill to be courageous. | ||
| You might come up to the microphone and say, Charlie, I don't know my talent, I don't my don't know my skill. | ||
| The cool thing about being courageous is you just have to say, I choose to be courageous. | ||
| What can I do to save the country? | ||
| You answer that question every single day because you are doing the work to save this beautiful republic. | ||
| You are doing something that is bigger than you. | ||
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He loved this country. | |
| He fought for this country. | ||
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Now we all live to honor his fight. | |
| What young people especially are screaming at is they say, give me a structure that I can live my life by. | ||
| And especially with young men, more challenging of them. | ||
| More saying, you know what? | ||
| Honestly, I'm not gonna talk down to you. | ||
| Stop being a boy and become a man. | ||
| You want to learn what that means? | ||
| Come to church and I'll tell you what it means to become a man. | ||
| Because we have the greatest story ever told. | ||
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If everything completely goes away, how do you want to be remembered? | |
| I want to be I want to be remembered for for courage for my faith. | ||
| That would be the most important thing. | ||
| The most important thing is my faith in my life. | ||
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The most important thing is that I have to do with my life. | |
| all right freedom on three one two three freedom Wow, look at that. | ||
| Beautiful. | ||
| Look at that. | ||
| That's funny. | ||
| Three, two, one, small. | ||
| Awesome, guys. | ||
|
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Thank you. | |
| Thank you. | ||
| Utah Valley, how's it going? | ||
| Yeah! | ||
| Charlie Kirk! | ||
| Charlie Kurt! | ||
| Charlie Kirk! | ||
| Charlie Kirk! | ||
| USA! | ||
| Let's go! | ||
| That's a lot of people, Utah, I'll tell you what. | ||
| He ran the race well. | ||
| I love you, Charlie. | ||
| On behalf of our family and everyone you touched with your love. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Please welcome to the stage, Sergio Gore. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Good afternoon. | ||
| Charlie Kirk was one of my best friends. | ||
| The world of politics can be full of transactional people. | ||
| Charlie wasn't one of them. | ||
| He was the polar opposite. | ||
| He loved life and he loved the people in his life. | ||
| Charlie led with his faith and fought with his heart. | ||
| One of the things I will miss the most is receiving a text every morning from Charlie with a daily Bible verse. | ||
| Charlie would help set the tone of the day for so many of us. | ||
| He loved Jesus Christ. | ||
| The other side was terrified of Charlie. | ||
| Because Charlie embodied the spirit of MAGA. | ||
| Always fighting for America, never backing down. | ||
| He dared to debate. | ||
| Charlie didn't just step into the fight, he ran towards it. | ||
| And he always did it with a smile. | ||
| Charlie knew this fight was bigger than politics. | ||
| Charlie was more than an activist. | ||
| Charlie was a modern-day disciple who preached about the greatness of America, not just across our land, but around the globe. | ||
| Charlie knew that we are in a spiritual war for the heart, soul, and future of America. | ||
| And he was ultimately killed because of it. | ||
| I want to share with you the personal side of Charlie. | ||
| Charlie was funny. | ||
| Charlie looked forward to the next adventure. | ||
| For over a decade we created countless memories from hunting alligators in Louisiana to eating seal in Greenland to countless nights on the Patio Mar Lago as President Trump played Phantom of the Opera. | ||
| When President Trump started talking about the importance of Greenland to our national security Charlie was one of the first people who thought it would be a great idea to visit. | ||
| He was also one of the first to fall in the snow upon arrival. | ||
| But without a beat Charlie got up and continued onwards with a smile. | ||
| No matter what Charlie always marched forward he embodied the MAGA warrior never backing down Charlie was all Trump. | ||
| When the president had an idea no matter how big it was Charlie was always willing to make it happen. | ||
| One time on a trip to Louisiana Charlie forced the group to leave early and fly to New York City he had to rush and get to Fox News for an interview with Judge Janine. | ||
| When we arrived in New York it turned out Janine wasn't even in New York she was filming remotely the real reason Charlie was in a hurry he had dinner plans with the woman who would become the love of his life and the mother of his two beautiful children. | ||
| Erika, we love you, we support you, and we will always be here for you. | ||
| After we won the last election, the presidential transition kicked into high gear. | ||
| Charlie knew the importance of hiring loyal patriots for this administration. | ||
| And Charlie worked every single day to ensure we got the very best of them in the door. | ||
| Countless individuals are currently in key roles across our government because of Charlie Kirk. | ||
| Today, I want to ask every person in this arena and the millions more watching around the world, will you make sure that we continue to build upon what Charlie Kirk started? | ||
| I want to ask each and every one of you today, if you believe in America, stand up. | ||
| If you believe Charlie Kirk represented the best of us, stand up. | ||
| If you believe in the power of Charlie Kirk, his mission, his courage, his conviction, stand up. | ||
| Charlie, we miss you. | ||
| We love you. | ||
| We wish you were here with us today. | ||
| We will never forget you. | ||
| Rest in peace, my brother. | ||
|
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Speaker 1: Please welcome to the stage, | |
| Stephen Miller Hello Turning Point Hello Patriots Hello to our fearless president Donald J. Trump and | ||
| hello to millions of Americans all across this land who are gathered in sadness and sorrow to mourn Charlie Kirk, but also to dedicate ourselves to finishing his mission and achieving victory in his name. | ||
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Thank you. | |
| The day that Charlie died, the angels wept, but those tears have been turned into fire in our hearts. | ||
| And that fire burns with a righteous fury that our enemies cannot comprehend or understand. | ||
| When I see Erica and her strength and her courage, I am reminded of a famous expression. | ||
| The storm whispers to the warrior that you cannot withstand my strength. | ||
| And the warrior whispers back, I am the storm. | ||
| Erica is the storm. | ||
| We are the storm. | ||
| And our enemies cannot comprehend our strength, our determination, our resolve, our passion. | ||
| Our lineage and our legacy hails back to Athens, to Rome, to Philadelphia, to Monticello. | ||
| Our ancestors built the cities. | ||
| They produced the art and architecture. | ||
| They built the industry. | ||
| Erica stands on the shoulders of thousands of years of warriors, of women, who raised up families, raised up city, raised up industry, raised up civilization, who pulled us out of the caves and the darkness into the light. | ||
| The light will defeat the dark. | ||
| We will prevail over the forces of wickedness and evil. | ||
| They cannot imagine what they have awakened. | ||
| They cannot conceive of the army that they have arisen in all of us. | ||
| Because we stand for what is good, what is virtuous, what is noble. | ||
| And to those trying to incite violence against us, those trying to foment hatred against us. | ||
| What do you have? | ||
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You have nothing. | |
| You are nothing. | ||
| You are wickedness, you are jealousy, you are envy, you are hatred. | ||
|
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You are nothing. | |
| You can build nothing, you can produce nothing, you can create nothing. | ||
| We are the ones who build. | ||
| We are the ones who create. | ||
| We are the ones who lift up humanity. | ||
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You thought you could kill Charlie Kirk? | |
| You have made him immortal. | ||
| You have immortalized Charlie Kirk. | ||
| And now millions will carry on his legacy. | ||
| And we will devote the rest of our lives to finishing the causes for which Charlie gave his last measure of devotion. | ||
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You cannot defeat us. | |
| You cannot slow us. | ||
| You cannot stop us. | ||
| You cannot deter us. | ||
| We will carry Charlie and Erica in our heart every single day and fight that much harder because of what you did to us. | ||
| You have no idea the dragon you have awakened. | ||
| You You have no idea how determined we will be to save this civilization, to save the West, to save this republic. | ||
| Because our children are strong, and our grandchildren will be strong, and our children's children's children will be strong. | ||
| And what will you leave behind? | ||
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Nothing, nothing. | |
| To our enemies, you have nothing to give, you have nothing to offer, you have nothing to share but bitterness. | ||
| We have beauty, we have light, we have goodness, we have determination, we have vision, we have strength. | ||
| We built the world that we inhabit now, generation by generation, and we will defend this world. | ||
| We will defend goodness, we will defend light, we will Defend virtue. | ||
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You cannot terrify us. | |
| You cannot frighten us. | ||
| You cannot threaten us. | ||
| Because we are on the side of goodness. | ||
| We are on the side of God. | ||
| And to my friend Charlie, to my brother Charlie. | ||
| I know you are looking at us right now. | ||
| I know you're watching Erica right now. | ||
| I know you're watching your children right now. | ||
| And I promise you, my friend, I promise you, my brother. | ||
| We will prove worthy of your sacrifice. | ||
| We will prove worthy of your time on earth. | ||
| We will make you proud. | ||
| We will finish the job. | ||
| We will defeat the forces of darkness and evil. | ||
| And we will stand every day for what is true, what is beautiful, what is good. | ||
| And we will achieve victory for our children, for our families, for our civilization, and for every patriot who stands with us. | ||
| God bless you. | ||
| God bless Turning Point. | ||
| God bless Erica. | ||
| God bless the Kirk family. | ||
| God bless our heroes. | ||
| And God bless the United States of America. | ||
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you Please welcome to the stage, Susie Wiles. | |
| Good afternoon, and what an honor to be here with all of you. | ||
| Those of you who loved Charlie and love Erica. | ||
| And I know he is looking down now, rejoicing, because his life, his words, his courage to speak the truth about God, family, and country built the most powerful youth movement in our time. | ||
|
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Thank you. | |
| Many of you knew Charlie better than I did. | ||
| And if you did, you experienced the gift of being lifted by his conviction and his joy. | ||
| For Charlie, making America great again meant bringing young people to this movement and making sure they knew they belonged. | ||
| Like our president says, it's a movement of common sense, and it makes sense. | ||
| Love your God, love your family, love your country, and help the next generation live into those values boldly. | ||
| Through Turning Point, Charlie gave us countless young Americans who had their first turning point. | ||
| The moment they decided to stand up, speak out, and make America all that she could be. | ||
| When the president's 2024 campaign partnered with Turning Point, Charlie did not just promise, he delivered. | ||
| Charlie and his team embraced the assigned mission completely. | ||
| and they didn't meet expectations, they shattered them and blew them out of the water. | ||
| President Trump's victory, winning the popular vote in every swing state was powered by young people. | ||
| Most brand new to politics. | ||
| That was Charlie's army. | ||
| and he made sure they understood the stakes. | ||
| They outworked, they out hustled, and outperformed everyone else Charlie just didn't help. | ||
| He made the winning difference. | ||
| I promise you that. | ||
| And I believe Charlie is still urging us on, urging us not to sit back, not to be quiet, but to carry on his mission forward, Loudly, proudly, and with the same conviction he showed. | ||
| So I ask you, let us honor Charlie in the best way possible by continuing his work, by building on the foundation he laid, and by making sure this generation knows that this movement is their home. | ||
| May God bless Erica and their beautiful children, and may he hold them in the palm of his hands always. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| Thank you. | ||
| Ladies and gentlemen, Tucker Carlson. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Ah, that made me emotional. | ||
| Made me emotional to see that. | ||
| Susie Wiles had tears in her eyes. | ||
| Ugh, which you don't you don't often see in politics, but it's real. | ||
| This is the most unbelievable thing I think I've ever seen. | ||
| And I don't whatever happens next in America, I hope it's in this direction because God is here and you can feel it. | ||
| And Charlie would have loved this, not just because he loves large groups of people, but because ultimately he was a Christian evangelist. | ||
| And it actually reminds me of my favorite story ever. | ||
| So it's about 2,000 years ago in Jerusalem, and Jesus shows up and he starts talking about the people in power, and he starts doing the worst thing that you can do, which is telling the truth about people, and they hate it, and they just go bonkers. | ||
| They hate it, and they become obsessed with making him stop. | ||
| This guy's got to stop talking. | ||
| We've got to shut this guy up. | ||
| And I can just sort of picture the scene in a lamp-lit room with a bunch of guys sitting around eating hummus, thinking about what do we do about this guy telling the truth about us. | ||
| We must make him stop talking. | ||
| And there's always one guy with the bright idea, and I could just hear him say, I've got an idea, why don't we just kill him? | ||
| That'll shut him up. | ||
| That'll fix the problem. | ||
| It doesn't work that way. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| It doesn't work that way. | ||
| Everything is inverted, and the Beatitudes tell it, I think the most crisply. | ||
| Everything is sort of the opposite of what you think it's going to be. | ||
| Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. | ||
| That is true, and you can feel it here. | ||
| The thing about Charlie's message, I've thought a lot about it, and I'm trying not to be emotional because, in addition to everything else, he was a wonderful man and a decent man, and one of those rare people you meet who you just groove with in conversation and have these very intense conversations that you don't stop thinking about, which is my experience with him. | ||
| But the main thing about Charlie and his message, he was bringing the gospel to the country. | ||
| He was doing the thing that the people in charge hate most, which is calling for them to repent. | ||
| So how is Charlie's message different? | ||
| And Charlie was a political person who was deeply interested in coalition building and in getting the right people in office because he knew that vast improvements are possible politically, but he also knew that politics is not the final answer. | ||
| It can't answer the deepest questions, actually. | ||
| That the only real solution is Jesus. | ||
| And the reason, it's really simple. | ||
| Politics, at its core, is a process of critiquing other people and getting them to change. | ||
| Christianity, the gospel message, the message of Jesus begins with repentance. | ||
| Christianity calls upon you to change. | ||
| Our core prayer given to us by Jesus, the Lord's prayer demands that we forgive other people, but preceding that is a request for our forgiveness. | ||
| In other words, forgive us our sins, meditate on what we've done wrong, how we've fallen short, and then it becomes possible to forgive other people. | ||
| That is a call to change our hearts from Jesus. | ||
| And that is the only way forward in this country. | ||
| That is the only solution to where we all know we're going. | ||
| And Charlie knew where we were going without that. | ||
| And that is not a call for being politically passive. | ||
| Of course not. | ||
| And I'm proud of that. | ||
| It's only an acknowledgement that what Charlie was really saying is that change begins the only change that matters when we repent of our sins. | ||
| We. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Me. | |
| A recognition that the real problem is me. | ||
| And how fallen I am. | ||
| And that was the reason that Charlie was fearless at all times, truly fearless to his last moment. | ||
| He was unafraid. | ||
| He was not defensive. | ||
| And there was no hate in his heart. | ||
| I know that because I've got a little hate compartment in my heart. | ||
| And I would often express that to Charlie about various people, and he would always say, always say, that's a sad person, that's a broken person. | ||
| That's person who needs help. | ||
| That's a person who needs Jesus. | ||
| He said that in private because he meant it. | ||
| So I guess I would just say this gathering and God's presence, God's very obvious presence in this room, the presence of Jesus, is a reminder of what we've known for 2,000 years, which is any attempt to extinguish the light causes it to burn brighter. | ||
| Every single time. | ||
| So as we proceed into whatever comes next and clearly something's coming next. | ||
| Remember this moment. | ||
| Remember being in a room with the Holy Spirit humming like a tuning fork. | ||
|
unidentified
|
This is the way. | |
| Right here. | ||
| And that is what Charlie Kirk was saying underneath it all. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, and God bless you. | |
| I'm sorry. | ||
| Please welcome to the stage. | ||
| Director Tulsi Gabbard Charlie lived his life as a warrior | ||
| For truth and for freedom, every single day choosing to step into the arena armed with the Constitution. | ||
| sparring through debate on the battlefield of ideas, fighting for the heart of our democratic republic, and the unalienable rights endowed upon every one of us by our creator. | ||
| Charlie lived what our founders envisioned. | ||
| Freedom, the right to speak even when we disagree, freedom. | ||
| I may not agree with what you say, but I will fight to defend to the death with my very life, your right to speak. | ||
| Free speech is the foundation of our democratic republic. | ||
| We must protect it at all costs because without it, we'll be lost. | ||
| Charlie knew this. | ||
| He lived it. | ||
| Charlie stood in the arena armed with superior arguments, with truth, reason, and Propelled and motivated by his love for God, his love for others, his love for our great nation. | ||
| His words were his weapons. | ||
| He slayed ignorance. | ||
| He cut through lies and he woke people's minds, inspired people's hearts, and imparted wisdom every day. | ||
| Now, for those of us who knew Charlie, and even those of you who may never have had the chance to meet him in person, we all know and experienced how Charlie spoke with a calm courage. | ||
| Not asking, what will God do for me? | ||
| but instead praying, "God, use me for your will." He showed respect and compassion for everyone, even those who opposed him And I think especially for those who opposed him, he invited them to his table or on his show, saying, Let's talk. | ||
| Sitting with Charlie here in Arizona at ASU last year, seeing and experiencing him in action was truly a sight to behold. | ||
| Because in Charlie, he sincerely wanted people to know the truth. | ||
| Because it's the truth that sets us free. | ||
| It is the truth that keeps us free. | ||
| Now, Charlie, he chose our schools as his arena because he knows that they are meant to teach, to train our young people to think critically, to debate ideas, to test their strength through a clash of reason. | ||
| But too often these schools silence debate, saying words are violence and dissenting voices are hushed, and those who speak of God, those who speak the truth, simple objective truths, like there are only two genders in these schools, They are told you have no voice. | ||
| Charlie chose this arena to take these people head on, to challenge these institutions, these students and faculty, encouraging them to come, to speak honestly, bring your ideas, debate loudly and think critically. | ||
| And Charlie did this so well, he was winning, so much winning, so much so that the forces of darkness, hate and evil were threatened by him and tried to silence him. | ||
| History shows this dark pattern that when ideas cannot withstand scrutiny, whether it's the ideology of so-called religious fanatics or political fanatics, their defenders, terrified that their weak ideas will be exposed for what they are, turn to intimidation, censorship, and violence. | ||
| They kill and terrorize their opponents, hoping to silence them. | ||
| But in this evil that we have experienced, that Charlie faced their flawed ideology as exposed. | ||
| Because by trying to silence Charlie, his voice is now louder than ever. | ||
| His message is more powerful and impactful than ever. | ||
| The truths that he spoke have spread hundredfold. | ||
| As Charlie was fearless. | ||
| But where did his fearlessness come from? | ||
| The answer lies in Corinthians. | ||
| Therefore, be always of good courage and know that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. | ||
| We're of good courage, I say, and prefer to be absent from the body and at home with the Lord. | ||
| Therefore, we have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to him. | ||
| So our call to action is now. | ||
| Every one of us needs to be a warrior like Charlie, to take shelter in God to draw strength and fearlessness from the Lord who sits within every one of our hearts to stand together, continue the mission that Charlie dedicated his life to, | ||
| to sharpen our weapons of truth, common sense and reason, to train, to study, learn, and to speak, exercise our God given right to speak and carry that torch that shines brightly because of God's love. | ||
| So right now, if you feel afraid or lost, confused, not sure exactly what to do, don't be. | ||
| God says, don't be afraid. | ||
| I am with you. | ||
| I will strengthen you and help you. | ||
| And he is with us. | ||
| He sits within every one of our hearts, just waiting for us to choose him. | ||
| To say as Charlie did, God, use me for your will. | ||
| To say, God, my life is yours. | ||
| My I am yours, my heart is yours, let me serve you. | ||
| Now is the time for us to step into the arena and to stand as warriors for freedom and truth and fight. | ||
| May God bless you all. | ||
| We love you, Charlie. | ||
| May God bless this great nation. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| Please welcome to the stage, Secretary Marco Rubio. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| About uh maybe 10 or 12 years ago, a person I knew very well had been very helpful to me in my campaigns when I was in the Senate, came to me and said she had met this very impressive young man. | ||
| And he was going to start this group to go on college campuses and try to convince young Americans that ours was the greatest country in the history of the world, and that Marxism was bad. | ||
| And I remember thinking back then, I was I'm gonna admit to you guys, I was a little skeptical. | ||
| I said, College campuses, you're gonna do that. | ||
| Why don't you start somewhere easier? | ||
| Like, for example, Communist Cuba, you know. | ||
| But my skepticism was proven wrong. | ||
| And place after place over the last 12, 14, 16 years. | ||
| We've seen this renaissance. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Understand where we were at that time in our history. | |
| Understand where we are still today in many places, where young Americans are actively told that everything that they were taught, that all the foundations that made our society and our civilization so grand, they were all wrong, they were all evil, that marriage is oppressive, that children are a burden, that America is a source of evil, not of good in the world. | ||
| And here was this voice that inspired a movement in which young Americans were told that is not true. | ||
| The highest calling we are called to is to be in a successful marriage and to raise productive children, and a movement that taught them that ours was Not a great country, but the greatest, most exceptional nation that has ever existed in the history of all of mankind, and that it's worth fighting for, it's worth defending, it's worth preserving, and it's worth passing on to the next generation. | ||
| This was the mission and the work of Charlie Kirk. | ||
| And a couple things that stand out about him. | ||
| He led this movement, but he did so with incredible knowledge. | ||
| It's unbelievable how much he knew. | ||
| He came to me very recently, he said some quote. | ||
| He said, I said, Who said that? | ||
| He said, Marcus Aurelius. | ||
| I said, What district does he represent? | ||
| I kind of knew it was, but uh, he said back no, it's a Roman, you know, philosopher king or emperor. | ||
| His incredible knowledge. | ||
| Let me tell you that one of the last messages I had with him was just a few days before his passing, where he wrote me from overseas. | ||
| I'm in South Korea, I have many concerns I want to share with you when I get back. | ||
| He was constantly expanding his horizons, but he just didn't have knowledge. | ||
| He had wisdom, an uncanny amount of wisdom for a man as young as he was. | ||
| Wisdom that sometimes it takes a lifetime to accumulate. | ||
| He had it in just 31 years. | ||
| He was also bold. | ||
| It is so easy, and listen, I've been guilty of it. | ||
| I think many of us have been guilty of this. | ||
| You hide behind the walls, and you surround yourself with people that agree with you. | ||
| We do it as a society all the time. | ||
| Increasingly, people are moving into neighborhoods with other people that agree with them politically and isolate themselves from people that do not agree with them. | ||
| But Charlie Kirk was bold, he actively sought out to engage peacefully, respectfully, those who he disagreed with. | ||
| As recently as two days ago, we learned of one of the hosts on CNN, who said that one of the messages he had gotten just a few days before Charlie's passing was from him, inviting him to dialogue. | ||
| And he did this on campuses, he did this on podcasts, he did this on radio shows, he did this on television shows. | ||
| Time and again he sought to engage those he disagreed with because he understood that we were not created to isolate ourselves from one another, but to engage. | ||
| The irony in all this is that what our nation needs, one of the many things it needs is the ability to discuss our differences openly, honestly, peacefully, respectfully. | ||
| and Charlie Kirk did that more than anyone alive in America today is doing. | ||
|
unidentified
|
And Charlie Kirk was impactful. | |
| Impactful because of all the things I've said. | ||
| But look around this place. | ||
| There's a hundred something thousand people here. | ||
| The president of the United States is here, his entire cabinet is here. | ||
| Television audio outlets and media outlets from all over the world are covering this. | ||
| I just came from overseas, and every country I stopped, they gave us their condolences for his passing. | ||
| Impactful in just 31 years of life. | ||
| He mattered, and he will matter now more than he ever has before. | ||
| Let me close with this. | ||
| How do you remember? | ||
| This is a memorial service, it's to honor him. | ||
| How do you best remember it? | ||
| I'll take the liberty of saying what I think we can best do. | ||
| Look, I think he had a tremendous impact on young Americans in general. | ||
| I think he had a very special and direct impact on young men in this country. | ||
| That's one of the greatest developments I've seen. | ||
| It's been very positive. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I think we remember him for that. | |
| I think we remember him for constantly saying, You want to live a productive life, get married, start a family, love your country. | ||
| These are powerful messages. | ||
| But I hope many who are watching, I imagine there are people watching here tonight that didn't know much about Charlie Kirk until 11 days ago. | ||
| Maybe they were disengaged from politics, maybe they were partially engaged. | ||
| I hope one of the things they take from this is that the movement Charlie Kirk led and started and gave fuel to was about politics, but not only about politics. | ||
| It was deeper, it was broader. | ||
| And I would say that taking the liberty, but I'm confident he would agree, One of the things he wants us to take away from this, from all of this, is the following. | ||
| His deep belief that we were all created, every single one of us, before the beginning of time, by the hands of the God of the universe, an all powerful God, who loved us and created us for the purpose of living with him in eternity. | ||
| But then sin entered the world and separated us from our Creator. | ||
| And so God took on the form of a man and came down and lived among us. | ||
| And he suffered like men. | ||
| And he died like a man. | ||
| But on the third day he rose, unlike any mortal man. | ||
| And then to prove any doubters wrong, he ate with his disciples so they could see and they touched his wounds. | ||
| He didn't rise as a ghost or as a spirit, but his flesh. | ||
| And then he rose to the heaven, but he promised he would return. | ||
| And he will. | ||
| And when he returns, because he took on that death, because he carried that cross, we were freed from the sin that separated us from him. | ||
| And when he returns, there will be a new heaven and a new earth, and we will all be together, and we are going to have a great reunion there again with Charlie and all the people we love. | ||
| Thank you and God bless you. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Secretary Pete Hegseth. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Charlie Kirk. | ||
| A patriot, a conservative, a leader, a builder, an advocate, an author, a lover of freedom, a husband, a father, a Christian, and a warrior. | ||
| You see, Charlie Kirk was a true believer for the cause of freedom for the power of young people, belief in our republic and our founding principles, in America first and make America great again. | ||
| But more importantly, he was a true believer. | ||
| only Christ is King, our Lord and Savior. | ||
| Our sins are washed away by the blood of Jesus. | ||
| Fear God and fear no man. | ||
| That was Charlie Kirk. | ||
| You see, Charlie Kirk started Turning Point USA to change our politics. | ||
| That's when I first met him over a decade ago. | ||
| He was building a movement, and nobody worked harder at it. | ||
| bringing people to political small t truth. | ||
| I still have the sticker: Big Government Sucks. | ||
| And he pursued that truth with more vigor than anyone I've ever met. | ||
| But over time he realized, like so many of us have, that this is not a political war, it's not even a cultural war, it's a spiritual war. | ||
| Faith and family first. | ||
| and as Charlie would say, it is not us. | ||
| We're sinners saved only by grace in need of the gospel. | ||
| You see, we always did need less government, but what Charlie understood and infused into his movement is we also needed a lot more God. | ||
| Charlie had big plans, but God had even bigger plans. | ||
|
unidentified
|
*applause* | |
| You know, Marco mentioned this arena and the millions watching. | ||
| A couple days ago I learned that Kirk actually in German German in German, the German language means church. | ||
| So on this Sunday morning, I'd like to think we're all in Charlie's church. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| Charlie started a political movement but unleashed a spiritual revival. | ||
| My pastor texted me the day after that horrific event and said, Pete, the devil overplayed his hand. | ||
| Charlie started with liberty, but ended up lighting our country on fire for Christ. | ||
| He started Turning Point USA, but this moment is the turning point for the USA. | ||
| Right now. | ||
| He died the way he lived, speaking the truth. | ||
| Charlie waged war not with a weapon, but with a tent, a microphone, his mind, and the truth. | ||
| and the gates of hell could not prevail against him. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| He went into the darkest of places like Paul in the book of Acts. | ||
| Went into college campuses where they said we couldn't go, and he was the light. | ||
| He was bold, he was brave, he was a hero. | ||
| You know, at the war department, we know a little bit about heroism. | ||
| I've seen it personally on the battlefront field from Americans wearing camouflage, and I'm surrounded by men and women today who had the chance to witness the same. | ||
| Most people don't know this, but Charlie Kirk wanted to go to West Point. | ||
| Never happened, obviously. | ||
| His personal loss at that moment was our nation's great gain. | ||
| Charlie Kirk was a citizen who had the biblical heart of a soldier of the faith who put on every single day the full armor of God with a smile. | ||
| As the scriptures tell all Christ's followers to do. | ||
| Charlie Kirk, a warrior for country, a warrior for Christ. | ||
| He ran the race. | ||
| Now it's our turn. | ||
| My charge to all of you, live worthy of Charlie Kirk's sacrifice and put Christ at the center of your life as he advocated for giving his. | ||
| Charlie has heard the words Charlie has heard the words Echoing now in heaven. | ||
| Well done. | ||
| Good and faithful servant. | ||
| Charlie will take it from here. | ||
| God bless. | ||
| Praise God with bless. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Praise God with bless. | |
| Lord, in my glory, through mercies I see. | ||
| Lord, honor me. | ||
| Please welcome to the stage Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Jr. and Jr. and Jr. and Jr. and Jr. | ||
| Charlie's overarching passion was his Christianity and his devotion to his God. | ||
| He believed what Saint Francis taught us almost a thousand years ago that we should strive to live our lives in perfect imitation of Christ. | ||
| We should turn every day and every moment and every interaction into a prayer. | ||
| And Charlie understood the great paradox that it's only by surrender to God that God's power can flow into our lives and make us effective human beings. | ||
| Charlie Christ died at 33 years old. | ||
| But he changed the trajectory of history. | ||
| Charlie died at 31 years old. | ||
| And because he had surrendered, he also now has changed the trajectory of history. | ||
| Charlie's other passion was free speech. | ||
| He understood that the free flow of information was the soil, the water, the sunlight for democracy. | ||
| He understood democracy's great advantage was that our policies were formed by ideas that had triumphed in a marketplace of debate and conversation. | ||
| He thought that conversation was the only way to heal our country. | ||
| And this was important particularly important during a technological age when we are all hooked into social rhythms, social algorithms that are hacked into the reptilian cores of our brain and amplify our impulses for tribalism and for division. | ||
| He felt that the only way to overcome that biological impulse was with a spiritual fire and with developing community, and the only way to develop community was through conversation. | ||
| And so he always gave the biggest microphone to the people who were most passionately aligned against him. | ||
| Because he believed that we need to talk to each other and that we needed to be able to say what we mean without saying it mean. | ||
| A few years ago, my brother David died. | ||
| And I asked my mother, does the hole that they leave in you when they die, does it ever get any smaller? | ||
| And she said to me, it never gets any smaller. | ||
| But our job is to grow ourselves bigger around the whole. | ||
| And we do that by taking the best qualities, the best most admirable character traits of the person that died, and he integrate them with restraint, with discipline, with practice into our own character. | ||
| And in doing that, we make ourselves larger, and the whole gets proportionally smaller. | ||
| We also give a kind of immortality to the person who left us because their work continues through us. | ||
| A couple of days ago, my niece or my granddaughter left for college in Europe. | ||
| Her mother noticed that she packed a Bible. | ||
| And her mother asked her why she made that choice. | ||
| She said, I want to live more like Charlie. | ||
| And it's in one of my first conversations with Charlie in July of 2021, we were talking about the risk that all of us take when we challenge entrenched interests, the physical risk. | ||
| And he asked me if I was scared of dying. | ||
| And I said to him, there's a lot worse things than death. | ||
| And one of those things is if we lost our constitutional rights in this country, and that our children were raised as slaves. | ||
| And I said to Charlie, I said, sometimes the best consolation we can hope for is that we get to die with our boots on. | ||
| Well, Charlie died with his boots on. | ||
| And he died to make sure that we didn't have to undergo those fates that are worse than death. | ||
| Oh, let's remember Charlie. | ||
| He was he was for those of us who were friends with Charlie, we don't need any more evidence of the love of God. | ||
| Because the evidence of friendship is the best evidence that God loves us all. | ||
| Thank you and God bless you. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| Thank you. | ||
| Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Donald Trump Jr. | ||
| Welcome everyone. | ||
| I'm not widely known for being a sentimental guy. | ||
| Anyone who's seen me on social media knows I'm far more likely to crack a joke or get myself in trouble for posting some grossly inappropriate memes than I am to shed a tear. | ||
| I know this because I've even gotten the call from that guy a couple times. | ||
| You know, Don, done. | ||
|
unidentified
|
You're getting a little aggressive on social media, Don. | |
| Relax. | ||
| But last week, when I received word that Charlie, who was like a little brother to me, had been assassinated, I was truly devastated. | ||
| We all were. | ||
| And we're here today to celebrate the way he lived his life. | ||
| And to remember the way he changed so many of ours. | ||
| So I want to start where I know Charlie would want me to. | ||
| With what was most important to him. | ||
| and that was his relationship with Christ. | ||
| To say Charlie knew more about the Bible than me is an understatement, folks. | ||
| It's like saying Donald Trump knows more about being president than Hillary Clinton or Kamala Harris. | ||
| No kidding. | ||
| But when Charlie was asked in an interview how he'd want to be remembered, he said, I want to be remembered for my courage for my faith. | ||
| And let me tell you guys, those were not empty words. | ||
| Last week, Charlie joined a long line of courageous men and women who were martyred for what they believe. | ||
| According to the Book of Acts, the first martyr in the early Christian church was Stephen, who was stoned to death. | ||
| And as Stephen was being killed, he said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing, standing at the right hand of God. | ||
| Now, there are many times in the Bible where Jesus is seated at the right hand of God. | ||
| but this is the only time he's seen standing. | ||
| And while the Bible isn't explicit about this, I like to think Jesus was standing to welcome Stephen, the courageous martyr into heaven. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| And today, today that gives me great comfort. | ||
| Because 11 days ago, as a cowardly assassin crawled on his stomach to end Charlie's life on earth. | ||
| I'm betting Charlie saw the son of God standing tall to welcome him home. | ||
| I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the greatest treasures of Charlie's heart, his beautiful wife Erica and his two precious children. | ||
| To watch Charlie with his family, the joy on his face, the devotion in his eyes, was to see the gospel lived out. | ||
| And for me, for me it was inspiring. | ||
| And now, in the face of unthinkable loss, Erica has shown extraordinary courage. | ||
| not only as a mother, but in stepping forward to carry on Charlie's mission as the CEO of Turning Point USA. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| Charlie always brought out the best in all of us. | ||
| When Charlie first said to me during the 2016 campaign, hey, let's start doing events on college campuses. | ||
| I was like, whoa, seriously? | ||
| Come on, man. | ||
| We've given up on that. | ||
| We're gonna let those kids grow up, and we'll get them when they start paying taxes. | ||
| But he convinced me to give it a shot. | ||
| And there were a couple events that showed just how brave and courageous Charlie was, even as a very young man. | ||
| At Michigan State University, five minutes before we were supposed to go on stage, the state police told us, and I quote, we can no longer guarantee your safety. | ||
| Because the left-wing activists, they were going crazy. | ||
| It was rough. | ||
| That sounded like a great reason to pack it up and head out. | ||
| But it was one of the many times that I would agree with Charlie, who said, no way, we're going out there anyway. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| At one of the last events of the 2024 campaign at Arizona State, some lunatic called it a threat to try to keep us from going on the stage. | ||
| Again, we went out there anyway, without fear. | ||
| Charlie led the way. | ||
| His message was clear then, and his message is clear now. | ||
| We won't back down. | ||
| We won't be intimidated. | ||
| The Bible says over a hundred times in the pages of scripture, do not be afraid. | ||
| And the hundred thousand people here today are a signal to the world. | ||
| Our message of faith, family, and country will not be silenced. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| It always amazes me how Charlie chose to use his platform. | ||
| He had one of the largest microphones in the entire conservative movement. | ||
| And what did he do with it? | ||
| Day after day, week after week, he handed it to the very people who Opposed him most. | ||
| The media tried to smear him as some sort of dangerous radical. | ||
| But Charlie embodied something at the very core of our movement. | ||
| When people disagree with us, we don't silence them. | ||
| we don't destroy them and we certainly don't sink to violence We don't burn down their businesses. | ||
| We don't scream at their children at Disneyland. | ||
| No. | ||
| We debate. | ||
| We stand tall. | ||
| and we win with our ideas The true extremists are those who would justify and celebrate taking an innocent life over nothing more than disagreement. | ||
| That is the real radicalism. | ||
| and we reject it completely. | ||
| Charlie delighted in his belief that people could be persuaded. | ||
| He believed the way to win hearts was with truth, with courage, and with conversation. | ||
| He would always be the first to say, you are welcome here. | ||
| And that's what I want to leave you with today. | ||
| If we're truly gonna honor Charlie properly, his loss cannot be the end of the story. | ||
| His legacy must be that when they took his life, a million more Charlie stepped up to fill the void. | ||
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We are all Charlie. | |
| So let's send a message here today, guys. | ||
| I want to make sure the world hears us loud and clear. | ||
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Will you surrender? | |
| Will you back down? | ||
| Will you give up in fear? | ||
| Good. | ||
| If you're among the millions of people watching today, please see this and know you are not alone. | ||
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Thank you. | |
| Charlie's message, like Christ's was an invitation. | ||
| If this resonates with you and you believe American values are worth defending, welcome. | ||
| If you believe in faith, family, and freedom, then you are with us. | ||
| No matter your past, no matter how you've voted, no matter where you come from, this movement is your home. | ||
| If you're not already seated at this table, we have a seat prepared for you. | ||
| If you believe in God and family and country, you are one of us. | ||
| If you believe our government should put the interests of our citizens first, welcome. | ||
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Welcome. | |
| If you believe American workers deserve dignity, and American families should be able to afford a good life on one salary, welcome! | ||
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Thank you. | |
| If you reject the propaganda of the fake news media, welcome! | ||
| If you want to eradicate the criminal cartels and get drugs out of our communities, welcome. | ||
| If you believe our best days are ahead and are willing to stand up to make America great again for your children and for generations to come, welcome. | ||
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Thank you. | |
| Charlie loved this country, its people, and the work of persuading others to believe in something greater than themselves. | ||
| And if we live with that same courage, our legacy, like Charlie's, will live forever. | ||
| applause Charlie, my brother, we love you, we miss you, and we will not let you down. | ||
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Thank you. | |
| And as the scripture promises, well done, good and faithful servant. | ||
| Enter into the joy of your Lord. | ||
| God bless. | ||
| Thank you so much. | ||
|
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Thank you. | |
| Thank you all so much, you know. | ||
|
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Thank you. | |
| Thank you. | ||
| You know, I can't help but think that they Tried to silence my friend Charlie Kirk. | ||
| They tried to silence our dear friend Charlie Kirk. | ||
| And today, tonight, we speak with Charlie and for Charlie louder than ever. | ||
| The evil murderer who took Charlie from us expected us to have a funeral today, and instead, my friends, we have had a revival in celebration of Charlie Kirk and of his Lord Jesus Christ. | ||
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Thank you. | |
| We gather here in this stadium in the hot Arizona sun, shielded in a great shining city, our fathers raised out of the desert. | ||
| And from this desert, Charlie Kirk built a movement. | ||
| He transformed the face of conservatism in our own time, and in doing so, he changed the course of American history. | ||
| To rising generations across this country. | ||
| Charlie exemplified kindness, courage, and a commitment to open debate. | ||
| And he was a great debater, and we loved him for it. | ||
| But Charlie loved debate not because he excelled at it, but because it was the vehicle for bringing the light of truth to dark places. | ||
| and Charlie Kirk brought many truths in his life. | ||
| Charlie brought the truth that young people deserved a stake in the future and that they deserve to have a voice. | ||
| He brought the truth that marriage and family were the highest callings, far more important than any job or educational credential. | ||
| He brought the truth that our nation would fade unless it brought order to its neighborhoods and prosperity to its people. | ||
| He brought the truth that life was precious and we must fight to protect it at all stages and at all times. | ||
| But most of all, Charlie brought the truth that Jesus Christ was the King of Kings and that all truth flowed from this first and most important one. | ||
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Thank you. | |
| But Charlie, he did so much more than tell the truth, he lived it. | ||
| Charlie understood that the best evangelization was not in what you said, but in how you lived your life. | ||
| And in this city, he lived his life well. | ||
| He raised a wonderful family. | ||
| He had a beautiful wife, two beloved children, and a loving and godly home. | ||
| In this, he showed us the importance of family. | ||
| He lived three decades he had on this earth with a sense of Christian virtue that would make any man, any person proud. | ||
| And in this, he showed the importance of following God. | ||
| He was a kind-hearted man, a hard-working person, and any parent would be proud to have him as a son. | ||
| In this, he showed the virtue of industriousness. | ||
| He was present and loving, as any child would hope, of his or her father. | ||
| And in this, he showed the importance of strong Christian fatherhood. | ||
| He was fearless and he was bold, as any follower would hope would be true of a leader. | ||
| And in this, he showed all of us how to carry on after his death. | ||
| You know, Charlie Kirk, he loved him. | ||
| He loved history. | ||
| He devoured the ideas that formed the foundation of our civilization. | ||
| He stood for a tradition that Socrates established 2,500 years ago to question, to search, and to teach. | ||
| He was Athens and Jerusalem, the city of reason and the city of God in one person. | ||
| But if he loved those places, they were not his home. | ||
| America was his home and he was willing to die for it. | ||
| You know, Charlie, he loved this country with a contagious intensity. | ||
| Anyone who talked to him knew it and felt it. | ||
| He knew that America was a beautiful place and we had these incredible ideas, but he also knew that our country was a covenant between the generations past, present, and future. | ||
| He believed this country's best days were not behind us but ahead of us. | ||
| But he knew those better days would have to be earned. | ||
| They would have to be worked for. | ||
| We would have to sacrifice and work and tell the truth. | ||
| He knew that America wouldn't be saved just by pulling together seminars or talking about the right kind of books in front of the right kind of people. | ||
| The movement which he created demanded more. | ||
| It demanded courage. | ||
| It demanded hard work. | ||
| It demanded building and it demanded leaders and my friends in Charlie Kirk. | ||
| We found a great American leader. | ||
| Now our whole administration is here, but not just because we love Charlie as a friend, even though we did, but because we know we wouldn't be here without him. | ||
| Charlie built an organization that reshaped the balance of our politics. | ||
| Turning point brought millions of young people into conversation with one another, brought millions of people into advocacy. | ||
| asked of us, not just that we talk about saving our country, but that we actually go and do it and we do it together. | ||
| But even as Charlie built on a grand scale, his greatness was never only in his ambition. | ||
| It was measured in the everyday moments as well, in the way that he treated ordinary people each and every single day. | ||
| You know, you learn a lot about someone by how they treat others when the cameras aren't on. | ||
| Charlie treated staffers as well as he treated the president of the United States. | ||
| When I was just a guy polling at nothing in my Senate race back in 2021, Charlie helped me, not because I was a future vice president, but because I was a dear friend. | ||
| I saw just a couple of months ago when a White House staffer struggled with the weight of his job and the responsibilities of new fatherhood. | ||
| Charlie stopped what he was doing in the hallways of the West Wing and said a prayer for that staffer. | ||
| Because Charlie believed that we were all children of God, he treated everyone with grace. | ||
| And that is perhaps the enduring legacy of Charlie Kirk. | ||
| You know, I was telling somebody backstage that I always felt a little uncomfortable talking about my faith in public as much as I loved the Lord and as much as it was an important part of my life. | ||
| I have talked more about Jesus Christ in the past two weeks than I have my entire time in public life. | ||
| And that is an undeniable legacy of the great Charlie Kirk. | ||
| You know, he loved God, and because he loved God, he wanted to understand God's creation and the men and women made in his image. | ||
| Now much has been said over the last week about Charlie's ability to approach any topic, any person in good faith, an achievement that was only possible because Charlie knew that we were all children of God. | ||
| He knew deep down the truth of Scripture. | ||
| And from that confidence, everything else flowed. | ||
| That unshakable belief in the gospel led him to see differences in opinion, not as battlefields to conquer, but as way stations in the pursuit of truth. | ||
| He knew it was right to love others, your neighbor, your interlocutor, your enemy. | ||
| But he also understood his duty to say what is right and what is wrong, to distinguish what is false from what is true. | ||
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Thank you. | |
| Charlie was slain, doing what he loved, telling the truth, proclaiming his faith, building out a dream, and now he's gone, and our hearts feel so empty because he's been taken from us. | ||
| He's been taken from his parents and from his sister. | ||
| He's been taken from our darling Erica and their beautiful children. | ||
| And Erica, I know I speak for this entire auditorium when I say that we love you and we will never stop standing by your side, just as Charlie did. | ||
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Thank you. | |
| He was taken from us by those who despise the virtues that actually made our civilization great to begin with. | ||
| Dialogue, truth seeking, family, and faith. | ||
| In the wake of his death, we have seen some of the very worst parts of humanity. | ||
| We have watched people slander him. | ||
| We have watched people justify his murder and celebrate his death. | ||
| I know that this makes you angry just as it has made me angry. | ||
| But it is easy in these moments to see only the worst of our fellow man. | ||
| I found myself wishing that I could pick up the phone and talk to my friend and ask him for his advice and his counsel. | ||
| To ask him how to respond to such hate and the souls from which that hate springs. | ||
| But I can't call my friend because he was murdered for speaking the truth. | ||
| I can only guess at what he might say and what he would encourage me to do. | ||
| And here's what I think. | ||
| I think he would encourage me to be honest that evil still walks among us. | ||
| not to ignore it for the sake of a fake kumbaya moment, but to address it head on and honestly as the sickness that it is. | ||
| But I also think he would encourage me, he would encourage all of us to focus on the good. | ||
| He would encourage us to remember that for every hateful voice celebrating his murder, there are a thousand people mourning it and fighting for his legacy every single day. | ||
| He would tell me to pray. | ||
| I'm certain of it. | ||
| He would tell me to pray for my friends, but also for my enemies. | ||
| He would tell me to put on the full armor of God and get back to work. | ||
| He would tell us to commit ourselves to telling the truth and to fight for that truth each and every single day. | ||
| He would tell us to talk about God's love and the fact that that love applied everybody across the whole human family. | ||
| Charlie suffered a terrible fate, my friends. | ||
| We all know it. | ||
| We all saw it. | ||
| But think it is not the worst fate. | ||
| It is better to face a gunman than to live your life afraid to speak the truth. | ||
| It is better to be persecuted for your faith than to deny the kingship of Christ. | ||
| It is better to die a young man in this world than to sell your soul for an easy life with no purpose, no risk, no love, and no truth. | ||
| Christ told us in the Gospel of John, I have said these things to you that in me you may have peace. | ||
| But take heart, I have overcome the world. | ||
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Charlie took heart. | |
| And now we must do the same. | ||
| I've seen so many of you say so many on social media. | ||
| Talk about for Charlie. | ||
| We must do this for Charlie. | ||
| For Charlie, we will speak the truth every single day. | ||
| For Charlie, we will rebuild this United States of America to greatness. | ||
| For Charlie, we will never shrink, we will never cower, and we will never falter, even when staring down the barrel of a gun. | ||
| For Charlie, we will remember that it is better to stand on our feet defending the United States of America and defending the truth than it is to die on our knees. | ||
| My friends for Charlie, We must remember that he is a hero to the United States of America, and he is a martyr for the Christian faith. | ||
| May our Heavenly Father give us the courage to live as Charlie lived. | ||
| That is what we must do for Charlie. | ||
| You ran a good race, my friend. | ||
| I love ya. | ||
| We've got it from here. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
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So let's go. | |
| So let's go. | ||
| So let's go. | ||
| So let's go. | ||
| So let's go. | ||
| Please give a warm welcome to Mrs. Erica Kirk. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Hello. | ||
| God bless all of you for coming here from all over the world to honor and celebrate my Charlie. | ||
| Just a few miles from here, two years ago at America Fest twenty twenty-three, Charlie delivered a speech on stage for our TPUSA faith event. | ||
| Charlie loves speaking off the cuff. | ||
| He's very good at that. | ||
| Without a script. | ||
| So I personally didn't know what he was going to say. | ||
| And what he chose to speak about that day was his submission to the will of God. | ||
| He quoted one of his favorite Bible verses, Isaiah 6:8. | ||
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"Here I am, Lord. | |
| Send me." After Charlie finished, I met him backstage, and I spoke to him, and I'll never forget this. | ||
| I said, Charlie, baby, please talk to me next time before you say that statement. | ||
| Because when you say something like that, there is so much power in that verse. | ||
| When you say, Here I am, Lord, use me. | ||
| God will take you up on that. | ||
| than he did with Charlie. | ||
| Eleven days ago, God accepted that total surrender from my husband. | ||
| And then called him to his side. | ||
| Not his will, but God's will. | ||
| And over these past eleven days, through all the pain, never before have I found as much comfort as I now do in the words of our Lord's Prayer. | ||
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Thy will be done. | |
| God's love was revealed to me on the very day my husband was murdered. | ||
| On the afternoon of September tenth, I arrived at a Utah hospital to do the unthinkable. | ||
| to look directly at my husband's murdered body. | ||
| I saw the wound that ended his life. | ||
| I felt everything you would expect to feel. | ||
| I felt shock. | ||
| I felt horror. | ||
| And a level of heartache that I didn't even know existed. | ||
| But there was something else too. | ||
| Even in death, I could see the man that I love. | ||
| I saw the one single gray hair on the side of his head, which I never told him about. | ||
| I saw the one single gray hair on the side of his head, Now he knows. | ||
| Sorry, baby, telling you now, but never told him. | ||
| Didn't want to. | ||
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I also saw this. | |
| I also saw on his lips the faintest smile. | ||
| And that told me something important. | ||
| It revealed to me a great mercy from God in this tragedy. | ||
| When I saw that, it told me Charlie didn't suffer. | ||
| Even the doctor told me. | ||
| It was something so instant that even if Charlie had been shot in the operating room itself, nothing could have been done. | ||
| There was no feign. | ||
| There was no fear, no agony. | ||
| One moment Charlie was doing what he loved, arguing and debating on campus, fighting for the gospel in truth. | ||
| In front of a big crowd. | ||
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And then he blinked. | |
| He blinked. | ||
| and saw his savior in paradise. | ||
| And all the heavenly mysteries were revealed to him. | ||
| God's love continued to be revealed to me in the days that followed. | ||
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The next day on the tarmac in Air Force II. | |
| I confronted Usha Vance. | ||
| I held her hand and I told her, honestly, I do not know how I am going to get through this. | ||
| She told me something. | ||
| She said, you know, when you're on an airplane with your kids, and it's the last 15 minutes of the flight, things are crazy. | ||
| Kids are not cooperating, toys are flying everywhere, and everyone's screaming. | ||
| And you think to yourself, I cannot wait for this flight to land. | ||
| And it's 15 minutes before you land. | ||
| And she told me, you will get through these 15 minutes. | ||
| And the next 15 minutes after that. | ||
| Usha, I don't think you realized it then. | ||
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But those words were exactly what I needed to hear. | |
| But most of all, God's mercy and God's love have been real revealed to me these past ten days. | ||
| After Charlie's assassination, we didn't see violence. | ||
| We didn't see rioting. | ||
| We didn't see revolution. | ||
| Instead, we saw what my husband always prayed he would see in this country. | ||
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We saw revival. | |
| This past week we saw people open a Bible for the first time in a decade. | ||
| We saw people pray for the first time since they were children. | ||
| We saw people go to a church service for the first time in their entire lives. | ||
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Thank you. | |
| Charlie liked to journal. | ||
| And I say this because he did it to remember important moments and sayings that Affected him. | ||
| And one of the things he wrote in his journal was this. | ||
| Every time you make a decision, it puts a mark on your soul. | ||
| To those of you out there who just made that decision and took the first step toward a spiritual life. | ||
| I say thank you and welcome. | ||
| One day I hope you look back and realize it was the most important decision of your life. | ||
| because it is. | ||
| All of you who are already believers, it is your job to shepherd these people. | ||
| Do not take that lightly. | ||
| Water the seed of their faith. | ||
| Protect it and help it grow. | ||
| Every day as Charlie rode into the office, he would go through his contact list. | ||
| And I know there's many of you who were impacted by this. | ||
| He would go through his contact list and send Bible verses for the day. | ||
| He knew that faith was a habit. | ||
| The more you live it, the more it grows. | ||
| But know this too. | ||
| The seed has only just been planted. | ||
| The enemy will tempt you the most in a time like this one. | ||
| God will always be there for you, but you must choose to mark your soul again and again in the direction of Christ. | ||
| Pray again. | ||
| Read the Bible again. | ||
| Go to church next Sunday and the Sunday after that and break free from the temptations and shackles of this world. | ||
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the next day. | |
| Being a follower of Christ is not easy. | ||
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It's not supposed to be. | |
| Jesus said, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me." He said he would be persecuted. | ||
| He said we would be persecuted and Charlie knew that and happily carried his cross all the way to the end. | ||
| And I want all of you to know, while Charlie died far too early, he was also ready to die. | ||
| There was nothing, nothing he was putting off. | ||
| There was nothing that was too hard or too painful or nothing that he just felt like he didn't want to do it. | ||
| He left this world without regrets. | ||
| He did 100% of what he could every day. | ||
| But I want you to know something. | ||
| Charlie died with incomplete work, but not with unfinished business. | ||
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Charlie died with incomplete work, but I will miss him. | |
| I will miss him so much because our marriage and our family were beautiful. | ||
| They still are. | ||
| Charlie died with incomplete work, but I will miss him so much because our marriage and our family were beautiful. | ||
| They still are. | ||
| The greatest cause in Charlie's life was trying to revive the American family. | ||
| When he spoke to young people, he was always eager to tell them about God's vision for marriage and how if they could just dare to live it out, it would enrich every part of their life in the same way that it enriched ours. | ||
| And someone once asked me, how Charlie and I we kept our marriage so strong when he was busy traveling. | ||
| And our little secret. | ||
| It was love notes. | ||
| Every Saturday, Charlie wrote one for me, and he never missed a Saturday. | ||
| And in every single one of them, he'd tell me what his highlight was for the week, how grateful he was for me and our babies. | ||
| And always at the end, he would always end it with asking the most beautiful question. | ||
| He'd always end it by asking, please let me know how I can better serve you as a husband. | ||
| Charlie perfectly understood God's role for a Christian husband. | ||
| A man who leads so that they can serve. | ||
| To all the men watching around the world, accept Charlie's challenge and embrace true manhood. | ||
| Be strong and courageous for your families. | ||
| Love your wives and lead them. | ||
| Love your children and protect them. | ||
| Be the spiritual head of your home. | ||
| But please be a leader worth following. | ||
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Your wife. | |
| Your wife is not your servant. | ||
| Your wife is not your employee. | ||
| Your wife is not your slave. | ||
| She is your helper. | ||
| You are not rivals. | ||
| You are one flesh working together for the glory of God. | ||
| I was Charlie's confidant. | ||
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I was his vault. | |
| His closest and most trusted advisor, his best friend. | ||
| I poured into him and loved him so deeply, empowered him. | ||
| Because his love for me drove me to be a better wife. | ||
| Every day he honored me, and I prayed that I could be the wife that God needed me to be for my husband. | ||
| Women, I have a challenge for you too. | ||
| Be virtuous. | ||
| Our strength is found in God's design for our role. | ||
| We are the guardians. | ||
| We are the encouragers. | ||
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We are the preservers. | |
| Guard your heart. | ||
| Everything you do flows from it. | ||
| And if you're a mother, please recognize that is the single most important ministry you have. | ||
| In our home, because Charlie traveled a lot. | ||
| We tried to travel with him when we could. | ||
| But I made sure that when Charlie returned from work, it was his sacred landing place. | ||
| away from the worries of the world. | ||
| I didn't make him feel guilty for being away too long or too much. | ||
| Or getting home too late. | ||
| I always told him home is here for you. | ||
| And it'll be ready for you. | ||
| And I made it into this place where he wanted to be as soon as possible when he was on the road. | ||
| There was no keeping score between us. | ||
| We were a team. | ||
| Working together for the same mission. | ||
| I never wanted to be the one standing between Charlie and the task that God prepared for him, had set for him. | ||
| And I knew Charlie would always do his best to help me with the same. | ||
| My marriage with Charlie was the best thing that ever happened to me. | ||
| And I know it was the best thing that ever happened to him as well. | ||
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He wanted everyone to experience that joy. | |
| And that's what's so beautiful about God's design for marriage is that everyone can. | ||
| And I could talk endlessly about it, and years to come I will. | ||
| But Charlie's mission above all was aimed directly at those who aren't married. | ||
| He named his organization well. | ||
| He knew things were not right with America and especially with young people. | ||
| And they needed a new direction. | ||
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Thank you. | |
| Charlie passionately wanted to reach and save the lost boys of the West. | ||
| The young men who feel like they have no direction, no purpose, no faith, and no reason to live. | ||
| The men wasting their lives on distractions, and the men consumed with resentment, anger, and hate. | ||
| Charlie wanted to help them. | ||
| He wanted them to have a home with Turning Point USA. | ||
| And when he went onto campus, he was looking to show them a better path and a better life that was right there for the taking. | ||
| He wanted to show them that. | ||
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My husband, Charlie... | |
| He wanted to save young men just like the one who took his life. | ||
|
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That young man. | |
| On the cross, our Savior said. | ||
| Father, forgive them for they not know what they do. | ||
| That man. | ||
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That young man, I forgive him. | |
| Thank you. | ||
| I forgive him because it was what Christ did. | ||
| And is what Charlie would do. | ||
| The answer to hate is not hate. | ||
| The answer we know from the gospel is love and always love. | ||
| Love for our enemies. | ||
| And love for those who persecute us. | ||
| The world needs turning point, USA. | ||
| It needs a group that will point young people away from the path of misery and sin. | ||
| It needs something that will lead people away from hell in this world and in the next. | ||
| It needs young people pointed in the direction of truth and beauty. | ||
| And so I promise you today, every part of our work will become greater. | ||
| I am tremendously honored to be the new CEO of Turning Point USA. | ||
| I do not take that lightly. | ||
| Charlie and I were united in purpose. | ||
| His passion was my passion, and now his mission is my mission. | ||
| Everything that turning point USA built through Charlie's vision and hard work. | ||
| We will make ten times greater through the power of his memory. | ||
| Chapters will grow. | ||
| Thousands of new ones will be created. | ||
| TPUSA Faith will add thousands of new pastors and congregations. | ||
| And yes, campus events will continue. | ||
| And we will continue to hold debates and dialogue. | ||
| The first amendment of our Constitution is the most human amendment. | ||
| We are naturally talking beings. | ||
| naturally believing beings. | ||
| And the First Amendment protects our right to do both. | ||
| No assassin will ever stop us for standing up to defend those rights. | ||
| ever. | ||
| Because when you stop the conversation, when you stop the dialogue, this is what happens. | ||
| When we lose the ability and the willingness to communicate, we get violence. | ||
| And as I stand here now, and I look at this beautiful photo of my husband in front of me, hanging in the stadium. | ||
| I think of my husband 13 years ago. | ||
| I hadn't met him yet. | ||
| He was 18 years old. | ||
| A man barely out of high school. | ||
| Running around the halls of the RNC without a dollar in his pocket and a single contact in his phone. | ||
| People who saw him said that he didn't know what he was doing. | ||
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But he did. | |
| He did know what he was doing. | ||
| He knew exactly what he was doing. | ||
| He was going to change the world and he did. | ||
| Charlie's life was a turning point for this country. | ||
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unidentified
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It was a miracle. | |
| Let that miracle, that was Charlie's life, be your turning point as well. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Choose prayer. | |
| Choose courage. | ||
| Choose beauty. | ||
| Choose adventure. | ||
| Choose family. | ||
| Choose a life of faith. | ||
| Most importantly, choose Christ. | ||
| I love you, Charlie Baby. | ||
| And I will make you proud. | ||
|
unidentified
|
God bless you all and God bless America. | |
| Thank you. | ||
| Please welcome to the stage the 45th and 47th president of the United States Donald J. Trump If tomorrow all the things were gone I | ||
| at work for all my life and i had to start again just my children Thank my lucky stars to be living here today. | ||
| But the flag still stands for freedom. | ||
| And they can't take that away And I'm proud to be an American Where at least I know I'm free And I won't forget the men who died who gave that right to me. | ||
| And I gladly stand up next to you And defend her still today'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land | ||
| God bless the US America for Charlie Kirk from the lake of Minnesota to the hills of Tennessee across the plains of Texas from sea to Sun Sea. | ||
|
unidentified
|
From Detroit to Houston, New York to LA. | |
| There's pride in every American heart. | ||
| And it's time we stand and say that I'm proud to be an American whoar least I know I'm free. | ||
| And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that pride to me, And I gladly stand there next to you and it can hurt you today. | ||
| Pleasure in no doubt I love this land. | ||
| Sing it. | ||
| God bless the USA I'm proud to be an American. | ||
| Wearin' be stand along free. | ||
| And I won't forget the man who died. | ||
| Who gave that right to me? | ||
| And I gladly stand up next to you And defend her still today Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land | ||
|
unidentified
|
God bless the USA God bless the | |
| USA Well, I want to thank you very much, Lee. | ||
| You've been there from the beginning with us, Lee, and we appreciate it. | ||
| Nobody can sing that song like Lee Greenwood. | ||
| Thank you very much, Lee, very much for being here. | ||
| And his voice has not changed, you know. | ||
| Pretty amazing. | ||
| And a special thank you to Erica. | ||
| Because today America is a nation in grief. | ||
| A nation in shock. | ||
| And a nation in mourning. | ||
| Less than two weeks ago, our country was robbed of one of the brightest lights of our times. | ||
| A giant of his generation, and above all, a devoted husband, father, son, Christian and patriot. | ||
| Charles James Kirk was heinously murdered by a radicalized cold-blooded monster for speaking the truth. | ||
| That was in his heart. | ||
| He was violently killed because he spoke for freedom and justice, for God, country, for reason and for common sense. | ||
| He was assassinated because he lived bravely. | ||
| And he argued brilliantly, without apology. | ||
| He did what was right for our nation. | ||
| And so on that terrible day, September 10th, 2025, our greatest evangelist for American Liberty became immortal. | ||
| He's a martyr now for American freedom. | ||
| I know I speak for everyone here today when I say that none of us will ever forget Charlie Kirk. | ||
| And neither now will history. | ||
| Because while Charlie has been reunited with his creator in heaven, his voice on earth will echo through the generations. | ||
| And his name will live forever in the eternal chronicle of America's greatest patriots. | ||
| He will live forever. | ||
| To Charlie's incredible and beautiful widow, Erica, we know the weight of this monumental loss is almost unbearable. | ||
| But even in the midst of heartache and pain too great to even fathom, you have somehow found the strength and deep faith to be a comfort to millions and millions of people Thank you. | ||
| And thank you very much, Erica. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you very much. | |
| Today an entire nation wraps its loving arms around you and beautiful children. | ||
| We share in your immense and overwhelming sorrow, and we vow that we will do everything we can to ensure that your children grow up in a land where their father is honored and revered as a great American hero. | ||
| That's what he is. | ||
| To Charlie's parents who lost their beloved son, and to the entire Kirk family, we know that no words can ever be enough to fill the void he leaves behind. | ||
| That's a void that just can't be filled. | ||
| But I hope the extraordinary outpouring of emotion over these past 11 days has comforted you with the knowledge that your son brought more good and love into this world in his 31 short years than most people, even very, very successful people can bring in a lifetime. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| Charlie Kirk loved America with everything he had. | ||
| And as we can see so clearly today, America loved Charlie Kirk. | ||
|
unidentified
|
*applaudissements* | |
| And he could always draw a big crowd. | ||
| Look at this today. | ||
| Look at what's gone on. | ||
| This is a big crowd. | ||
| Here today, we have the vice president of the United States, J. Devant. | ||
| We have the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Mike Johnson. | ||
| We have countless members of the United States Senate, and I'm sorry I'm not going to introduce you, but I'll be up here. | ||
| They're all over the place. | ||
| And likewise, the House of Representatives, they're all over this big stadium. | ||
| This is not an arena, this is a stadium. | ||
| A great cabinet and this stadium packed with rafters of people, not to mention the one across the street that also has tens of thousands of people. | ||
| And they're watching us on screen right now. | ||
| And I'm sorry we couldn't get you in. | ||
| If anybody would like to give up your seat, please walk across the street. | ||
| But this is like an old-time revival, isn't it? | ||
| An old-time revival. | ||
| For millions of Americans, especially young people. | ||
| It is agonizing and unthinkable to say goodbye to a patriot whose heart still had so much to give. | ||
| It's so much. | ||
| Raised in the suburbs of Chicago, Charlie was filled with a patriotic spirit from his youth, and he was an all-American in everything he did. | ||
| And one of the last things he said to me is, please, sir, save Chicago. | ||
| We're going to do that. | ||
| we're going to save Chicago from horrible crime. | ||
| In high school, he was the quarterback of the football team and the captain of the basketball team. | ||
| He was a good athlete. | ||
| A lot of people don't know that about Charlie. | ||
| He was an Eagle Scout who spent his school lunch breaks listening to another champion for liberty. | ||
| Somebody that he greatly admired, Rush Limbaugh. | ||
| Applause But what was even more important to Charlie than politics and service was the choice he made in the fifth grade, which he called the most important decision of his life to become a Christian and a follower of his savior, | ||
| Jesus Christ. | ||
| Inspired by faith and his love of freedom. | ||
| Charlie did something remarkable when he was just 18 years old on the advice of a mentor who told him to put off going to college because he was doing so well. | ||
| He devoted his life to converting young people to the conservative cause. | ||
| How did he do? | ||
| Take a look. | ||
|
unidentified
|
How did he do? | |
| In 2012, two days after graduating high school, and with just $1,800 at his pocket, the young man from Illinois, who no one had ever heard of, started an organization whose grand ambitions were captured in its name. | ||
| Turning Point USA. | ||
| Great name. | ||
| And I have a feeling it's going to be bigger and better than ever before. | ||
| Does that make sense? | ||
| It's going to be bigger and better than ever before. | ||
| Look at what's happening. | ||
| Twelve years ago, Charlie walked onto his first college campus, the very liberal University of Wisconsin at Madison. | ||
| He set up a card table and put up a sign with three words. | ||
| Could you believe that? | ||
| That's Charlie. | ||
| That day Charlie talked to every student who approached him, most of whom were probably quite a bit older than he was. | ||
| Finally, after many hours, he found the first ever turning point. | ||
| Chapter leader. | ||
| His first year out of high school, Charlie traveled 300 days raising money and taking his message to campuses all over the country. | ||
| He lived out of his parents' basement. | ||
| And they actually loved having him there. | ||
| They loved Charlie. | ||
| Everybody loved Charlie. | ||
| And on the couches of friends and supporters, he lived off couches for two years, three years, then life started getting a little bit different. | ||
| But he was always the same. | ||
| For five years he refused to take a paycheck, but day after day he worked from 5 a.m. in the morning till 11 p.m. in the evening, always. | ||
| His staff remembers that he wore Walmart jeans and t-shirts from the Goodwill store. | ||
| Remember the goodwill store. | ||
| It wasn't easy, but Charlie wasn't in it for money at all, never has been. | ||
| Money was never his thing. | ||
| He was always in it for the mission. | ||
| As he liked to say, even back then, we have a country to save. | ||
| We just what he did. | ||
| He'd call me all the time. | ||
| Sir, we have our country to save. | ||
| I said, Charlie, thanks very much for telling me that. | ||
| I appreciate it. | ||
| Charlie volunteered for my 2016 campaign and traveled the nation with my son Don and Eric. | ||
| I got to know him very well and saw immediately that Charlie was actually a master builder, master builder of people. | ||
| It was Charlie who first started organizing young black conservatives, hungry for support and leadership. | ||
| It was Charlie who stood up for persecuted Christians and Jews on college campuses. | ||
| It was Charlie who helped bring online censorship, free speech, and cancel culture to the four of our political debate. | ||
| He was right up there with me. | ||
| It was Charlie who helped unite MAGA. | ||
| And you know what M-A-H-A is? | ||
| That's right. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Make America healthy again. | |
| And tomorrow we're going to have one of the biggest announcements really medically. | ||
| I think in the history of our country, we're going to be doing it with Bobby and Oz and all of the professionals. | ||
| I think you're going to find it to be amazing. | ||
| I think we found an answer to autism. | ||
| How about that? | ||
| Autism tomorrow. | ||
| We're going to be talking in the Oval Office in the White House about autism, how it happens, so we won't let it happen anymore. | ||
| And how to get at least somewhat better when you have it, so that parents Can help their child, their beautiful child. | ||
| That's a big one. | ||
| I've been I've been bugging everybody over there. | ||
| Get the answer to that. | ||
| You know, uh 20 years ago, one in 10,000 were born with autism. | ||
| Twenty years ago. | ||
| The most recent survey says one in twelve. | ||
| How bad is that? | ||
| That's for young boys, baby boys, but also uh girls, a little bit better. | ||
| It's about one in 20, but we can't, because obviously there was something really wrong, and we think we know what that is, and it's gonna be. | ||
| I think it's going to be one of the most important news conferences I'll ever have. | ||
| And I look so forward to it. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| And you know who else looked forward to it? | ||
| Because he knew I'd tell him a little bit about what was going on. | ||
| Was Charlie, he would have been front row center, believe me. | ||
| We'll be missing him tomorrow. | ||
| It was such a big deal for him, too. | ||
| He brought together Donald Trump, Bobby Kennedy, right here in the great state of Arizona one year ago. | ||
| Remember that? | ||
| What a what a night, what a day that was. | ||
| And it was Charlie who was among the first to speak to me about a man from Ohio by the name of J.D. Vence. | ||
| Have you ever heard of him? | ||
| So no good job. | ||
| But Charlie would often call me, sometimes the night before a big event, the other side of the country, and he'd ask me and say, uh, do you think you could come and speak at the event the following day, right? | ||
| I'd say, Charlie, I give me a break. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I'm the president of the United States. | |
| You want me to travel four hours by play? | ||
| And you know, sometimes I did it. | ||
| He was a very good guy, he was a very convincing guy. | ||
| He didn't stop, but but he would ask for things like that. | ||
| Sir, could you be uh tomorrow in California? | ||
| They said, Charlie, give me a break, please. | ||
| He just wouldn't stop, and he succeeded. | ||
| But I almost always went because you never wanted to let Charlie down. | ||
| He he worked so hard, you just didn't want to let him down. | ||
| I felt guilty. | ||
| He'd make me feel very guilty. | ||
| As president, many people asked me for things, but Charlie was one of the few who always gave more than he took. | ||
| He was a giver much more than a taker. | ||
| And no matter how big Charlie became, no one was too small for him to notice. | ||
| He was good to everybody, didn't matter. | ||
| Several years ago, a fourth grader asked Charlie to appear on his podcast, which was probably only watched by the parents of that fourth grader. | ||
| And Charlie, who was actually pretty hot at the time, to be honest, he agreed, and the boy asked for advice. | ||
| Charlie replied, the left, the left. | ||
| I call it the radical left. | ||
| I call it sometimes the radical left lunatics. | ||
| But Charlie didn't say that, he called it the left. | ||
| He was probably right, but I can't help it. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I can't help. | |
| So he said the left, radical left lunatics, may have all the money in the world, but they can never outwork me. | ||
| I will wake up as early as I need to about himself. | ||
| I will stay up as late as I need to, and I will never stop fighting for our country. | ||
| And he did this until his dying breath. | ||
| That's what he was doing. | ||
| That's what he was doing. | ||
| Think of it. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Wow. | |
| What a horrible moment. | ||
| I was in the Oval Office when I heard they came in, and I it was like a surreal experience, a terrible, terrible. | ||
| I had some very big people in the Oval Office. | ||
| And I was in the midst of a very important conversation for our country. | ||
| Big people, the biggest. | ||
| When they told me that, they told me in front of a group of very powerful people. | ||
| I said, You have to leave now, right now, please. | ||
| Right now. | ||
| You have to leave. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Go. | |
| By his own determination and skill, Charlie Kirk built turning point from his humble beginnings, the beginnings that nobody believed could ever end up something like this, into a great movement and a juggernaut of American politics. | ||
| And you know, we have a massive stadium loaded up with people, but he got tremendous crowds before he had this kind of horrible news, and before we had to hear what happened so terribly. | ||
| He delivered more than 250 speeches a year at over 200 colleges and universities. | ||
| And that was at a time when it was not really vogue to go to colleges and universities if you were a conservative. | ||
| It really took great courage. | ||
| And we used to talk, and I said, you know, I think they're much more conservative than we know. | ||
| And he agreed, but it just wasn't something that was happening because the radical left would do very bad things, very dangerous things. | ||
| But Charlie set up chapters on 2,200 campuses and spoke at more than one thousand churches. | ||
| He launched a podcast and radio show that grew to an audience of one million Americans a day, one of the bigger shows on radio. | ||
| And Charlie didn't just bring young people into the movement. | ||
| All of a sudden, it started to grow by leaps and bounds by 2024. | ||
| We won more young people than any Republican candidate in the history of our country, including for the first time, a majority of males under 30. | ||
| Can you believe it? | ||
| Remember when Republican presidential candidates would get four percent? | ||
| No, we did unbelievably with young people, and he was a big big factor, unbelievable. | ||
| But he made me work for it. | ||
| Sir, you have to make a speech here, you have to make a speech there. | ||
| But we did it, and we won, and our country is doing unbelievably well now. | ||
| We had a country that was dead one year ago, and now we have the hottest country anywhere in the world, and Charlie helped us make it that one of one of the great people. | ||
| But through it all, the core of Charlie's message and his basic method never changed. | ||
| It never really changed. | ||
| He stayed the same person also at every campus event. | ||
| Charlie asked the people who disagreed with him to come forward, and instead of silencing them, he handed them a microphone and let them speak. | ||
| And he'd convinced so many of them. | ||
| It was pretty amazing thing to watch, actually. | ||
| Shortly before Charlie arrived on campus, the day he was assassinated. | ||
| A staff member texted him that there were many critics and students who were opposed to his views, and rather strenuously in the crowd, and that actually made him feel good because he he wanted to convince them. | ||
| He understood. | ||
| He really did. | ||
| He understood what was right, and he was right about that. | ||
| A lot of it was based on common sense, by the way. | ||
| Charlie wrote back to the staff member, saying, I'm not here to fight them. | ||
| I want to know them and love them, and I want to reach them and try and lead them into a great way of life in our country. | ||
| In that private moment on his dying day, we find everything we need to know about who Charlie Kirk truly was. | ||
| He was a missionary with a noble spirit and a great, great purpose. | ||
| He did not hate his opponents, he wanted the best for them. | ||
| That's where I disagreed with Charlie. | ||
| And I don't want the best for them. | ||
| I'm sorry. | ||
| I am sorry, Erica. | ||
| But now Erica Can talk to me and the whole group, and maybe they can convince me that that's not right, but I can't stand my opponent. | ||
| Charlie's angry. | ||
| Looking down, he's angry at me now. | ||
| He wasn't interested in demonizing anyone. | ||
| He was interested in persuading everyone to the ideas and principles he believed were good, right, and true. | ||
| Before each appearance, he prayed these words. | ||
| God used me for your will. | ||
| Always said the same thing. | ||
| Excuse me for your will. | ||
| And that is exactly what God did. | ||
| When you think, that's exactly what he did. | ||
| The more success Charlie had, and he was getting more and more successful, the more dangerous his mission became. | ||
| On campuses all over the country, his quest for open dialogue was met with menacing hate. | ||
| There were bomb threats, pulled fire alarms, and countless rage-filled radicals who tried to shout him down. | ||
| It was nasty. | ||
| I used to say, Charlie, this is nasty stuff you do it. | ||
| At what event police had to build barricades to protect students from an angry mob of thugs. | ||
| Many of these people, by the way, are paid a lot of money to do this. | ||
| They're agitators, they're paid agitators. | ||
| Remember that? | ||
| When you see they all have the same beautifully printed sign. | ||
| Every sign is identical, comes out of a top-level print shop. | ||
| That's not the signs that are made in somebody's basement. | ||
| Those are paid for by very bad people, and hopefully we're going to be finding out through the DOJ who those people are. | ||
| At another college, Antifa terrorists shattered windows, through rocks, and tried to storm the building where Charlie was speaking. | ||
| It was a really bad one. | ||
| Often dozens of police officers were needed to prevent left-wing violence. | ||
| And the violence comes largely from the left. | ||
| You don't hear that from too many people, do you? | ||
| And virtually every day for years, before he was murdered, Charlie received these horrible death threats. | ||
| People don't know. | ||
| I used to talk to him about it. | ||
| He said, I got some threats. | ||
| He always felt that when they actually made the threat, they were not the ones to worry about. | ||
| The ones to worry about were the ones that don't make their threats. | ||
| But he and I shared a certain motto, never back down and never ever surrender. | ||
| Just don't surrender, never back down. | ||
| He believed in it so strongly. | ||
| So strongly. | ||
| And he's right. | ||
| He's totally, he's totally right. | ||
| The radicals and their allies in the media, sometimes referred to as my son said, the fake news media, tried to silence Charlie for a simple reason, because he was winning and he was winning big. | ||
| He was taking over college campuses. | ||
| Colleges that had, in theory, only very liberal, or as they like to say, progressive. | ||
| I call them liberal. | ||
| But they like to call themselves because such a beautiful word, progressive. | ||
| They're the opposite of progressive, if you think about it. | ||
| But they were really nasty, and he would go into these colleges. | ||
| All of a sudden, within two years, three years, they turned into bastions of conservatism. | ||
| It was really quite amazing to see. | ||
| They lied about him because they did not want you to listen to him or to learn from him because what he was talking about and even preaching made so much sense. | ||
| Everywhere he went, he won the debates, he won the hearts, he won the minds, and yes, he won the elections for people. | ||
| He helped us, he helped other people. | ||
| We won the biggest election in the history of our country, I believe. | ||
| Charlie Kirk was without a doubt among the most influential figures in the most important election in the history of our country. | ||
| The election of, oh, that beautiful day, November 5th, 2024. | ||
| Do you remember that day? | ||
| It was nine months ago. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| What a day that was. | ||
| I mean, we had a pretty good day in the first one. | ||
| And I must tell you, on the second one, we had a phenomenal day. | ||
| But a lot of bad things happened. | ||
| And now that's not even questioned. | ||
| They cheated like dogs. | ||
| But we got them back, didn't we? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Huh? | |
| Got them back. | ||
| But we owe Charlie a profound and eternal debt of gratitude now. | ||
| Just like Charlie and Erica made turning point hot. | ||
| We are looking at a country that has the chance to attain a level like never before. | ||
| Tariffs are making us rich again, richer than anybody ever thought was possible. | ||
| And the only one challenging them are people that hate our country or foreign countries that are paying a price because they did the same thing to us for years. | ||
| They took advantage of us, but we're we're making money. | ||
| We're becoming richer and richer, and we're taking care of our people better and better when we do that. | ||
| And we can take care of other countries better and better. | ||
| But we're doing unbelievably well. | ||
| The tariffs have really been a whole. | ||
| The election was big, but the tariffs because of the election came in. | ||
| And remember, other nations do that to us. | ||
| And Charlie understood that. | ||
| He saw the money. | ||
| He saw what was coming into our country, and we can use that for Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, all of these things that we fight so hard for, and that's exactly what's happening. | ||
| The numbers are incredible. | ||
| When the news finally came out on election night last November that the race was officially won, came out pretty early in the night. | ||
| Charlie was live on camera. | ||
| In that moment, he was overcome with emotion. | ||
| I've never seen him like this. | ||
| He was so happy. | ||
| For a long while, he said nothing. | ||
| His eyes were filled with tears. | ||
| And then he buried his face in his hands, and he started crying. | ||
| That wasn't the Charlie I'd I knew, but in thinking about it, it actually was the Charlie I knew because he had a tremendous heart. | ||
| He just wanted what was good for our country, and he saw us going in such a horrible direction. | ||
| Lovingly, Eric, and this was so beautiful. | ||
| Erica put a MAGA hat on to cover his bowed head. | ||
| I like that very much, MAGA. | ||
| We love does everybody love MAGA? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Make America Great Again. | |
| When Joe Biden used to get up, remember the speeches? | ||
| We will stop MAGA. | ||
| We will stop MAGA. | ||
| You know, he could barely get the words out. | ||
| We will stop. | ||
| I said, can somebody inform him the MAGA means make America great again? | ||
| How do you say you're gonna stop it? | ||
| And Charlie understood that when Charlie finally looked up and spoke, he smiled through the watery eyes and simply said, I am humbled by God's grace. | ||
| That was his statement that night. | ||
| I w I was watching him. | ||
| I was very impressed, actually. | ||
| It showed he had a big heart. | ||
| Every single American should take a long hard look at the twisted soul and dark spirit of anyone who would want to kill a young man as good as Charlie to kill anybody, but to kill a man like this, he didn't deserve this. | ||
| He didn't deserve this. | ||
| Our country didn't deserve this, and anyone who would make excuses for it are just out of their mind. | ||
| Charlie's murder was not just an attack on one man or one movement, it was an attack on our entire nation. | ||
| That was a horrible attack on the United States of America. | ||
| It was an assault on our most sacred liberties and God-given rights. | ||
| The gun was pointed at him, but the bullet was aimed at all of us. | ||
| That bullet was aimed at every one of us. | ||
| Indeed, Charlie was killed for expressing the very ideas that virtually everyone in this arena and most other places throughout our country deeply believed in. | ||
| But the assassin failed in his quest because Charlie's message has not been silenced. | ||
| It now is bigger and better and stronger than ever Before, and it's not even close. | ||
| And it's rare that such a thing happens, but Charlie is bigger today than he was. | ||
| Think about it, just two weeks ago. | ||
| He's bigger today than he was two weeks ago. | ||
| Now, that may not help his friends and loved ones, of which there are so many. | ||
| It may not help Erica and those beautiful children who have to suffer so horribly through this moment, but they know it's true. | ||
| He's bigger now than ever before, and he's eternal. | ||
| He's eternal. | ||
| And I just want to say we love him. | ||
| And he's looking down at us right now, and he's saying, Wow, that's a great crowd. | ||
| He's saying that's a great crowd. | ||
| And it's a great crowd of patriots. | ||
| But that's why I will soon award Charlie the nation's highest civilian honor, the presidential medal of freedom. | ||
| It's the highest civilian honor. | ||
| And we will do the ceremony at our beautiful White House in a very safe Washington, DC. | ||
| A place that Charlie truly revered. | ||
| Yeah, we stopped the crime in Washington, took 12 days. | ||
| Now you can go to restaurants, you can walk down the middle of the street with your wife. | ||
| You can have your wife walk alone down the middle of the street. | ||
| She's gonna be in good shape. | ||
| What a difference. | ||
| What a difference good management really makes. | ||
| But it's uh I'm so proud of that, Washington, D.C. You know, it's one of the worst in the nation in the world. | ||
| And now it's considered a very safe city, and uh it's also I passed it yesterday, I went through it, and the and the lawns are good, the I it's uh like a different place. | ||
| It's like the tents are gone, the threats are gone, the gangs aren't there. | ||
| We got rid of, you know, we took out 1,500 career criminals, 1,500. | ||
| If you have three career criminals, that can make a big difference. | ||
| But I'm so proud of Washington, D.C., and now we're going into Memphis, and we'll get that one straightened out fast, and then we're going into some others, but we're gonna go to Chicago, and we're gonna have Charlie very much in mind when we go into Chicago, and we'll get that one straightened out. | ||
| You have an incompetent governor who he thinks it's okay when eleven people get murdered over the weekend. | ||
| He thinks you don't have any crime when eleven people get murdered, and 28 people get shot. | ||
| He says he's got crime. | ||
| No, they don't have it under control, but we'll have it under control very quickly, so we're gonna be doing that. | ||
| And Charlie loved what we were doing. | ||
| He was so proud of what happened, he was there to see it. | ||
| He's so proud of what happened in Washington, DC. | ||
| As you know, the depraved assassin who planned and executed Charlie's killing has been arrested and charged with capital murder. | ||
| God willing, he will receive the full and ultimate punishment for his horrific crime, it's a terrible thing. | ||
| Because you can't let that happen. | ||
| You can't let that happen. | ||
| Can't let it happen to a country. | ||
| The Department of Justice is also investigating networks of radical left maniacs who fund organized fuel and perpetrate political violence, and we think we know who many of them are. | ||
| But law enforcement can only be the beginning of our response to Charlie's murder. | ||
| Over the last 11 days, we have heard stories of commentators, influencers, and others in our society who greeted his assassination with sick approval, excuses or even jubilation. | ||
| You've heard that, so have I, couldn't believe it. | ||
| Some of the very same people who spent the last eight years trying to sit in moral judgment of anyone who disagreed with them about politics, suddenly started cheering for a murder. | ||
| Incredible. | ||
| You know the names. | ||
| They're uh Major losers, by the way, they'll be that will be proven out in a short period of time. | ||
| Some of the very people who call you a hater for using the wrong pronoun were filled with lee at the killing of a father with two beautiful young children. | ||
| And the same commentators who this week are screaming fascism over a canceled late night TV show where the anchor had no talent and no ratings. | ||
| Last week we're implying that Charlie Kirk deserved what happened to him. | ||
| No side in American politics as a monopoly on disturbed or misguided people. | ||
| But there's one part of our political community which believes they have a monopoly on truth, goodness, and virtue, and concludes they have also a monopoly on power, thought, and speech. | ||
| Well, that's not happening anymore. | ||
| We've turned that corner very quickly. | ||
| Tragically, atrocities of this kind and kind that we saw in Utah of all places are the eventual consequence of that kind of thinking. | ||
| If speech is violence, then some are bound to conclude that violence is justified to stop speech. | ||
| And we're not going to let that be justified. | ||
| The tradition of reason and open debate that Charlie practiced is not a pillar of our democracy. | ||
| In many ways, it's the basis of our entire society. | ||
| It's the right and inheritance of every free American, the greatest legacy of the enlightenment, and among the most treasured achievements of civilization. | ||
| We will defend it at all costs, and we will carry forward the torch of liberty that Charlie Kirk held so proud and so high. | ||
| He was so proud, and he did hold that torch high. | ||
| We will never ever let it fail. | ||
| We will never let it fail. | ||
| But we're going to raise it higher than ever before. | ||
| It's going to be raised, and this is the beginning. | ||
| Perhaps it should be no surprise that Charlie, who spent his life speaking with the critics of these traditions, ultimately became convinced that we needed not just a political realignment, but also a spiritual reawakening. | ||
| did. | ||
| And we have to bring back religion to America because without borders, law and order and religion, you really don't have a country anymore. | ||
| We want religion brought back to America. | ||
| We want to bring God back into our beautiful USA like never before. | ||
| We want God back. | ||
| Charlie would have been so pleased to hear his friends and colleagues today giving testimony and giving glory to God. | ||
| Within minutes of the gunshot in Utah, millions of Americans, young and old, heard the news and dropped to their knees and started praying. | ||
| Even many who rarely prayed, ask God for a miracle. | ||
| Please, God, save Charlie. | ||
| But although Charlie's time with us on earth is ended, those prayers for a miracle have already been answered. | ||
| Look at what's happening. | ||
| Look at what's happening. | ||
| In the days since Charlie's death, we have seen how his legacy has touched so many millions around the world. | ||
| In Calgary, Canada, thousands gathered at City Hall to sing the American national anthem and raise up posters with the name Charlie Kirk. | ||
| In Seoul, South Korea crowds gathered to wave American flags and shout, we are for Charlie Kirk. | ||
| His memory has been honored in the streets of Berlin, Warsaw, Vienna, Sydney, Madrid, London, Tel Aviv, and all over the world. | ||
| So beautiful to watch. | ||
| A man as far away as rural Australia texted a pastor, I'm going to come to church tomorrow for the first time ever. | ||
| The pastor is, why is that? | ||
| The man replied, because of Charlie Kirk. | ||
| Can you imagine? | ||
| The lesson of Charlie's life is that you should never underestimate what one person can do with a good heart, a righteous cause, a cheerful spirit, and the will to fight, fight, fight. | ||
| have to fight. | ||
|
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We're saving our country. | |
| And Charlie's a big factor, such a big factor. | ||
| Charlie Kirk started with only an idea to change minds on college campuses. | ||
| And instead, he ended up with a far greater achievement. | ||
| Changing history. | ||
| Today Charlie Kirk rests in glory in heaven for all eternity. | ||
| He has gone from speaking on campuses in Wisconsin to kneeling at the throne of God where he is right now. | ||
| We grieve for the friend and leader that we have lost. | ||
| But we go forward strengthened by his faith and bolstered by his courage and inspired by his example to defend the country he lived for, for the freedoms he died for, and the values in which he so deeply believed. | ||
| Charlie created something very special. | ||
| It's called Turning Point USA. | ||
| and under the leadership and love of Erica, it will become bigger and better and stronger than ever before. | ||
| So Charlie, we all want to thank you. | ||
| We want to say a very loud God bless you, Charlie. | ||
| God God bless you for what you've done is credible. | ||
| And God bless Erica and the children. | ||
| God bless the United States of America. | ||
| And could I ask Erica, please come out? | ||
| Erika, please come out. | ||
|
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Thank you. | |
| Thank you very much, everybody. | ||
| Thank you very much. | ||
| And good luck. | ||
| God be with you. |
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