The Charlie Kirk Show - Erika Kirk's Town Hall with Bari Weiss and CBS News

00:00:03.000 My name is Charlie Kirk.

00:00:05.000 I run the largest pro-American student organization in the country fighting for the future of our republic.

00:00:11.000 My call is to fight evil and to proclaim truth.

00:00:14.000 If the most important thing for you is just feeling good, you're going to end up miserable.

00:00:19.000 But if the most important thing is doing good, you'll end up purposeful.

00:00:24.000 College is a scam, everybody.

00:00:26.000 You got to stop sending your kids to college.

00:00:27.000 You should get married as young as possible and have as many kids as possible.

00:00:31.000 Go start a Turning Point USA college chapter.

00:00:33.000 Go start a Turning Point USA high school chapter.

00:00:35.000 Go find out how your church can get involved.

00:00:37.000 Sign up and become an activist.

00:00:39.000 I gave my life to the Lord in fifth grade.

00:00:41.000 Most important decision I ever made in my life.

00:00:43.000 And I encourage you to do the same.

00:00:45.000 Here I am.

00:00:46.000 Lord, use me.

00:00:48.000 Buckle up, everybody.

00:00:49.000 Here we go.

00:00:56.000 The Charlie Kirk Show is proudly sponsored by Preserve Gold, the leading gold and silver experts and the only precious metals company I recommend to my family, friends, and viewers.

00:01:09.000 Good evening.

00:01:10.000 I'm Barry Weiss, editor-in-chief of CBS News, and I want to thank you so much for joining us tonight.

00:01:17.000 Let me tell you why we're here.

00:01:19.000 If you're watching this or you're sitting here in this room with me, you know what I know, which is that we live in a very divided country.

00:01:27.000 A country where many people feel that they can't speak across the political divide.

00:01:32.000 Sometimes they feel they can't even speak across their own kitchen table.

00:01:36.000 And one of the goals of the new CBS News is to change that.

00:01:40.000 And this town hall is just the beginning.

00:01:42.000 This is going to be the first of many conversations and debates on CBS News about the things that matter most, which are often the hardest to talk about.

00:01:53.000 I can make one promise to you, and it's this.

00:01:56.000 You will not agree with everything you hear tonight or in any of these other broadcasts.

00:02:01.000 And that is exactly the point.

00:02:04.000 Because the premise of a democracy is that we persuade each other with words and not violence.

00:02:10.000 And that the only way to get to the truth is by talking to one another.

00:02:15.000 And that brings me right to tonight's guests, Erica Kirk.

00:02:19.000 Three months ago, Erica Kirk's husband, Charlie, was assassinated on a college campus in Utah.

00:02:25.000 To some, Charlie Kirk was controversial.

00:02:28.000 To others, he was heroic.

00:02:30.000 What is indisputable is that he transformed the American right in the 21st century.

00:02:36.000 He did it through an organization called Turning Point USA, which he founded when he was only 18 years old.

00:02:44.000 In the wake of Charlie's murder, Erica has now picked up his mantle.

00:02:48.000 The mother of two young children, she is also now the CEO and chairwoman of Turning Point.

00:02:55.000 Now, Charlie's murder was not an isolated tragedy.

00:02:58.000 And tonight in the audience, we have other victims of the political violence that's ripping through this country.

00:03:05.000 We also have religious leaders, college students, young Christians, and others invited by CBS News.

00:03:11.000 You're going to be hearing from some of them tonight.

00:03:13.000 Okay, we have a lot to talk about.

00:03:15.000 So Erica, let's get started.

00:03:16.000 Thank you so much for joining me.

00:03:17.000 Thank you for having me.

00:03:18.000 I was very grateful when you had reached out because it was an opportunity to be able to have a conversation that Charlie always enjoyed, being able to have dialogue on both sides so that people could really hear everything that's going on.

00:03:34.000 I appreciate it.

00:03:35.000 Thank you so much for making the time.

00:03:36.000 There's so many subjects I want to cover.

00:03:39.000 I want to begin with the hours and days after your husband was murdered.

00:03:44.000 Yes.

00:03:45.000 You got up in his podcast studio where he broadcasted from for many hours every day.

00:03:51.000 Yeah.

00:03:51.000 And you said this.

00:03:53.000 You said, you have no idea what you have just unleashed.

00:03:58.000 What did you mean by that?

00:03:59.000 Let me give you a little background of that day.

00:04:03.000 We get home.

00:04:05.000 The team goes to dinner.

00:04:08.000 I'm laying in my daughter's bed and I can't sleep.

00:04:13.000 It took me months to even walk into my bedroom.

00:04:17.000 I'm laying in my daughter's bed.

00:04:18.000 I can't sleep.

00:04:19.000 I grab my phone and I start typing out it.

00:04:23.000 And those are my words.

00:04:27.000 That morning, the team reached out to me and said, they think they got the guy.

00:04:35.000 You should probably say thank you to the authorities and just make a statement.

00:04:40.000 I said, okay, I wasn't afraid.

00:04:43.000 They said, let's go to the office and let's discuss.

00:04:48.000 We're at the office and they say, do you want to go live?

00:04:50.000 Or we can easily, you know what?

00:04:53.000 Yeah, let's do that.

00:04:54.000 We can easily pre-record this.

00:04:56.000 I said, absolutely not.

00:04:58.000 My husband always went live.

00:05:00.000 I have nothing to hide.

00:05:01.000 We're fully transparent.

00:05:03.000 What you see is what you get.

00:05:05.000 If I start breaking down on live TV, I break down on live TV.

00:05:08.000 My husband was assassinated.

00:05:09.000 He didn't die in a car accident.

00:05:13.000 So we go live.

00:05:15.000 I write all of my own speeches.

00:05:19.000 And when I said that, that is the Holy Spirit that is unleashed.

00:05:26.000 That is a revival that's unleashed.

00:05:30.000 That's not meant for call to violence.

00:05:34.000 That's meant for people to understand that the Lord is moving in ways we have no idea.

00:05:40.000 And God is going to use something so tragic to wake people up to realize that our life is short.

00:05:47.000 He only lived 31 years.

00:05:50.000 31 years.

00:05:54.000 And so, yes, you have no idea what has been unleashed.

00:06:00.000 But I will promise until my last breath that I will let the Lord use me in ways that he only can to bring glory to him and to the kingdom.

00:06:12.000 And it has been unbelievably powerful.

00:06:15.000 And it's just the beginning.

00:06:17.000 Erica, one of the most alarming things about Charlie's murder was the way that some people in this country reacted to it.

00:06:26.000 Yeah.

00:06:26.000 And not just online.

00:06:28.000 This was kind of, this was an idea that you encountered a lot.

00:06:31.000 And the idea was this.

00:06:32.000 They kind of justified it.

00:06:34.000 They basically said that because Charlie said or believed things that they believed were controversial or even hateful, that he somehow had it coming.

00:06:45.000 What do you say to people who justified his death? 0.98

00:06:50.000 You're sick. 0.99

00:06:54.000 He's a human being. 1.00

00:06:58.000 You think he deserved that?

00:07:01.000 Tell that to my three-year-old daughter. 1.00

00:07:06.000 Excuse me.

00:07:09.000 You want to watch and hi-res the video of my husband being murdered and laugh and say he deserves it? 0.99

00:07:24.000 There's something very sick in your soul. 0.95

00:07:27.000 And I pray that God saves you.

00:07:32.000 I pray because that is what is so wrong.

00:07:38.000 The internet in this world has dehumanized us.

00:07:43.000 My husband did something very simple.

00:07:46.000 He talked to people. 0.83

00:07:49.000 You're going to be murdered for talking to people.

00:07:52.000 He didn't go after people. 0.94

00:07:53.000 He went after your ideas.

00:07:57.000 And if you think it's okay to murder someone because you think they had it coming for them, because they took the time to have people come to the front of the line if they didn't agree with you, and you think it's okay because you don't like what they say or how they say it, that they should be murdered and you're enjoying it and you're rejoicing in that.

00:08:21.000 That is evil.

00:08:24.000 Evil.

00:08:28.000 Excuse me.

00:08:31.000 As you know, and as I know, one of the ideas that has gained a lot of traction among young people, especially in this country, Erica, and this leads them to this kind of justification: the idea that words themselves are violence.

00:08:50.000 And that brings us tonight to our first audience question.

00:08:54.000 It comes from Angel Eduardo.

00:08:57.000 Angel is a senior writer and editor for the civil libertarian group, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or FHIR.

00:09:06.000 And he writes passionately about issues of free speech.

00:09:09.000 Angel.

00:09:10.000 Thank you, Perry.

00:09:12.000 Erica, my condolences.

00:09:13.000 A recent survey that we took after Charlie's assassination found that 90% of undergraduates believe to some extent that words can be violence.

00:09:24.000 Another fire survey that we took earlier also found that one-third of surveyed students believe that using violence to stop disfavored speech can be acceptable, at least in rare cases.

00:09:34.000 What's your response to those numbers?

00:09:37.000 And what would you say to those students in particular?

00:09:41.000 Well, for the people who say that my husband might have incited violence, I know that was not your question, but I'm going to put a squash on it before anyone else can attach to that.

00:09:51.000 My husband never incited violence. 0.97

00:09:54.000 He never once said, go after them because they're saying XYZ and they deserve to die.

00:10:00.000 My husband never once said that and he never would. 0.97

00:10:03.000 What did he say?

00:10:05.000 Come to the front of the line.

00:10:07.000 I'll put my mic down.

00:10:10.000 Tell me why you believe that.

00:10:12.000 That's interesting.

00:10:13.000 I never thought of that.

00:10:14.000 But have you thought of this?

00:10:17.000 People heckling, laughing at them.

00:10:18.000 Stop.

00:10:20.000 It took a lot of courage for them to come up here.

00:10:22.000 Stop doing that.

00:10:26.000 He gave them a microphone.

00:10:30.000 He didn't take away a moment for them to speak back.

00:10:33.000 He gave them a microphone.

00:10:35.000 And what'd they do? 0.98

00:10:36.000 They gave him a bullet in the neck.

00:10:40.000 Totally different.

00:10:42.000 But you have secular revolutionaries that want to come out and say, you can't say that, I'm going to stop you from saying it.

00:10:48.000 I'm going to.

00:10:50.000 Why?

00:10:52.000 You don't want to have a conversation.

00:10:53.000 Something as simple as a conversation.

00:10:55.000 And this is what is so fascinating to me.

00:11:00.000 My husband knew that something as simple as having a conversation could change the world.

00:11:06.000 So simple.

00:11:08.000 That is an ancient thing.

00:11:10.000 Come and sit down and have coffee with me.

00:11:12.000 Why do you believe what you believe?

00:11:14.000 80s and 90s, they were doing this in Congress, then going to have a subway afterwards.

00:11:18.000 Why don't we do that anymore?

00:11:20.000 Instead, it's violence.

00:11:25.000 Usually one-sided, I'm not going to go there.

00:11:29.000 But you know what's so interesting about my husband's book, the last book he will ever write?

00:11:36.000 It could have been about politics.

00:11:38.000 It could have been about football.

00:11:42.000 It could have been about anything.

00:11:44.000 He was multi-dimensional.

00:11:48.000 It literally says, stop in the name of God.

00:11:52.000 Stop.

00:11:54.000 Stop the violence.

00:11:55.000 Stop the hate.

00:11:56.000 Have a conversation.

00:11:58.000 Stop.

00:11:59.000 And what he knew in that book was not just so much, stop that, take a minute to get off of your phone and realize that we are all human operating on this broken planet, all sinful, no one's perfect, and we're not getting out of here alive.

00:12:18.000 But what he knew in that book was the balancing factor of communication.

00:12:24.000 You cannot communicate with someone if you're not at peace with yourself.

00:12:27.000 So he went on campus talking to a kid.

00:12:30.000 They're screaming at him.

00:12:32.000 Screaming.

00:12:34.000 Does he scream back?

00:12:36.000 Not once.

00:12:37.000 He sits there.

00:12:39.000 And you know what he's thinking?

00:12:41.000 It's in that book.

00:12:42.000 Maybe you need to take a few hours.

00:12:44.000 Get off your phone.

00:12:45.000 Go for a walk in nature.

00:12:48.000 Go sit and have a coffee.

00:12:50.000 Go and tell your mother you love her.

00:12:53.000 Go do something that is beautiful and healing instead of trying to tear something down that you did not build.

00:12:59.000 That's my thought on that.

00:13:02.000 We're going to talk about the book in a little bit, but I want to pick up on a theme that you've now hit on twice, which is the idea that the black squares that we all have in our pocket, our phones, that they are doing something to us collectively, that they are dehumanizing us.

00:13:18.000 Later, we'll talk about the conspiracies that are spreading right now on those platforms about who killed your husband.

00:13:26.000 What do you recommend to people sitting in this room?

00:13:29.000 What are your practices to disconnect, to reconnect by disconnecting?

00:13:34.000 Well, like my husband, I took all of it off my phone.

00:13:40.000 All social media off your phone.

00:13:41.000 Yeah, I don't have it on my phone.

00:13:42.000 I have a team that helps run it.

00:13:46.000 I really, everyone has an opinion about me.

00:13:49.000 I could care less.

00:13:51.000 You know what I care about?

00:13:52.000 I care about what my daughter says about me and her running up into my arms and loving on me.

00:13:56.000 That's what I care about.

00:13:58.000 One of the things that has happened over the three months since Charlie was murdered is that people have gone through the thousands, maybe tens of thousands of hours of words he produced.

00:14:09.000 He said more in 31 years than most people will say in a lifetime.

00:14:13.000 And I want to read a few that have captured the most attention, especially on the political left, okay?

00:14:19.000 Yeah.

00:14:20.000 Some gun deaths were, quote, unfortunately worth it to preserve the Second Amendment, he said.

00:14:26.000 Acknowledging that he wishes he didn't feel this way, he said, I'm sorry, if I see a black pilot, I'm going to be like, boy, I hope he's qualified.

00:14:34.000 He said the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a mistake.

00:14:38.000 Now, I realize that all of those quotes come from longer conversations that he had on his show.

00:14:43.000 Correct.

00:14:44.000 But he did say those things.

00:14:45.000 And Charlie is being memorialized by many people as a person who promoted civil discourse, as a person who said, come to the front of the line, let's have a civil conversation.

00:14:56.000 How do you square that with the statements I just read?

00:14:59.000 I would love for everyone to be able to watch the full and entire clip of what he said.

00:15:07.000 Charlie didn't care what skin color you were.

00:15:10.000 He didn't care what religion you were.

00:15:13.000 He loved excellence.

00:15:18.000 He loved knowing that people, his favorite word was earn.

00:15:22.000 He loved knowing that people worked hard to earn what they got.

00:15:27.000 He worked so hard to build Turning Point USA.

00:15:31.000 The first statement you meant about guns and shooting, I have no idea the context of that, and I have no idea what he was, that whole, there's a lot more there than just that one little sentence.

00:15:44.000 My husband is not to be deteriorated to two sentences.

00:15:48.000 He's not.

00:15:50.000 He is a thought leader, and he was brilliant of a man.

00:15:55.000 So that's fine if you want to take words out of his mouth or out of context without the whole thing in perspective.

00:16:05.000 But that's the problem.

00:16:08.000 Does it bother you that people are picking out those statements and drawing an entire picture of who he was?

00:16:15.000 Again, that's the problem.

00:16:18.000 You're not having a conversation.

00:16:19.000 You're having a 15-second clip on the internet to define your thought of who someone is instead of taking the time to educate yourself on truly who that person is, what they thought, because why they challenged you to think a little different.

00:16:38.000 Again, my husband was an amazing man or human.

00:16:45.000 But I do not once for one second think he was anything else than exceptional.

00:16:57.000 Erica, as you know, the last person that Charlie ever spoke to was a Utah Valley student named Hunter Kozak.

00:17:07.000 He was asking Charlie a question that day when he was shot, and he's here tonight, and he wants to ask you a question.

00:17:15.000 Hi there.

00:17:17.000 Erica, I want to tell you how much I appreciate your calls for peace and unity.

00:17:23.000 And I'm likewise horrified by the people in my so-called camp who were cheering about Charlie's murder.

00:17:30.000 I believe that they stoke the flames of violence.

00:17:33.000 But even worse is when powerful, influential people on either side of the aisle stoke the flames.

00:17:38.000 When they do it, the flames can become an inferno.

00:17:42.000 And this leads me to Donald Trump, the most powerful and influential person on earth who has more responsibility than anyone else to put the flames out.

00:17:50.000 Just last month, President Trump called on six Democratic lawmakers to be tried for sedition, which he clarified was punishable by death.

00:17:59.000 He then reposted a simple message. 0.96

00:18:02.000 Hang them.

00:18:04.000 I think that you've been making strides to bring peace to our country, and that turning point has been asking Democrats to decry the individuals who cheer for violence. 0.99

00:18:12.000 I have and will continue to decry them.

00:18:15.000 But any good faith effort to stop political violence must hold both parties to the same standard and expectation.

00:18:21.000 So in that spirit, will you condemn the violent rhetoric of Donald Trump, the most powerful and influential person on earth?

00:18:29.000 I appreciate your question.

00:18:34.000 You know my heart.

00:18:36.000 Why would I ever say, yes, go murder people?

00:18:40.000 This is so much deeper than just one.

00:18:44.000 I understand your sentiment.

00:18:45.000 I do.

00:18:47.000 But this is also so much deeper than just one person.

00:18:53.000 This starts at the home, okay?

00:18:56.000 This starts with family.

00:18:58.000 This starts with a seed that grows and grows.

00:19:04.000 You can choose to have evil in your heart or you can choose to have light.

00:19:08.000 What you consume and what you absorb from the outside world will manifest itself.

00:19:17.000 No, I will never agree with political violence.

00:19:22.000 My husband is a victim of it.

00:19:24.000 I'm a victim of it.

00:19:28.000 But what I'm trying to say here is that we can blame everyone else.

00:19:36.000 We have to look in the mirror when you become a father, when you become a mother.

00:19:41.000 How are you raising your kids?

00:19:43.000 Are you taking responsibility or are you giving them a device and saying, go down that rabbit hole?

00:19:50.000 I'm trying to go to Pilates class.

00:19:53.000 You can just sit in the corner and look at your iPad or look at your phone and go down that rabbit hole and see what you can learn from that instead of being a parent.

00:20:01.000 So my call to action from that is: parents, step up.

00:20:06.000 Do you want your kid to be a thought leader or an assassin?

00:20:11.000 That's where we're at.

00:20:12.000 Do you think our political leaders have a responsibility to turn the temperature down right now?

00:20:17.000 Well, I think everyone has a responsibility to do that, and I'm doing my part.

00:20:21.000 I'm not in control of other people.

00:20:24.000 Bob Milgram is the father of Sarah Milgram.

00:20:29.000 Sarah was fatally shot last May outside the Capitol Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., alongside Yeron Leshinsky, her boyfriend.

00:20:39.000 Sarah was just 26 years old when she was killed.

00:20:43.000 Bob, thank you so much for being here.

00:20:46.000 Thank you, Barry.

00:20:47.000 Hello, Erica.

00:20:50.000 Just as our family could not anticipate the pain we've been going through following the murder of our daughter Sarah, there is no way I can understand the pain that you and your children are going through as a result of Charlie's tragic death.

00:21:07.000 Our daughter was killed because of anti-Semitism, hate against Jews, and hate against the Jewish homeland, Israel.

00:21:18.000 We know about the growth of anti-Semitism on the left, including here in New York City, where the mayor-elect still will not condemn the phrase, globalize the infotata.

00:21:32.000 What I want you to address is growing anti-Semitism on the right, including Holocaust denial, anti-Zionism, and the normalizing of centuries-old conspiracy theories about Jews.

00:21:48.000 Will you here condemn the individuals spreading that hate and speak out clearly enough against anti-Semitism so we can prevent another tragedy?

00:21:59.000 Yes, sir.

00:22:00.000 First of all, I'm so sorry.

00:22:03.000 You and I are a part of a very small club.

00:22:10.000 Painful.

00:22:12.000 But you're in good company, and I will pray for you. 0.71

00:22:17.000 Sucks, doesn't it?

00:22:27.000 Hate is hate. 0.99

00:22:29.000 It's evil.

00:22:31.000 Charlie and I have always been very clear on our stance.

00:22:35.000 Israel, Jewish people. 0.99

00:22:38.000 It's awful. 1.00

00:22:42.000 Awful. 0.97

00:22:43.000 Anti-Semitism is what healing factor comes out of hating Jewish people? 0.97

00:22:50.000 What healing factor comes out of hating Christians? 0.98

00:22:53.000 What healing factor comes out?

00:22:55.000 Hate in general.

00:22:57.000 Nothing.

00:22:58.000 Nothing. 0.99

00:23:01.000 Charlie always would say very clearly: Jew hate was brainrod. 0.99

00:23:06.000 He would always say it. 0.97

00:23:08.000 We've been to Israel twice together.

00:23:13.000 And to be able to walk in the place where our Lord walked and see the Bible come to life in technicolor, how could you hate that place?

00:23:29.000 How could you hate the Jewish people?

00:23:34.000 Why?

00:23:35.000 Because you need to fulfill a conspiracy theory.

00:23:40.000 I'm wrapped in, people say I'm a part of conspiracy theories all the time.

00:23:45.000 It's sick, and it needs to stop.

00:23:49.000 We are human.

00:23:51.000 No one is perfect.

00:23:53.000 No Christian is perfect. 1.00

00:23:55.000 No Jew is perfect. 1.00

00:23:56.000 No Muslim is perfect. 1.00

00:23:58.000 We are broken, sinful humans in need of a Lord and Savior.

00:24:05.000 And that's why it is so important to give your life to the Lord.

00:24:09.000 Because once you do that and you fully surrender to the Lord, you have no room in your heart for hate.

00:24:15.000 And so, sir, I am so sorry what happened to your daughter.

00:24:18.000 I pray that does not happen and I pray that that is something that we can somehow extinguish in this world.

00:24:26.000 But we are living in enemy-occupied territory.

00:24:30.000 And every single day we need to guard ourselves, guard our minds, guard our heart.

00:24:35.000 And the best way to do that is reading God's word.

00:24:39.000 And you cannot separate the Old Testament from the New Testament.

00:24:42.000 You cannot.

00:24:44.000 You cannot.

00:24:49.000 Bob, do you want to ask a follow-up?

00:24:52.000 Is there anything specific that Turning Point can do to combat anti-Semitism?

00:24:58.000 Yeah, so we are on all of our college campus and high school campuses.

00:25:02.000 We have these conversations.

00:25:04.000 And our students understand exactly my heart and Charlie's heart and the sentiment of everything I just said.

00:25:11.000 We have Shabbat dinner happening at Amfest.

00:25:16.000 We have individuals in our chapters who are Jewish.

00:25:21.000 We have people that are going to be having booths.

00:25:24.000 We have an exhibit hall at Amfest that are Jewish, that have Jewish organizations.

00:25:30.000 The only way to combat evil, just like Charlie did, is with dialogue and not being afraid to do it.

00:25:39.000 If you have these things that are being said, you need to counter it with the truth.

00:25:46.000 And if you don't, there's a void and a vacuum.

00:25:50.000 And so even though they're a small number, they get louder and louder.

00:25:56.000 So we need to do our best, which we're doing our part.

00:25:59.000 We're going to continue to do our part to make sure that the truth is always heard.

00:26:03.000 We'll amplify it even more.

00:26:05.000 And we're going to do the best we can, but we need the whole community.

00:26:08.000 We need everyone in on that.

00:26:11.000 Bob, thank you so much.

00:26:12.000 I want to talk about discernment.

00:26:15.000 Yes.

00:26:16.000 Okay.

00:26:16.000 Being able to separate truth from lies, reality from unreality.

00:26:25.000 A 22-year-old man named Tyler Robinson has been arrested and charged with the murder of your husband.

00:26:32.000 And yet there are a huge number of conspiracy theories, you might call them brain rot, that are spreading right now online about the actual story behind the reality.

00:26:43.000 One, people say that Tyler Robinson was actually a MAGA Republican.

00:26:49.000 Or two, some people say you were actually a Mossad agent sitting in front of me and you were Charlie's handler and Israel killed Charlie.

00:26:57.000 Right.

00:26:58.000 Other people say that a number of men in the crowd were wearing maroon t-shirts and this signifies that his killing was an elite airborne operation, whatever that means.

00:27:07.000 They say that the rings on your fingers, which are my kids, your kids' initials, my wedding band, the Medal of Freedom, my engagement ring.

00:27:17.000 But apparently they symbolize some kind of secret plot.

00:27:20.000 There's also a new theory that Egyptian aircraft have been tracking you.

00:27:25.000 What is going on?

00:27:27.000 Why are there so many conspiracies spreading about what seems to be a pretty open and shut case?

00:27:35.000 This is the first time that we have seen evil on display where we have social media at our fingertips.

00:27:42.000 Something so evil that happened, people are wanting answers immediately.

00:27:46.000 They are wanting to figure out how to wrap their mind around this.

00:27:53.000 Egyptian planes.

00:27:55.000 Let's just split it.

00:27:56.000 No, but Egyptian planes.

00:27:58.000 Do you believe that Tyler Robinson murdered your husband?

00:28:00.000 Yes, I do.

00:28:01.000 Why do you think it is so hard for so many people to believe that reality?

00:28:10.000 Because it's too simple.

00:28:14.000 Again, everyone always has to think there's more to the story.

00:28:17.000 Well, sometimes there's not.

00:28:18.000 I've seen the autopsy report.

00:28:20.000 I've seen our case pull together.

00:28:22.000 I've been in constant contact with our lawyers, the prosecuting team.

00:28:27.000 I've seen it all.

00:28:29.000 And let me tell you this.

00:28:30.000 Why in the world, why should we, prior to the trial, lay all of our hands and cards on the table for the defense team to see to somehow then, I don't even know what they would do with it.

00:28:45.000 But what I will say, and I want to get on the Egyptian plane thing, we'll take a flight on that for a second.

00:28:51.000 What I will say is what I'm worried about and I'm fascinated, just from a legal standpoint, to see how the United Healthcare trials pans out.

00:29:01.000 And I say that because this is the first time where we are seeing the implications.

00:29:07.000 You're talking about Luigi Mangioni.

00:29:08.000 Correct.

00:29:09.000 I prefer never to say any of their names.

00:29:11.000 They do not even deserve the ounce of oxygen and breath out of my body.

00:29:14.000 But what I mean is it's fascinating to see how social media will impact that court case, just how it might impact mine.

00:29:23.000 And that is he's not going to get a fair trial.

00:29:26.000 I'm nervous that there could be, they'll say, we can't find a fair jury.

00:29:31.000 Like they're going to paint the jury pool.

00:29:33.000 And in that case, that's how widespread you think these conspiracies have gone.

00:29:40.000 Yes, that's how mainstream they become.

00:29:42.000 Okay.

00:29:43.000 Egyptian planes.

00:29:45.000 You want to talk about wipes and planes?

00:29:47.000 Okay.

00:29:48.000 I was pregnant for 90% of those trips.

00:29:51.000 Mind you, I've never, all those places they said I've traveled, I've never been.

00:29:55.000 I mean, I've been, but I'm not within those dates that they've.

00:29:57.000 But you even said you need to.

00:29:59.000 No, but this is.

00:30:00.000 Yeah, but I do.

00:30:01.000 I do on that one.

00:30:02.000 Only because, only because, from a humor standpoint, humor standpoint, I intentionally, when I was pregnant, hid.

00:30:13.000 Not because I was embarrassed.

00:30:15.000 Not because I didn't want anyone.

00:30:17.000 Yes, we did keep it very private.

00:30:19.000 But because it was a moment very sacred.

00:30:22.000 I was growing a human inside of me, my baby.

00:30:26.000 The world that Charlie and I live in is very toxic at times.

00:30:30.000 Yeah.

00:30:31.000 And when you are growing a beautiful child in you, I don't want to be around it.

00:30:35.000 I want to enjoy eating my In-N-Out burger and my hot fudge sundae.

00:30:40.000 That's what I want to do.

00:30:41.000 I'm pregnant and I have nine months to own it.

00:30:44.000 You really think I'm going to be on an Egyptian plane while I'm wanting to be with my In-N-Out burger and my chocolate milkshake?

00:30:50.000 No, I'm not.

00:30:51.000 So if you want to go through my flight log, go right ahead.

00:30:54.000 It's very boring.

00:30:54.000 You say I was here on this date.

00:30:56.000 I have a photo on my phone to prove that I actually was in the hospital because I was having contractions.

00:31:01.000 So game on.

00:31:07.000 The podcaster Candace Owens, okay?

00:31:10.000 At one time, a friend of Charlie's, at one time, an employee of Turning Point.

00:31:15.000 She has been one of the main peddlers of these conspiracies, and she is making a huge amount of money on it. 0.79

00:31:21.000 She is building her business off of these lies.

00:31:25.000 What do you want to say to her and the other people that are putting these lies out into the world right now?

00:31:33.000 Stop.

00:31:35.000 That's it.

00:31:37.000 That's all I have to say.

00:31:38.000 Stop.

00:31:40.000 Okay.

00:31:42.000 The next question comes from a person who may be familiar to you, Erica, because Charlie interviewed him for his show last August.

00:31:50.000 Rob Henderson, to you.

00:31:53.000 Thank you, Barry.

00:31:54.000 And thank you, Erica.

00:31:57.000 During that discussion with Charlie, neither of us knew that was going to be the last long-form interview he would ever conduct because his life was cut short by the actions of a very disturbed young man.

00:32:10.000 As someone who admired Charlie's ability to offer young people a productive and optimistic path, I wanted to ask, how should the conservative movement think about cultivating leaders and role models for young men?

00:32:26.000 And how can it continue offering them a constructive alternative to the toxic currents Charlie so astutely criticized?

00:32:33.000 It's a great question.

00:32:34.000 First of all, your interview was amazing.

00:32:37.000 It's one of my favorite ones to look back on.

00:32:40.000 Charlie connected with you very well.

00:32:42.000 And I can always tell when he does on his show.

00:32:45.000 I always watched his show.

00:32:46.000 And I could always tell because his questions and his engagement would shift.

00:32:52.000 He always loved, he loved that conversation with you.

00:32:58.000 As the CEO of Turning Point USA, it is my responsibility to make sure that our youth is in good hands.

00:33:08.000 Our chapter leaders are amazing.

00:33:12.000 And there's some leaders within those groups you guys have not even seen or heard about yet, but you will one day.

00:33:19.000 And you'll be blown away because they are amazing kids.

00:33:23.000 We had two of them at our gala event this weekend and they spoke in front of our donors.

00:33:29.000 It was the first time I ever met them.

00:33:32.000 Phenomenal kids.

00:33:34.000 Not only are they smart, they have a heart.

00:33:38.000 Not only do they have a heart, they can understand and see the Gen Z landscape in a way that we can't. 0.77

00:33:48.000 And from a peer-to-peer communication level, they're phenomenal.

00:33:54.000 So I personally, having a front row seat to the rising generation, the courageous generation, they're amazing.

00:34:03.000 Yes, there are bad apples.

00:34:05.000 Millennials, we got them too.

00:34:07.000 So do the baby boomers. 1.00

00:34:09.000 So does Gen X.

00:34:10.000 No one's escaping the bad apples.

00:34:12.000 It's just the batch.

00:34:14.000 But it is our responsibility, my responsibility, our team's responsibility to make sure that our chapters are cultivating those leaders.

00:34:26.000 So when they leave high school and they decide not to go to college, they're in the workforce being incredible people and incredible leaders.

00:34:35.000 They might not be influencers.

00:34:38.000 Not everyone's meant to.

00:34:39.000 Everyone plays a very specific role.

00:34:43.000 But they'll be someone in something very important and they'll plant seeds.

00:34:48.000 And that's all you have to do is plant the seed.

00:34:53.000 And then let truth grow from there.

00:34:57.000 But thank you again for the time that you spent with my husband on that final conversation.

00:35:01.000 It meant a lot to him.

00:35:02.000 It means a lot to me to be able to have that to show my babies one day.

00:35:06.000 Thanks, Rob.

00:35:07.000 Charlie's last book, it wasn't about politics.

00:35:10.000 It wasn't about policy.

00:35:13.000 It was about the Jewish Sabbath, which he kept for 25 hours starting sundown on Friday night through sundown on Saturday night.

00:35:24.000 What made Charlie so passionate about this subject?

00:35:27.000 He was on the verge of burnout.

00:35:30.000 And he thought to himself, what can I be doing?

00:35:35.000 And he always loved the Ten Commandments.

00:35:39.000 And then he saw it, honoring the Sabbath.

00:35:41.000 And he realized that if you don't, this one commandment, this one, if you don't honor it, you're the one who misses out on the gift, not God.

00:35:56.000 Are you keeping it?

00:35:57.000 I'm trying my best.

00:35:59.000 Is it helping?

00:36:00.000 It is.

00:36:01.000 I feel close to him.

00:36:02.000 I break it apart, though.

00:36:04.000 So instead of a full 24-straight, I'll break it apart only because my mom's sick and I need to be available because I'm her medical power of attorney.

00:36:12.000 So I need to be available if something happens.

00:36:15.000 And so I make it what works for me.

00:36:19.000 But that's what was so beautiful about that.

00:36:22.000 Charlie wasn't legalistic about it.

00:36:24.000 He's like, make it your own.

00:36:26.000 Erica, you have made a lot of comments that a lot of people have noticed about women suggesting, you know this, right?

00:36:35.000 Suggesting that women should get married young, that they should have children young, that they should prioritize family over their careers. 0.97

00:36:42.000 And at the same time, you are now doing both.

00:36:46.000 You now have two young children, I think both under the age of three.

00:36:51.000 You're the CEO and chairwoman of Turning Point.

00:36:54.000 Square that for us.

00:36:55.000 Some people look at you and say, you know, she's trying to make it a binary choice.

00:36:59.000 You can be the trad wife or the girl boss, but look at her. 1.00

00:37:02.000 She's having both.

00:37:03.000 What do you say to them?

00:37:04.000 Right.

00:37:04.000 Well, I didn't ask for this.

00:37:06.000 It's a, obviously it's a blessing that I view it as a blessing.

00:37:12.000 It's a duty to my husband.

00:37:14.000 But I was very happy being a stay-at-home mom.

00:37:18.000 There's nothing wrong with being a mother.

00:37:21.000 There's actually more beautiful and emotional and powerful job title, if you will, being a mother. 1.00

00:37:33.000 And for me, I experienced what it was like living in New York, living that boss babe culture. 0.99

00:37:40.000 But when I met Charlie and we had our babies, I was in it.

00:37:45.000 That was all hands on deck.

00:37:47.000 I would take that world in a heartbeat.

00:37:49.000 Always.

00:37:50.000 But you know what?

00:37:52.000 There was never, there was never any daylight between Charlie and I, and his mission was my mission.

00:37:58.000 So stepping into this role is not so much a job title.

00:38:01.000 This is not a nine to five for me.

00:38:03.000 This is something that I'm very passionate about because it's still a remaining breathing version of my husband, this turning point USA. 0.65

00:38:09.000 So this organization is not just a company to me.

00:38:12.000 And the staff and employees are not staff and employees.

00:38:15.000 They're family.

00:38:16.000 And so for me, it's a lot different and a lot deeper than a career.

00:38:20.000 This is very personal.

00:38:23.000 But yes, it is hard.

00:38:26.000 But at the same day, it takes a village.

00:38:28.000 And I have one heck of a village.

00:38:31.000 We have a woman here that has a question perfectly calibrated to this part of our conversation.

00:38:36.000 I want to hand it over to Isabella Regai.

00:38:39.000 Thank you.

00:38:40.000 And Erica, you and your family are in my prayers.

00:38:43.000 Thank you.

00:38:43.000 I'm a 26-year-old Christian woman living in New York City.

00:38:46.000 I would like to stay here long term, but I wonder whether it's sustainable.

00:38:51.000 Do you believe there's a place for women like myself in modern cities who care about having a career, but also marrying a like-minded, Christian, conservative man?

00:39:01.000 Well, yeah.

00:39:02.000 So it just depends on where you're looking.

00:39:05.000 You know, if you're on the apps, I don't know if you're on the apps.

00:39:09.000 I don't know if, I'm not going to ask you your personal journey.

00:39:14.000 But what I will say is when I lived out here, I was here for five years.

00:39:18.000 I never dated here because I saw vicariously through my roommate how terrible it was.

00:39:23.000 Somehow getting drinks was the replacement of having coffee and breakfast.

00:39:28.000 I personally would rather have coffee or brunch with someone than going, I just, I don't drink.

00:39:32.000 I find it unproductive, not because I'm holier than whatever.

00:39:36.000 That's not, I just don't operate that way.

00:39:39.000 But I always thought it was very strange how she would go to drinks with one guy and then go to dinner with another.

00:39:45.000 So it goes twofold here.

00:39:47.000 So if you're expecting to marry someone that I was blessed with, like a Charlie, you have to be the type of woman that will attract a Charlie. 0.97

00:39:56.000 Are you going to church?

00:39:57.000 Are you going to Bible study?

00:39:59.000 Did you tell your pastor that you are ready for the Lord to bring into your life the man that you've been praying for?

00:40:06.000 You yourself need to be prepared for that man, and only you will know how to do that.

00:40:11.000 Does that mean staying out and going out with the girls?

00:40:13.000 I'm not saying you sit on your couch and all of a sudden he's going to knock on your door and be like, honey, let's rendezvous.

00:40:19.000 Like that's not how it happens.

00:40:21.000 It's not.

00:40:22.000 Granted, my situation was a little different.

00:40:24.000 I went into it.

00:40:24.000 You went to a job.

00:40:26.000 Literally.

00:40:26.000 So this is how good the Lord is.

00:40:28.000 He knew that because I was not dating in New York City, he knew that in order for me to know that that was my man, he had to blanket Charlie as a job interview.

00:40:39.000 Because if that went in, no joke, if he came to me and said, hey, let's go on a date to Bill's Burgers, I'd be like, I am so sorry.

00:40:47.000 Thank you, but no, we're not doing this.

00:40:49.000 That was my mindset.

00:40:50.000 I'm not, I was not in that headspace.

00:40:54.000 I just wasn't.

00:40:55.000 But God will work in incredible ways when you surrender the pen for him to write your love story.

00:41:00.000 And when you know that, look, if I remain in the jet stream of God's will, he will provide for me in ways I cannot even imagine.

00:41:08.000 And that is my prayer for you.

00:41:10.000 My prayer for you is to remain open and to remain prayerful and to let people around you know, old school style, I'm ready and I'm looking to get married and having a family.

00:41:21.000 You can always have your career.

00:41:23.000 Being able to have a family truly is a very limited short, short window.

00:41:29.000 You can start your career if you have people and it's amazing business.

00:41:34.000 Have other people run it.

00:41:35.000 You can still manage it.

00:41:36.000 You can still pour into it, but you have your babies.

00:41:39.000 And then once your babies are grown and the nest is empty, go back to your career.

00:41:43.000 There's nothing wrong with that.

00:41:44.000 If you don't have a career, you have your babies.

00:41:46.000 The Lord's going to inspire something inside of you that you're like, you know what?

00:41:48.000 There's a problem.

00:41:49.000 I have a solution.

00:41:50.000 How many baby companies have been born out of moms? 1.00

00:41:54.000 You know, like the little carrier seed or a stroller or we live for that carrier seed.

00:42:00.000 Right.

00:42:00.000 A hundred percent.

00:42:01.000 I'm not trying to plug them for like something.

00:42:03.000 So I'm just trying not to even say the name, but you understand my sentiment is that there's something really special and beautiful about making sure that you are the woman that your future husband deserves and vice versa.

00:42:16.000 Do not settle.

00:42:18.000 Thank you.

00:42:19.000 Thanks, Isabella.

00:42:20.000 Up next, the emotional moment that Erica Kirk forgave her husband's alleged murderer.

00:42:28.000 I forgive him.

00:42:38.000 I forgive him because it was what Christ did and is what Charlie would do.

00:42:48.000 Erica, that moment that we just watched was unforgettable.

00:42:53.000 I was one of millions of people across the world that watched you get up on that stage and forgive the man who murdered your husband.

00:43:05.000 And I think a lot of people looked at it and thought, this is incomprehensible.

00:43:10.000 It's almost, it's almost baffling.

00:43:13.000 And I want you to speak to those who are unable to understand really that act of grace.

00:43:23.000 How is it possible that you can forgive the person that murdered your husband?

00:43:30.000 I'm not forgetting what he did.

00:43:34.000 I'm not condoning what he did. 0.83

00:43:36.000 What he did is sick and evil. 0.98

00:43:39.000 So sick and evil.

00:43:41.000 What I am doing is releasing myself from the enemy's hands where he could have a foothold in me and he could be able to just, like I said earlier, you have a choice.

00:43:57.000 Am I going to take that moment?

00:43:59.000 And I will never say anything I don't mean.

00:44:02.000 I really prayed on that moment.

00:44:03.000 That was a game time decision.

00:44:05.000 I'll never say what I don't mean.

00:44:07.000 But am I going to take that moment to say, rally the troops, burn the city down, march in the streets?

00:44:19.000 Or am I going to take that moment and unleash something like we talked about even greater, more powerful, and say, it's a revival.

00:44:29.000 And let that unleash and let the Lord use it in ways that no one else could have ever imagined.

00:44:35.000 If you were to meet the man, I won't name him again, accused of murdering your husband.

00:44:43.000 Do you know what you would say to him?

00:44:45.000 Nothing.

00:44:46.000 You would say nothing.

00:44:47.000 I have nothing to say to you.

00:44:51.000 Nothing.

00:44:54.000 Is there a difference, Erica, between forgiving someone in a religious and spiritual sense, but also wanting justice for them here on earth?

00:45:02.000 No, of course.

00:45:04.000 But we serve a just God.

00:45:06.000 And I rest easy in knowing that he's sovereign, but he's just.

00:45:12.000 And so let the Lord handle that.

00:45:16.000 I want to bring in our final audience question for tonight.

00:45:20.000 I want to turn it over to Joe Lavoy.

00:45:24.000 Hi, thank you.

00:45:25.000 Your faith in this process has been inspiring, and that inspires this question.

00:45:29.000 How are you able to trust God amidst unfair and immense suffering?

00:45:36.000 One of my favorite books in the Bible is the book of Job.

00:45:42.000 And what's so powerful about that book is that you read it and you go along and you say, how could bad things happen to good people?

00:45:52.000 But what happens at the end of that book?

00:45:55.000 God does restore.

00:45:58.000 He does, even more so than Job had prior.

00:46:03.000 But when did that happen?

00:46:05.000 It happened when Job prayed for his friends.

00:46:09.000 Even though they were against him, even though there was all this drama, he prayed for his friends.

00:46:16.000 You can call them enemies.

00:46:18.000 That's not saying, oh, Lord, my enemies.

00:46:21.000 Like, no.

00:46:23.000 There's boldness in being able to say, Lord, do what only you can do.

00:46:30.000 And the Lord restored what Job had lost.

00:46:34.000 That's how.

00:46:37.000 We just finished our broadcast town hall with Erica Kirk, and she has graciously given us a little bit more time to take a few more audience questions.

00:46:45.000 Erica, thank you so, so much.

00:46:47.000 I want to start with Alex Paul Volpe.

00:46:50.000 Alex, take it away.

00:46:51.000 Hi, Barry.

00:46:51.000 Hey, Erica.

00:46:53.000 My question is from someone coming back to, you know, their faith after what happened, especially to Charlie.

00:46:59.000 So I was raised Christian, and then in my young adult life, say high school, college, I kind of fell off in terms of, you know, practicing, never stopped believing, but someone who, you know, just kind of stopped going to church and whatnot after the horrible events of what happened to Charlie.

00:47:16.000 That was kind of the moment for me that really sparked my faith to kind of start up again.

00:47:21.000 And since then, I've been attending church almost every Sunday and have started to read the Bible again.

00:47:26.000 As part of that, I just wanted to ask you, do you have any advice for someone who's, you know, reconnecting with God, reconnicting with their faith as to how to deepen that relationship and kind of strengthen that along their journey?

00:47:39.000 Of course.

00:47:41.000 Did you recently just buy a Bible?

00:47:42.000 I'm just curious because I've known a lot of people who just bought their Bible for the first time or bought a new one.

00:47:47.000 Just curious.

00:47:48.000 I did, yes.

00:47:49.000 Is it your first one?

00:47:50.000 It is.

00:47:51.000 I love it.

00:47:52.000 I'm very proud of you.

00:47:54.000 God is proud of you.

00:47:56.000 I want to encourage you to take a minute, whether that's it, morning or night.

00:48:00.000 I was a morning person.

00:48:01.000 Charlie was a night person for this.

00:48:04.000 So there's no right answer.

00:48:05.000 There's some people who just do it during the middle of the day to read scripture or you can do it all day.

00:48:11.000 But make sure you carve out alone time with the Lord to journal.

00:48:15.000 I personally personally write to God after I read scripture.

00:48:19.000 You can have a devotional and your Bible alongside it, but don't use a devotional to replace your Bible.

00:48:26.000 They should complement each other.

00:48:28.000 But take some time to dig a little bit deeper.

00:48:30.000 When you're reading, if you find something that catches your interest, pause.

00:48:34.000 You don't force yourself to read a full chapter.

00:48:37.000 If there's a word or something that triggers in your soul, stay on that.

00:48:41.000 Meditate on it.

00:48:42.000 God's trying to reach you in something.

00:48:43.000 And even too, what's really cool, what I love, is to find a way, a commentary.

00:48:48.000 Personally, I love Matthew Henry.

00:48:50.000 If you can find a commentary that you love, dive deeper into the words and to further of what that meant in context form.

00:48:58.000 Don't take it out of context, but just dig deeper.

00:49:01.000 Charlie loved doing that at night.

00:49:03.000 He had a long day.

00:49:04.000 But then for him to wind his brain down at night, he opened up his Bible and he would just read and he would pray and meditate.

00:49:11.000 And you know what he did before bed every single night is he would breathe.

00:49:14.000 He didn't listen to music.

00:49:16.000 He just laid there with his eyes closed and he really just did those deep, deep belly breaths and just breathed and just breathed.

00:49:24.000 So whatever that alone time looks for you, make it personal because it's your time with the Lord.

00:49:29.000 Thank you so much.

00:49:30.000 God bless you.

00:49:31.000 Take our next question.

00:49:33.000 Yeah.

00:49:33.000 Can you introduce yourself?

00:49:35.000 Hello, Ms. Kirk.

00:49:36.000 My name is Marco Muglione.

00:49:37.000 I'm a student at Fordham University.

00:49:39.000 Thank you for your time.

00:49:40.000 As you take the helm of Turning Point USA, what is the single most important strategic change you plan to implement to engage young voters like myself on college campuses moving forward?

00:49:51.000 It's a great question.

00:49:53.000 Before Charlie was murdered, he was very intentional about making sure that I'm going to go the turning point action route right now, saying that, just in case anyone tries to conflate the two.

00:50:09.000 Turning point action side, Charlie from the start, when he started the organization, was clipboard and tennis shoes.

00:50:18.000 He knew the importance of getting out there, knocking on doors, signing up people to vote, chasing ballots.

00:50:26.000 He loved that work and he wanted to inspire that to the students as well.

00:50:31.000 Now, what we're doing, there's a lot of things.

00:50:33.000 It's funny because some people think, oh, when a CEO comes in, things go crazy.

00:50:39.000 They have to change.

00:50:39.000 They don't have to change.

00:50:41.000 If it's not broken, you don't have to fix it.

00:50:43.000 Charlie intentionally picked phenomenal leaders in the organization and we're in good hands.

00:50:49.000 And everyone is very mission focused.

00:50:52.000 And when it comes to the students and elections and getting ready to vote, we are still going to do what Charlie did.

00:50:57.000 We're still going to be on campus.

00:50:58.000 We're still going to be encouraging you guys.

00:51:00.000 We're still going to be a resource for you.

00:51:03.000 And so, yes, midterms, it might get a little messy, but we're ready for it and we're mission driven for it.

00:51:08.000 And I hope that you'll be a part of it with us.

00:51:11.000 Charlie expressed support for JD Vance in 28 before he died.

00:51:16.000 How about you?

00:51:17.000 Well, yes, I mean, I'm following in my husband's footsteps to a lot of, to a lot of extent.

00:51:22.000 But again, I will express the sentiment very clearly.

00:51:25.000 I watched my husband with his blood, blood, sweat, and tears deliver that youth vote for President Trump.

00:51:32.000 And I am just, let me please just bask in that and enjoy that before we start jumping to 28.

00:51:40.000 I would really just like to enjoy that hard work paid off.

00:51:44.000 Fair enough.

00:51:45.000 Eric, can we have, oh, sorry.

00:51:48.000 No, Michael.

00:51:51.000 Hi.

00:51:52.000 How are you?

00:51:52.000 Very good.

00:51:53.000 How are you?

00:51:53.000 Good.

00:51:54.000 Good to see you.

00:51:54.000 I wanted to ask, there's a lot of young people in the audience here, a lot of college students.

00:51:59.000 And sometimes in college, it feels like the walls are caving in, whether that be with relationships, professors who give us a hard time, and anything else that college students experience.

00:52:08.000 What guidance do you have for us when the walls start to feel like they're caving in and there's not a light at the end of the tunnel?

00:52:15.000 Don't view them as they're caving in.

00:52:18.000 View them that, yes, they can fall this way, but they can actually fall this way.

00:52:24.000 Pressure is good for you.

00:52:26.000 Gives you a backbone.

00:52:28.000 Don't run from it.

00:52:30.000 There's something that's really interesting in nature.

00:52:34.000 Someone told me this a long time ago, years ago.

00:52:37.000 I'm talking like 10 years ago.

00:52:38.000 They told me this, but it stuck with me forever.

00:52:42.000 They said that a male lion, when they're hunting, the male lion is not the hunter, it's the female.

00:52:54.000 But what the male does is the male comes around this way and does a very loud roar, which scares the prey.

00:53:05.000 Which direction?

00:53:07.000 The opposite direction.

00:53:09.000 And who's on the opposite side?

00:53:11.000 The female. 0.87

00:53:13.000 But instead, if the prey knew that while that lion was roaring to run towards that roar and they wouldn't be eaten because they wouldn't turn around the other way, they'd escape.

00:53:27.000 So if there's any encouragement there, I would just run towards that roar and know that the Lord's got your back.

00:53:33.000 Hope that helps.

00:53:34.000 Thank you.

00:53:35.000 God bless you.

00:53:36.000 Let's take our next question from Eric.

00:53:38.000 The great Eric Metaxas.

00:53:45.000 Eric, for people who don't know who you are, can you introduce yourself?

00:53:49.000 I believe my name is Eric Metaxas.

00:53:54.000 I host something called Socrates in the City.

00:53:57.000 I've written many books.

00:54:00.000 But most importantly, identify as a follower of Jesus.

00:54:06.000 And I loved Charlie so much.

00:54:14.000 I know.

00:54:15.000 He loved you.

00:54:16.000 That just about every time I saw him, I'd say, I love you, Charlie.

00:54:19.000 And I knew it would make him uncomfortable.

00:54:23.000 And I loved that.

00:54:24.000 I know.

00:54:24.000 Because he's like, I'm not gay.

00:54:27.000 Not that there's anything wrong with that.

00:54:29.000 Not that there's anything wrong with that.

00:54:32.000 But I did.

00:54:35.000 I really loved, loved, loved Charlie.

00:54:39.000 But I want to ask you a question, Erica, since I'm here to ask you a question.

00:54:43.000 When you said, and I was at the memorial service, that you forgave the man that murdered Charlie, I knew what you were saying.

00:54:54.000 Yes, you did.

00:54:55.000 But what you said, I know, is utterly, utterly incomprehensible, and rightly so to most people. 1.00

00:55:05.000 They would say, what in the world?

00:55:07.000 What are you even saying?

00:55:08.000 What does that mean?

00:55:10.000 And I think I would say that's what separates the sheep from the goats, that to understand what that means, that you have been forgiven.

00:55:22.000 And because you've been forgiven, you can forgive and what that means.

00:55:27.000 That to me is just the most powerful evidence for Christian faith.

00:55:32.000 And I said, when you asked that, when you said that, I thought that's like dropping a hand grenade into the bowels of hell.

00:55:40.000 It's the most powerful thing.

00:55:42.000 It's evidence for God that it's incomprehensible.

00:55:46.000 But I say all that just because I just want to ask you, I'm not familiar with your story.

00:55:51.000 I came to Jesus in a dream around my 25th birthday.

00:55:55.000 It was utterly miraculous.

00:55:57.000 It wasn't an intellectual journey for me.

00:55:59.000 What is your, at what point did you come to the kind of a faith that makes it possible for you to say what you said?

00:56:09.000 No, that's a great question.

00:56:11.000 I, so I was raised Catholic.

00:56:15.000 My mom was Catholic.

00:56:17.000 I come from a very Catholic family, half Italian.

00:56:21.000 My, yeah, just very Catholic.

00:56:25.000 And yeah, there's an international Christian, you know.

00:56:31.000 And, but you know what's so interesting about when I was growing up is that my mom actually, I didn't have a Bible growing up.

00:56:43.000 It was my mom that was praying.

00:56:45.000 I saw her praying a lot.

00:56:48.000 And there was one moment in my life, I must have been, I want to say I was probably seven.

00:56:53.000 We had just moved to Arizona.

00:56:54.000 It was just me and her.

00:56:55.000 I was very little.

00:56:57.000 And I saw her, she was just about, she just started her company.

00:57:03.000 And I was in the pew with her and I saw her take out her checkbook.

00:57:09.000 And I started watching her write a check.

00:57:12.000 Mind you, at seven, and when you, and you know this as a mom, they watch everything.

00:57:17.000 Kids see everything and they hear everything.

00:57:20.000 They're sponges.

00:57:21.000 So I knew how hard my mom worked for that dollar because I had to, I went to the Boys and Girls Club after school.

00:57:30.000 I was the last one to be picked up every single day because she was at the office. 0.98

00:57:34.000 I saw how hard she worked for that paycheck. 0.90

00:57:38.000 So when I would see her write the amount that she wrote and put that in the offering bin, as it came around, I grabbed her hand.

00:57:49.000 She looked at me and she said, don't you dare.

00:57:52.000 I said, mom, we can't afford that.

00:57:55.000 She goes, baby, the Lord has blessed us in ways that.

00:58:11.000 The Lord has blessed us in ways that you can't even imagine and that you can't even see.

00:58:17.000 But this is the Lord's money.

00:58:20.000 And he has blessed us to be a blessing.

00:58:23.000 So you honor him.

00:58:26.000 And as I grew up, you know, I eventually got that Bible and full on display.

00:58:36.000 I mean, yeah, I competed in a pageant.

00:58:39.000 I honestly did not like the pageant world.

00:58:42.000 I didn't.

00:58:43.000 I didn't like the pride that came with that.

00:58:45.000 That's why I never talked about it.

00:58:48.000 And during that season of my life, I got a Bible.

00:58:53.000 I found the Bible that my basketball coach gave me when I left to go to college.

00:59:00.000 And I read it and it was beautiful.

00:59:04.000 And from there, I had a pastor's wife who was precious from a non-denominational church pour into me.

00:59:10.000 And it changed my life.

00:59:12.000 And I got to tell you, when you surrender the Lord and you literally strip your clothes metaphorically, not to be clipped out of context.

00:59:23.000 Metaphorically, you tear that sackcloth and you say, Lord, use me.

00:59:28.000 Take the pride, take anything, take all of this trash out of my heart.

00:59:32.000 I don't want it. 0.99

00:59:33.000 I want you.

00:59:34.000 And when you do that, the Lord will put people in your life that will pour into you and that will mentor to you.

00:59:40.000 And that's what happened to me.

00:59:42.000 So I had the background in being Catholic.

00:59:44.000 I had the new experience of being a non-denominational Christian.

00:59:49.000 Blended those together.

00:59:51.000 And here I am.

00:59:53.000 Thanks, Eric.

00:59:54.000 God bless you.

00:59:54.000 We love you, Eric.

00:59:55.000 You're a tremendous blessing.

00:59:57.000 We love you.

00:59:58.000 And our last question, please.

01:00:00.000 Hello.

01:00:01.000 Thank you so much for the time today.

01:00:03.000 I wanted to ask about something that is of great interest to me, which is the vibe shift.

01:00:09.000 This has been talked about for a couple years now.

01:00:11.000 I'm sorry, you said what?

01:00:13.000 The vibe shift.

01:00:14.000 Vibe?

01:00:14.000 Yes.

01:00:15.000 Especially given the re-entrance of faith into the public square, which I think has never been on display more than at your husband's memorial.

01:00:25.000 I would love to get your take on what it feels like, what it's like to watch Christianity and politics come together, especially through something that happened to your family.

01:00:37.000 Can I just ask your name?

01:00:38.000 Yes, my name is Virginia Abram.

01:00:40.000 Thank you, Junior.

01:00:40.000 Thank you.

01:00:41.000 It's interesting because do we want to define the vibe shift?

01:00:47.000 Yeah, do you want to put a little meat on that?

01:00:49.000 Sure.

01:00:49.000 What do you mean by it?

01:00:50.000 Yeah, so what I mean by the vibe shift is that over the past probably two years, in response to the wokeism of the Biden administration and even just the last 10 years, there has been a shift back towards populism with Trump and then also a return of religion, which we've seen lots of articles about the return of young men to church.

01:01:12.000 And Charlie Kirk is often said in, is often mentioned in the same breath as that.

01:01:18.000 So I work for a magazine that's very interested in this, first things.

01:01:21.000 And I'd love to know what you think of this recombination of faith and politics.

01:01:27.000 Yeah, no, it's interesting.

01:01:28.000 So Charlie used to say on campus and to anyone and everyone that he would start talking about liberty and he would start talking about justice and he would start talking about freedom and people would want more and they would want more.

01:01:43.000 What's the source of that?

01:01:45.000 And he would provide that.

01:01:47.000 He would provide it.

01:01:48.000 It's in the scriptures.

01:01:49.000 It's God.

01:01:50.000 There's only one answer to those.

01:01:55.000 Charlie lived his life and I lived my life in a way where God comes first.

01:02:02.000 And that bleeds into everything else.

01:02:06.000 And I think when you live authentically, you're not trying to be someone else, but you truly live authentically and again, let the Lord use you, it shows on full display that if you want to make a difference in this world, you don't remove that very important piece in point.

01:02:27.000 And everyone saw the type of man that Charlie was, and it inspired a lot of people as it should.

01:02:33.000 But notice how when he was murdered, they didn't go and grab a Constitution, they grabbed a Bible.

01:02:42.000 And once you get that Bible in your hands, the Constitution makes way more sense.

01:02:49.000 Thank you.

01:02:50.000 Thank you.

01:02:51.000 And I want to thank you one more time, Erica Kirk, our audience, and everyone who has been watching tonight.

01:02:57.000 This has been A Town Hall with Erica Kirk, presented by CBS News.

The Charlie Kirk Show - December 15, 2025

Erika Kirk's Town Hall with Bari Weiss and CBS News

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