Glenn Beck’s poetic tribute to Charlie Kirk sparks the next phase for fearless leadership

Yesterday, Charlie Kirk, beloved conservative voice and founder of Turning Point USA, was shot and killed by a gunman while speaking at an event for his American Comeback Tour on the Utah Valley University campus in Orem, Utah.

The news of his death has shaken conservative America to its core.

“I’ve only felt this way one time before,” Glenn Beck says. “I had just signed a contract with Premiere Radio Networks, and my show was to begin on January 1, 2002. And then tragedy struck at the World Trade Center, and I was called and told, ‘You start tomorrow.’”

“I spent most of the day and the night by my bedside praying for the words to share with you on that day. I spent most of the day yesterday in that same position. I pray that the words that I need to speak to you today come from Him and that you hear them,” he says through tears.

“There are moments when words from another age suddenly feel as though they were written for this moment,” Glenn says.

He references the famous 1947 poem by Dylan Thomas titled “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night,” which is written from the perspective of a son pleading with his ailing father to fight against impending death.

“Do not go gentle into that good night / Rage, rage against the dying of the light,” the speaker beseeches.

Thomas’ words are “a mandate for all of us,” Glenn says. “Do not go quietly when truth is on the line. Do not surrender. Do not surrender to the shadows, even when — and especially if — you think the battle can no longer be won.”

“Charlie Kirk lived that mandate. He knew the cost of speaking unpopular truths. He knew the fury of those who wanted him silenced. But Charlie pressed on. In his short life, he embodied that defiance.”

But he did it not with hatred or vengeance but with “the kind of righteous defiance that has always marked those who refuse to bow to the idols of our age,” Glenn says.

Like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams, who “raged against the certainty of an empire,” knowing full well that “the gallows awaited them,” Charlie Kirk fearlessly fought the encroaching darkness of our time.

“Every single generation is called to resist the temptation to go quietly into the good night. It’s just our turn,” Glenn says.

He compares Charlie’s shocking death to “a knockout punch ... another body blow in a season that is already heavy with grief.”

But we are not out of the game. If anything, Charlie’s death is a rally call — a cry for courage and strength in the face of unspeakable evil.

“I am here to tell you, if his life meant anything, it’s this: Silence in the face of darkness is not an option,” Glenn says.

“He did not go gently. He stood. He spoke. He challenged. He knew, as Dylan Thomas wrote, that even the wise men and the good men must resist the dying of the light because surrender only hastens the darkness.”

“Today, that mantle falls to us — to me, to you, to every single person alive today that hears my voice,” he says.

“You and I cannot drift into the shadows. We cannot sit quietly while freedom fades. This is our moment to rage. But rage not with hatred ... not with anger, but with courage. Rage not in violence, but in truth-telling. Rage against the lies, against the apathy, against the hopelessness that says there is nothing you can do,” he continued.

“There is always something you can do,” Glenn encourages.

“The most defiant act in an age when the world throws hate around like it could be purchased in any dime store or 7-Eleven is an act of kindness. When you offer nothing but love, kindness, and the unrelenting truth, those are the flames in the night. Those are the flames that hold back the darkness.”

“My friend Charlie Kirk carried that torch. He was forced to lay it down yesterday. And it is ours to pick up.”

To hear Glenn’s full response, watch the episode above.

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