Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Charlie Kirk： My Friend

00:00:00.280 Hey y'all, yesterday's episode had already been recorded and scheduled before the news

00:00:07.360 of yesterday.

00:00:08.780 Tomorrow's episode has already been recorded, so I wanted to take a special moment today

00:00:16.600 on this Thursday to pay tribute to Charlie Kirk, a fierce defender of the Christian faith,

00:00:24.280 a patriot in the truest sense of the word, a devoted husband to Erica, a loving father

00:00:32.320 to his two young children, a friend to so many people, including to me.

00:00:40.580 In 2017, when I was brand new to media and Charlie was already a rising star in the conservative

00:00:49.240 world, he invited me to speak at Turning Point's second annual Young Women's Leadership Summit.

00:00:57.880 And at the end of 2019, after a speech I gave at another Turning Point conference, he got

00:01:05.360 me and he asked me to meet with him and some of his staff, and they pulled me into a room

00:01:11.560 and he said, so when are you due?

00:01:13.760 Because I was three months pregnant at the time.

00:01:15.920 And he asked because he wanted to see if I would be willing to help plan and host that

00:01:21.780 year's Young Women's Leadership Summit.

00:01:24.080 And I said, yes, absolutely.

00:01:26.740 Even knowing the event was three weeks before my due date, as you can see there in that picture,

00:01:34.180 I knew that if Charlie was leading it, then no matter what, that it was worth doing.

00:01:42.340 Um, I am one of thousands of people who can say that Charlie believed in me, he platformed

00:01:51.980 me, he helped shape me long before I had done anything impressive.

00:01:56.740 Um, in politics, most people are only kind to you when you can give them something in return.

00:02:03.580 And Charlie just never played that game.

00:02:06.800 He was generous to people because that's just who he was.

00:02:12.180 That's who he was to everyone.

00:02:14.380 In 2022, we spoke to Auburn students together.

00:02:18.140 We fielded questions.

00:02:19.700 We argued for the Christian and conservative position on different issues.

00:02:24.020 And then toward the end of our talk, a young woman came up to the mic.

00:02:28.740 She was adversarial.

00:02:29.980 She was angry.

00:02:31.040 She believed Charlie was racist because of things that he had said about crime, about

00:02:36.020 fatherlessness.

00:02:37.480 And he responded to her.

00:02:39.200 I remember I got to watch this up close in true Charlie fashion with precision, with boldness,

00:02:45.200 but most of all with gentleness.

00:02:47.560 And as I was preparing this this morning, I almost wrote that Charlie treated everyone

00:02:53.460 the same.

00:02:54.680 But then I remembered that exchange that night and I realized that is not true.

00:03:00.520 He was loving toward his friends, but he went out of his way to show even more grace to the

00:03:06.840 people that considered themselves his enemies.

00:03:09.560 At his campus events, the people who disagreed with him went to the front of the line.

00:03:14.980 He listened to them, nodded in understanding.

00:03:18.400 He would shush the booing crowd.

00:03:20.120 He would silence anyone who laughed.

00:03:22.760 And he always addressed their questions with respect.

00:03:26.460 And then there were people who would ask him questions who didn't know whether they agreed

00:03:30.860 with him or not.

00:03:31.660 They just had a genuine curiosity they wanted answered.

00:03:35.920 And he treated those people with so much sweetness and patience.

00:03:41.640 And yesterday I came across one of those exchanges.

00:03:45.500 Here it is.

00:03:45.920 Saw one.

00:03:46.780 How are you?

00:03:47.460 What a beautiful kid that is.

00:03:48.820 Thank you.

00:03:49.420 What a gift from God.

00:03:50.480 She truly is.

00:03:51.860 She is the biggest blessing.

00:03:53.380 Something that kind of has me like on the fence of whether or not I go kind of like full

00:03:57.700 blown, more like conservative or moderate is just seeing how high.

00:04:03.740 Give it up.

00:04:04.480 That is a gift from the Lord.

00:04:05.640 Everybody.

00:04:06.000 That is just beautiful.

00:04:07.040 I see that, you know, we're starting to save a lot of money from things such as like

00:04:12.400 Doge.

00:04:13.320 But do you think that some of that money should go back to maybe like reforming the way that

00:04:17.780 welfare is done to help poor families who do want to kind of pursue that American dream?

00:04:23.080 Great question.

00:04:24.100 The number one objective of any social welfare program should be how do we keep the family

00:04:28.280 together and put dads back in the family?

00:04:31.180 Unfortunately, in the black community, dads are the most absent of any community.

00:04:35.240 About two thirds of all black youth will be raised without a stable father around. 0.79

00:04:39.300 And I know it's crazy, right?

00:04:42.540 And that that little precious angel of yours deserves to have a father around.

00:04:48.860 I have been in this sphere of the world for a while.

00:04:54.440 I have met and I've watched all different kinds of people.

00:04:59.720 And the sad reality is there are people who are not what they seem.

00:05:05.200 They project a character on your screen that does not actually match who they are in real

00:05:10.680 life.

00:05:11.360 And that was not Charlie.

00:05:14.480 Charlie was the real deal in every sense of the term.

00:05:18.880 For 13 years, Charlie worked with all kinds of people from high school students, college

00:05:23.620 volunteers, thousands of employees to the most powerful people in media and government.

00:05:29.740 And I have not met one person who has ever had anything negative to say about Charlie

00:05:36.220 Kirk.

00:05:36.940 No horror stories, no sketchy rumors, nothing.

00:05:40.400 He was never arrogant, though he could have been.

00:05:42.900 He was never bombastic, though he could have been.

00:05:45.800 He was steady.

00:05:47.080 He was above reproach.

00:05:49.420 Charlie was an incredible leader.

00:05:52.000 He was a strategic builder.

00:05:54.620 He knew how to build organizations and teams and projects that were lasting and effective.

00:06:00.880 And it wasn't just because he was brilliant, but because very simply, he was a good friend.

00:06:07.320 He was friends with everyone on the right, everyone, tons of people in the center, even people

00:06:13.600 on the left.

00:06:14.800 I mean, he embodied sharing the arrows.

00:06:17.200 If someone said something true and they were taking flack for it, no matter what they were

00:06:22.000 their political affiliation, Charlie was the first in their inbox, cheering them on.

00:06:27.680 Coleman Hughes is a center-left author who went viral when he argued for colorblindness

00:06:35.460 on The View.

00:06:37.380 And after Charlie died, he posted this.

00:06:42.280 He said, rest in peace, Charlie Kirk.

00:06:44.440 I don't know Charlie personally, but he sent me this message after I was on The View, and

00:06:49.720 this is what his message, this is what Charlie's message said.

00:06:53.960 Hey, Coleman, just watched your interview on The View.

00:06:57.080 Well done.

00:06:58.100 As I'm sure you're aware, I get accused of racism all the time.

00:07:02.180 I have been since I came into politics.

00:07:04.540 It doesn't bother me too much because I love all people.

00:07:08.240 My commentary is simply a reaction to our hyperfixation on race, which you are brilliantly

00:07:13.360 articulating from a leftist center POV.

00:07:17.520 And then he goes on to say, I pray for a saner racial discourse in America.

00:07:24.040 This is the kind of thing that Charlie did.

00:07:26.060 If you are a college student who is getting bullied for saying something true in class,

00:07:31.880 Charlie would find a way.

00:07:33.240 He would exhaust his network to find a way to reach you and to encourage you.

00:07:38.340 If you were a politician running for office and you were getting raked over the coals,

00:07:43.300 Charlie would go to bat for you.

00:07:45.260 He did this regardless of whether you liked him, regardless of whether you liked Trump,

00:07:50.140 whether you agreed with him on everything or not.

00:07:53.580 Charlie was always building bridges.

00:07:56.060 If he could find a single point of commonality with you, even if it was just the belief in

00:08:01.520 free speech, he would find a way to welcome you.

00:08:05.700 A month ago, I was on Fox with Charlie when he guest hosted Fox and Friends.

00:08:11.920 I hadn't been on that show in years, but Charlie got to choose his guest that day.

00:08:17.600 So I went on and we talked about the rise in Christian music, which included Forrest Frank.

00:08:24.040 And Forrest Frank then posted our segment on Instagram to his millions of followers.

00:08:29.580 And he got all kinds of hateful comments from people maligning both of us, but especially

00:08:35.780 Charlie as being some kind of radical.

00:08:39.520 So what did Charlie do?

00:08:40.560 He reached out to Forrest, not to defend himself, but just to encourage him to tell Forrest that

00:08:48.100 he's doing a great job and that he's cheering him on.

00:08:51.800 A couple of years ago, we spoke together at a big church in Phoenix and we got to do what

00:08:59.120 Charlie really loved.

00:09:00.560 More than debates, more than campaigning.

00:09:02.840 And that was defend the faith, his knowledge of the Bible, his relentless passion for truth

00:09:08.320 just absolutely overflowed into everything.

00:09:12.640 I could play you hours of footage of Charlie sharing the gospel over the years, but here's

00:09:18.520 one video I came across from a conversation with an atheist on a college campus.

00:09:26.200 Here it is.

00:09:27.240 Are you a Christian?

00:09:28.540 Very, very much so.

00:09:29.760 Like, why is that exactly?

00:09:30.920 Well, Jesus saved my life.

00:09:32.580 I'm a sinner, gave my life to Christ, most important decision I ever made.

00:09:35.400 So you believe the Bible is real? 0.57

00:09:36.960 Yes, I believe the Bible is true and real.

00:09:38.760 Why is that?

00:09:39.740 Well, I could give you the technical answer.

00:09:41.400 There's never been an archaeological discovery that has contradicted the truth of the Bible.

00:09:44.420 And then, of course, the wisdom.

00:09:45.640 There is not a truth of the Bible that if you apply to your life, your life does not improve

00:09:48.800 dramatically.

00:09:49.660 And then finally, we have the most accurate and transparent, historically robust account that

00:09:55.220 one can have of the most important figure ever to live in the history of the world,

00:09:58.780 Jesus of Nazareth.

00:09:59.440 And the resurrection is the pinpoint of my belief that Jesus did rise from the grave so

00:10:05.320 that we may live.

00:10:06.000 What makes Christian mythology real?

00:10:07.440 So that's not mythology, but that is theology.

00:10:10.160 If Genesis 1-1 and the resurrection is true, anything in the Bible is possible.

00:10:14.940 You're looking at the greatest miracle.

00:10:17.100 The greatest miracle is creation.

00:10:18.940 And then the fact that Jesus rose from the dead.

00:10:20.880 And I say, how do you know that Jesus rose from the dead?

00:10:22.580 Well, show me another historical piece of a story where so many people willingly died a

00:10:28.580 brutal death for a lie.

00:10:30.580 Every single person around him had everything to lose.

00:10:33.700 And yet they went to the absolute death from Paul to Peter to the half brother of James

00:10:37.540 saying that Jesus is Lord.

00:10:39.640 Jesus rose from the dead.

00:10:40.640 Not to mention, if you were going to fake a story, you would not use female witnesses in

00:10:43.920 the ancient world.

00:10:44.520 In the scriptures, it said that the women were the first one to see Jesus Christ.

00:10:48.740 If you're trying to fake a story, you would never do that.

00:10:52.100 I know if I could have texted Charlie this morning and asked him, hey, Charlie, I've got

00:10:59.280 this really tough subject to talk about today.

00:11:02.300 What do you think about it?

00:11:04.860 Is there anything I need to make sure that I say?

00:11:09.440 I know exactly what he'd tell me.

00:11:12.240 He would just have said, Jesus.

00:11:16.140 That's it.

00:11:16.860 Just point them to Jesus.

00:11:18.740 That was his heart.

00:11:21.120 That was his passion.

00:11:22.200 The drive behind everything he did.

00:11:24.440 It shaped the way he adored his wife, cherished his kids, led his organization, spoke to crowds.

00:11:30.360 It shaped the way he treated his friends.

00:11:33.420 If you look through X, you'll see all kinds of people sharing texts that they'd received

00:11:38.860 from Charlie.

00:11:39.860 Always words of encouragement.

00:11:43.160 Our text thread over the years is filled with the same kind of thing.

00:11:47.180 Short, but really meaningful exchanges.

00:11:50.600 A couple years ago, the Atlantic wrote a profile about me.

00:11:54.840 Actually, it was just last year.

00:11:56.740 It had some positive descriptions, but it also took some jabs.

00:12:01.760 As you can imagine, the reception from the Atlantic's audience was not kind.

00:12:07.180 What should have felt like this big accomplishment for me actually made me very anxious at the time.

00:12:12.940 But then I got this text from Charlie with a link to the article.

00:12:17.600 And he just said, huge honor.

00:12:20.480 Well done.

00:12:21.980 Keep slugging.

00:12:22.820 And when I got the news yesterday that Charlie had been shot, I, like everyone else, was in shock.

00:12:34.800 And my first thought was, that's it.

00:12:37.840 Like, I'm done.

00:12:39.020 We're all done.

00:12:40.740 We on the right thought that we were in this battle of ideas, and we're not.

00:12:44.960 We were wrong.

00:12:46.040 We're bringing words.

00:12:46.880 They're bringing weapons, and it's too scary.

00:12:50.840 And I talked to my dad, and he told me, Allie, you know, after all of this clears, you need to ask yourself,

00:12:57.880 what do you think Charlie would tell you to do?

00:13:03.040 And the truth is, I know exactly what he would say to me.

00:13:07.340 And what he'd say to all of us.

00:13:09.560 Keep slugging.

00:13:11.440 Keep going.

00:13:13.200 He'd say, don't stop.

00:13:14.700 Don't slow down.

00:13:15.780 Don't back down even for a second.

00:13:19.020 Our last exchange was him giving me advice for an opportunity I have.

00:13:24.480 One that, after this news from yesterday, I wanted to cancel.

00:13:31.100 But I know what he'd want me to do.

00:13:37.120 There's so much ugliness online right now.

00:13:40.560 People cheering on Charlie's murder, and I'm not going to highlight those people.

00:13:46.640 Instead, I'll just remind you of this.

00:13:49.740 That Charlie would not care one bit about what those people think.

00:13:55.280 He was extremely aware of the existence of evil and of spiritual warfare.

00:14:00.000 Demons are rejoicing right now.

00:14:03.600 Satan is glad that he took an effective soldier out of the fight,

00:14:06.840 and everyone who follows Satan feels the same way.

00:14:09.320 What an incredible honor. 0.98

00:14:13.640 May we all, when we die, make the demons rejoice.

00:14:18.220 May we all be so courageous, so bold, so effective, so faithful, so obedient to the Lord,

00:14:27.020 so relentless in the pursuit of his glory, that when we die, all of God's enemies cheer.

00:14:33.120 May they lament every breath we take.

00:14:38.000 May they be enraged by every mourning that our feet hit the floor.

00:14:42.960 May they wince at every word we say.

00:14:47.080 We don't wrestle against flesh and blood, my friends.

00:14:51.840 Ephesians 6.10-20 reminds us of this.

00:14:54.460 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

00:15:00.280 Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

00:15:05.620 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,

00:15:11.200 against the cosmic powers over this present darkness,

00:15:14.600 against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

00:15:17.540 Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day,

00:15:23.940 and having done all, to stand firm.

00:15:27.440 Stand, therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth,

00:15:30.620 and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

00:15:33.320 and as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.

00:15:37.960 In all circumstances, take up the shield of faith,

00:15:40.800 with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one,

00:15:44.260 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit,

00:15:48.080 which is the word of God, praying at all times in the spirit,

00:15:51.180 with all prayer and supplication.

00:15:53.540 To that end, keep alert with all perseverance,

00:15:56.980 making supplication for all the saints, and also for me,

00:16:00.360 that words may be given to me in opening my mouth,

00:16:04.040 boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel,

00:16:06.660 for which I am an ambassador in chains,

00:16:08.540 that I may declare it boldly as I ought to speak.

00:16:12.820 Charlie could have been anything.

00:16:15.020 With enough time, he would have been president.

00:16:17.060 There's no doubt in my mind about that.

00:16:20.220 That is, in part, why they killed him.

00:16:23.920 He's largely responsible for Trump winning and preserving

00:16:26.940 what's left of Western civilization.

00:16:29.940 Every day, he was adding droves of people to the side of goodness and truth,

00:16:34.760 but ultimately, they killed him,

00:16:37.480 not because he's presidential or because he's persuasive,

00:16:40.240 but because they hate God.

00:16:41.400 Now, I won't spend a bunch of time talking about the evils of progressivism right now.

00:16:47.540 There are people on the left who have condemned this violence,

00:16:50.540 but to those people and to everyone else,

00:16:53.200 I just want to say, wake up.

00:16:56.740 Wake up.

00:16:58.060 Whether it's the school shooting in Nashville or the one in Minnesota,

00:17:03.000 whether it is Trump's assassination attempt or the assassination of Charlie Kirk,

00:17:07.400 understand what we have been telling you for decades.

00:17:10.020 Leftism, as an ideology, is inherently anti-God and violent.

00:17:16.160 I know that some of you out there think it's actually about welcoming the migrant

00:17:20.160 and helping the poor,

00:17:21.400 and I commend you for your compassion, which I believe is real,

00:17:24.680 but I want you to know you're being deceived,

00:17:27.340 that you're on the wrong side,

00:17:29.240 that this is not a both sides problem.

00:17:31.240 This is a one side problem,

00:17:32.700 and it goes down to the very foundations of the progressive worldview.

00:17:38.520 Now, if you want to learn more about what I just said,

00:17:41.060 start listening to Charlie.

00:17:43.420 Listen to his podcast,

00:17:44.860 read his books,

00:17:45.880 watch his exchanges.

00:17:48.540 I am already seeing God do what he does,

00:17:52.440 thwart Satan's plans,

00:17:53.720 bring beauty out of ashes.

00:17:54.960 He is using this moment to unite people and bring them to the truth.

00:18:00.520 If the enemy's goal was to scare us into silence,

00:18:04.000 he has failed tremendously.

00:18:07.100 This is what happens when you make a martyr.

00:18:10.420 You embolden everyone who believes like they do.

00:18:14.020 Charlie and the truth he represented will spread further and wider

00:18:17.560 than they ever have before.

00:18:20.340 To the people who did this,

00:18:22.200 to the people who support this,

00:18:24.960 you have changed the country forever.

00:18:28.160 And if you are scared of Donald Trump,

00:18:31.020 if you are worried about Charlie Kirk,

00:18:33.340 you will be very disappointed when you learn that they were the nice version

00:18:38.280 of what you claim to hate.

00:18:41.020 If your goal was to immortalize Charlie's ideas

00:18:44.520 and to raise people up even bolder and more relentless than him,

00:18:49.360 good job.

00:18:50.620 That's exactly what you've done.

00:18:52.240 Do not forget it,

00:18:55.340 my friends.

00:18:56.680 Charlie Kirk was murdered for believing the same things you do.

00:19:01.460 He was not a radical in any way.

00:19:04.000 He was not hateful.

00:19:05.740 He was not a flamethrower.

00:19:07.500 He believed in and leveraged the free exchange of ideas to try to persuade people of biblical truth.

00:19:13.520 That is it.

00:19:15.180 There's a quote that says that the further a society drifts from the truth,

00:19:20.160 the more they hate the people who say it.

00:19:23.540 That is true of us today.

00:19:26.560 And in John 15,

00:19:28.140 18,

00:19:28.660 Jesus says this,

00:19:29.660 If the world hates you,

00:19:32.200 know that it has hated me before it hated you.

00:19:36.340 And I just want to say this,

00:19:38.800 because this is what Charlie would say.

00:19:41.120 If you don't know Jesus,

00:19:43.880 please get to know him.

00:19:46.840 He is the only way to the satisfaction and the love that you're longing for.

00:19:51.760 Pick up a Bible.

00:19:53.300 Start in the book of John.

00:19:54.480 Go to church this weekend,

00:19:55.700 maybe for the first time,

00:19:56.700 maybe for the first time in years.

00:19:58.820 Pray.

00:19:59.820 Even if you don't know how,

00:20:01.140 cry out to God.

00:20:02.100 Ask him to help you.

00:20:04.180 That's what Charlie would say to you

00:20:06.100 if you were here right now.

00:20:10.180 Charlie,

00:20:10.980 right now,

00:20:13.120 is with his greatest love,

00:20:16.240 Jesus.

00:20:17.060 He is

00:20:18.140 with the fellow saints and martyrs

00:20:21.400 and the persecuted

00:20:22.360 by which the church

00:20:24.140 has been advanced for millennia.

00:20:26.180 And I am so happy for him.

00:20:28.480 I'm so happy for him,

00:20:30.620 but I am so sad for us.

00:20:33.820 Heaven gained an incredible person.

00:20:37.180 And we have lost

00:20:38.300 a huge presence here on earth.

00:20:42.480 A young wife has lost her husband,

00:20:45.820 her person,

00:20:47.140 her confidant,

00:20:47.940 her protector.

00:20:48.620 Two babies have lost their father.

00:20:54.160 And thousands of us have lost

00:20:56.240 a dear,

00:20:57.720 dear friend.

00:20:59.420 To those of you who loved Charlie,

00:21:02.020 please pray for his family.

00:21:05.060 Pray for all of us.

00:21:06.240 Pray for protection.

00:21:07.460 Pray for wisdom.

00:21:08.440 Pray for courage.

00:21:11.600 We'll miss you, Charlie.

00:21:14.440 But

00:21:14.920 I'll see you again one day.

00:21:17.000 And thank you for everything.

00:21:19.820 Thank you.

00:21:20.420 Thank you.

Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - September 11, 2025

Charlie Kirk： My Friend

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