America Will Never Be The Same After Charlie Kirk’s Assassination

The last time I saw my friend Charlie Kirk in person was when I appeared with him on stage at the TPUSA pastor’s summit back in the spring. I spoke with him backstage beforehand and told him, as I had several times before, that I was incredibly impressed by this institution and movement that he built. But he wasn’t interested in listening to me compliment him. He deflected, as always, and started asking me about myself and saying nice and encouraging things.

A few months before that, in the wake of Trump’s victory, Charlie made a point of posting something to X to give me credit for helping Trump win. It was one of the very few times that I’ve disagreed with something Charlie said. The truth is that he was the primary reason why Trump won. It was his organizing and advocacy and activism and mobilization that helped to turn the tide. And yet he wanted to give the credit to other people, even people who didn’t deserve it. That’s the kind of guy that Charlie was. A rare type in the world today. Even rarer in this business. It may seem like a small thing. But Charlie’s desire to give other people credit, to point to and praise and lift up other people rather than himself, is one of the most profound testaments to his character.

Charlie was truly a great man. Great in personal virtue. Great in achievement. Great in his talents. He was a builder, an organizer, and a fighter — a rare combination. In this movement, you have a bunch of big personalities who can inform, entertain, and hold your attention on stage or in front of a camera. And then you have the organizers who know how to orchestrate and build, harness those personalities and point them in the right direction. Charlie was the only guy I ever knew who was truly great in both areas. He was a one of a kind talent. Everyone who knew him — and so many who did not know him personally — could tell that he was destined to be the President of the United States one day. I would have been proud to vote for him. Tens of millions of Americans felt the same way.

Charlie was brave. He would go anywhere and talk to anyone. He would debate anyone in any environment. He trusted in his own vast rhetorical skill, and in the rightness of his ideas. Most of all, as a man of deep faith, he trusted in the Lord. I don’t know if he had Isaiah 41:10 written as a mantra in his house somewhere, but it certainly seemed to be written on his heart. “Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” He knew that the Lord was with him, protecting him, guiding his thoughts and his words. Which is really the only way to explain Charlie’s nearly supernatural ability to win every debate he ever had with anyone. God had called him to this moment, and blessed him as he rose to it, again and again.

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Charlie was a patriot. He loved America. He fought for her every day. And he died for her. His central ambition was not for his own personal advancement but for the well being and flourishing of this country. For Charlie, make America great again was not a slogan on a hat. It was his mission, his great project. He did more to complete that mission than you could ever expect one man to do. Most importantly of all, of course, Charlie was a husband and a father. He loved his family dearly. You didn’t have to know him or ever meet him in person to know that about him. It came across in everything he said and did. This was a man who cherished his family. And would have died to make a better world for them. And did.

Now he’s gone. We have seen him die right in front of our eyes, on stage. He died while trying to have a free and civil debate, which is all the he ever did. He didn’t insult. He didn’t defame. He didn’t shout anyone down. He invited everyone to come and speak to him, to prove him wrong. And for that, they killed him. I have to tell you that, as a fellow conservative in the public eye, I always worried that it would come to this. That eventually they would start killing us. But I never thought it would be Charlie. He was the nicest, most generous and charitable of us. Far less inflammatory than plenty of other people in this space, myself included. And they killed him in spite of that. Or not in spite, but because. He was too effective. Too widely beloved, especially among the younger generations. So they killed him.

I can only be honest with you in this moment and tell you that I am sad, I am heartbroken, and I am full of rage. If you want a kumbaya message of unity and togetherness, you will not get it from me. Over the past 24 hours, I have seen some in the media — some of the very same people who intentionally stoked murderous hatred against people like Charlie Kirk — now saying that we need to “turn the temperature down” and “start having conservations.” Well, Charlie tried to have conversations with you on the Left. And you killed him for it. You’re killing us in our churches. You tried to kill our president. You killed one of our greatest advocates in Charlie Kirk. You have been openly cheering for and celebrating and encouraging and committing political violence for years. Antifa. BLM. Well-funded, highly-orchestrated, widespread movements based in and fueled by violence. You made a hero out of Luigi Mangione. And you celebrate Charlie’s death even now. It is too late to turn the temperature down. This is not a time to hold hands. It’s a time for justice. It’s a time for good to fight back against evil. It is a time for the righteous to prevail. For the sake of our country. For our children. For Charlie.

Many of you have seen all of the myriad posts and videos from leftist demons celebrating Charlie’s death. I know we want to tell ourselves that these are fringe voices, but they aren’t. There is a very large group of people out there who want us dead. Even in congress they tried to have a moment of silence after Charlie’s passing but Democrats jeered and heckled. This is who they are. Not on the fringes, but in the main. They could not possibly make themselves any clearer about it. 

But I do want to say this. When I see these rodents gloating now over the death of my friend, I am of course disgusted by it. Yet also, I truly see it as a powerful tribute to Charlie’s life and work. Charlie had many friends who loved him dearly. Many fans who adored and admired him. That is, without a doubt, the greatest testament to the sort of man he was. But as a true culture warrior, it must be said that the evil gloating of his enemies are accolades in their own right. May we all be so successful and productive that our enemies celebrate when we die. May we all be so devastating to the Leftist project that they long for our demise. May we all fight so hard and so effectively that they have no choice but to try to kill us. May our lives be a problem for these people, and our deaths a relief. Let them dance on my grave, as they dance on Charlie’s. Then I will know that I did my duty. Our opponent should be happy when we leave the ring. If they aren’t, then we didn’t punch hard enough.

Charlie punched harder than anyone. He did it with a smile. He did it through speech and debate. But he was a devastating fighter all the same. And his opponents are overjoyed because they think they’ve gotten rid of him. But they’re wrong. They’ve gravely misjudged the situation. The only thing more powerful than a living fighter is a martyred one. In life, Charlie motivated and rallied us to put on the armor of God and fight for what we believe in. In death, he motivates and rallies us all the more. I want to be very clear that we will not back down after this. We will not shrink away or go into hiding. We will not fall silent. We will not walk in fear. We will stand taller and prouder than we ever have, and be louder and bolder than we’ve ever been, and fight harder than we’ve ever fought. They think they can kill the movement by killing us. But in the entire history of the world that strategy has never worked. And it won’t work now. I promise you that.

You can kill a man. You can shoot him in the neck on stage. You can spill his blood for the whole world to see. But you cannot kill a cause. Especially when that cause is nothing else but love of God, love of country, love of family. That cause is truth. You can’t kill the truth. No matter how many of us you shoot. You cannot kill it.

Many of us — conservatives on the public stage — have seen the death threats and death wishes over the lasts several hours. Leftists across social media are making their wishlist of who they’d like to see assassinated next. I’m often on the list. Ben is on it. Many other names. I do think the chances of a copycat event are very high. And that is why I feel it’s important for me to say that I will not backdown. I am not going to hide. None of us will. If we backdown, then the demons who killed Charlie will win. And they cannot win. They will not win.

A day before his death, Charlie posted a picture of Iryna, the young woman who was killed on the light rail in Charlotte, and added a short caption. “America will never be the same,” he wrote. Amen, my friend. You had no idea how right you were. America will never be the same. It will be better. Thanks in large part to your work, your legacy, and your example, America will ultimately be better. But there is a lot more to be done in the mean time. The fight continues. You finished your race, Charlie. You fought the good fight. You kept the faith. Now we will take it from here. And we won’t give up until the work is done. You can rest in peace, knowing that. Godspeed.