Learn English with Charlie Kirk. Charlie was a modern day disciple who preached about the greatness of America, not just across our land, but around the globe. He embodied the spirit of MAGA, always fighting for America, never backing down.
00:02:00.000Charlie looked forward to the next adventure.
00:02:04.000For over a decade, we created countless memories.
00:02:07.000From hunting alligators in Louisiana to eating seal in Greenland to countless nights on the Patio Mar-a-Lago as President Trump played Phantom of the Opera.
00:02:19.000When President Trump started talking about the importance of Greenland to our national security, Charlie was one of the first people who thought it would be a great idea to visit.
00:02:29.000He was also one of the first to fall in the snow upon arrival.
00:02:34.000But without a beat, Charlie got up and continued onwards with a smile.
00:02:39.000No matter what, Charlie always marched forward.
00:02:44.000He embodied the MAGA warrior, never backing down.
00:03:21.000The real reason Charlie was in a hurry, he had dinner plans with the woman who would become the love of his life and the mother of his two beautiful children.
00:03:31.000Erica, we love you, we support you, and we will always be here for you.
00:03:38.000After we won the last election, the presidential transition kicked into high gear.
00:03:54.000Charlie knew the importance of hiring loyal patriots for this administration.
00:03:59.000And Charlie worked every single day to ensure we got the very best of them in the door.
00:04:06.000Countless individuals are currently in key roles across our government because of Charlie Kirk.
00:04:20.000Today, I want to ask every person in this arena and the millions more watching around the world, will you make sure that we continue to build upon what Charlie Kirk started?
00:04:37.000I want to ask each and every one of you today, if you believe in America, stand up.
00:04:48.000If you believe Charlie Kirk represented the best of us, stand up.
00:04:58.000If you believe in the power of Charlie Kirk, his mission, his courage, his conviction, stand up.
00:05:57.000Hello to our fearless president, Donald J. Trump.
00:06:06.000And hello to millions of Americans all across this land who are gathered in sadness and sorrow to mourn Charlie Kirk, but also to dedicate ourselves to finishing his mission and achieving victory in his name.
00:06:38.000The day that Charlie died, the angels wept, but those tears had been turned into fire in our hearts.
00:06:50.000And that fire burns with a righteous fury that our enemies cannot comprehend or understand.
00:07:01.000When I see Erica and her strength and her courage, I'm reminded of a famous expression.
00:07:11.000The storm whispers to the warrior that you cannot withstand my strength.
00:07:20.000And the warrior whispers back, I am the storm.
00:07:59.000Erica stands on the shoulders of thousands of years of warriors, of women who raised up families, raised up city, raised up industry, raised up civilization, who pulled us out of the caves and the darkness into the light.
00:12:17.000Please welcome to the stage, Susie Wiles.
00:12:36.000Good afternoon, and what an honor to be here with all of you, those of you who loved Charlie and love Erica.
00:12:45.000I was blessed to work with Charlie these past few years and I know he is looking down now, rejoicing because his life, his words, his courage to speak the truth about God, family, and country built the most powerful youth movement in our time.
00:13:12.000Many of you knew Charlie better than I did, and if you did, you experienced the gift of being lifted by his conviction and his joy.
00:13:22.000For Charlie, making America great again meant bringing young people to this movement and making sure they knew they belonged.
00:13:32.000Like our president says, it's a movement of common sense and it makes sense.
00:13:39.000Love your God, love your family, love your country, and help the next generation live into those values boldly.
00:13:51.000Through Turning Point, Charlie gave us countless young Americans who had their first turning point the moment they decided to stand up, speak out, and make America all that she could be.
00:14:04.000When the President's 2024 campaign partnered with Turning Point, Charlie did not just promise.
00:15:04.000And I believe Charlie is still urging us on, urging us not to sit back, not to be quiet, but to carry on his mission forward, loudly, proudly, and with the same conviction he showed.
00:15:18.000So I ask you, let us honor Charlie in the best way possible by continuing his work, by building on the foundation he laid, and by making sure this generation knows that this movement is their home.
00:15:36.000May God bless Erica and their beautiful children, and may he hold them in the palm of his hands always.
00:16:54.000Whatever happens next in America, I hope it's in this direction because God is here and you can feel it.
00:17:01.000And Charlie would have loved this, not just because he loved large groups of people, but because ultimately he was a Christian evangelist.
00:17:09.000And it actually reminds me of my favorite story ever.
00:17:14.000So it's about 2,000 years ago in Jerusalem, and Jesus shows up and he starts talking about the people in power and he starts doing the worst thing that you can do, which is telling the truth about people, and they hate it, and they just go bonkers.
00:17:37.000And I can just sort of picture the scene in a lamplit room with a bunch of guys sitting around eating hummus thinking about what do we do about this guy telling the truth about us.
00:18:09.000Everything is inverted and the Beatitudes tell it, I think, the most crisply.
00:18:13.000Everything is sort of the opposite of what you think it's going to be.
00:18:17.000Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
00:18:19.000That is true, and you can feel it here.
00:18:22.000The thing about Charlie's message, I've thought a lot about it, and I'm trying not to be emotional because, in addition to everything else, he was a wonderful man and a decent man and one of those rare people you meet who you just groove with in conversation and have these very intense conversations that you don't stop thinking about, which is my experience with him.
00:18:39.000But the main thing about Charlie and his message, he was bringing the gospel to the country.
00:18:46.000He was doing the thing that the people in charge hate most, which is calling for them to repent.
00:18:54.000So how is Charlie's message different?
00:18:57.000And Charlie was a political person who was deeply interested in coalition building and in getting the right people in office because he knew that vast improvements are possible politically, but he also knew that politics is not the final answer.
00:19:14.000It can't answer the deepest questions, actually.
00:19:28.000Politics at its core is a process of critiquing other people and getting them to change.
00:19:36.000Christianity, the gospel message, the message of Jesus, begins with repentance.
00:19:43.000Christianity calls upon you to change.
00:19:49.000Our core prayer given to us by Jesus, the Lord's prayer, Demands that we forgive other people, but preceding that is a request for our forgiveness.
00:20:01.000In other words, forgive us our sins, meditate on what we've done wrong, how we've fallen short, and then it becomes possible to forgive other people.
00:20:12.000That is a call to change our hearts from Jesus, and that is the only way forward in this country.
00:20:19.000That is the only solution to where we all know we're going.
00:20:22.000And Charlie knew where we were going without that.
00:20:26.000And that is not a call for being politically passive, of course not.
00:20:30.000I stood in many stages with Charlie calling for various people to be elected, particularly Donald Trump.
00:20:36.000It's only an acknowledgement that what Charlie was really saying is that change begins the only change that matters when we repent of our sins.
00:20:48.000We, me, a recognition that the real problem is me and how fallen I am.
00:20:56.000And that was the reason that Charlie was fearless at all times, truly fearless, to his last moment.
00:21:25.000He said that in private because he meant it.
00:21:30.000So I guess I would just say this gathering and God's presence, God's very obvious presence in this room, the presence of Jesus, is a reminder of what we've known for 2,000 years, which is any attempt to extinguish the light causes it to burn brighter every single time.
00:21:54.000So as we proceed into whatever comes next, and clearly something's coming next, remember this moment.
00:22:06.000Remember being in a room with the Holy Spirit humming like a tuning fork.
00:23:05.000Please welcome to the stage director Tulsi Gabbard.
00:23:28.000Charlie lived his life as a warrior for truth and for freedom, every single day choosing to step into the arena armed with the Constitution, sparring through debate on the battlefield of ideas, fighting for the heart of our democratic republic and the unalienable rights endowed upon every one of us by our Creator.
00:23:54.000Charlie lived what our founders envisioned: freedom, the right to speak even when we disagree.
00:24:30.000Charlie stood in the arena armed with superior arguments, with truth, reason, propelled and motivated by his love for God, his love for others, his love for our great nation.
00:24:49.000He cut through lies and he woke people's minds, inspired people's hearts, and imparted wisdom every day.
00:25:01.000Now, for those of us who knew Charlie and even those of you who may never have had the chance to meet him in person, we all know and experienced how Charlie spoke with a calm courage, not asking, what will God do for me, but instead praying, God, Use me for your will.
00:25:22.000He showed respect and compassion for everyone, even those who opposed him, and I think especially for those who opposed him, he invited them to his table or on his show saying, let's talk.
00:25:38.000Sitting with Charlie here in Arizona at ASU last year, seeing and experiencing him in action was truly a sight to behold.
00:25:48.000Because in Charlie, he sincerely wanted people to know the truth.
00:25:53.000Because it's the truth that sets us free.
00:26:09.000Now Charlie, he chose our schools as his arena because he knows that they are meant to teach, to train our young people to think critically, to debate ideas, to test their strength through a clash of reason.
00:26:25.000But too often, these schools silence debate, saying words are violence, and dissenting voices are hushed.
00:26:34.000And those who speak of God, those who speak the truth, simple objective truths, like there are only two genders in these schools, they are told, you have no voice.
00:26:53.000Charlie chose this arena to take these people head on, to challenge these institutions, these students and faculty, encouraging them to come, to speak honestly, bring your ideas, debate loudly, and think critically.
00:27:13.000He was winning, so much winning, so much so that the forces of darkness, hate, and evil were threatened by him and tried to silence him.
00:27:27.000History shows this dark pattern that when ideas cannot withstand scrutiny, whether it's the ideology of so-called religious fanatics or political fanatics, their defenders, terrified that their weak ideas will be exposed for what they are, turn to intimidation, censorship, and violence.
00:27:47.000They kill and terrorize their opponents, hoping to silence them.
00:27:52.000But in this evil that we have experienced that Charlie faced, their flawed ideology is exposed.
00:28:00.000Because by trying to silence Charlie, his voice is now louder than ever.
00:28:10.000His message is more powerful and impactful than ever.
00:28:17.000The truths that he spoke have spread hundredfold.
00:28:55.000Every one of us needs to be a warrior like Charlie, to take shelter in God, to draw strength and fearlessness from the Lord who sits within every one of our hearts, to stand together, continue the mission that Charlie dedicated his life to, to sharpen our weapons of truth, common sense, and reason.
00:29:17.000To train, to study, learn, and to speak, exercise our God-given right to speak, and carry that torch that shines brightly because of God's love.
00:29:31.000So right now, if you feel afraid or lost, confused, not sure exactly what to do, don't be.
00:31:00.000Please welcome to the stage, Secretary Marco Rubio.
00:31:18.000About maybe 10 or 12 years ago, a person I knew very well had been very helpful to me in my campaigns when I was in the Senate came to me and said she had met this very impressive young man.
00:31:31.000And he was going to start this group to go on college campuses and try to convince young Americans that ours is the greatest country in the history of the world and that Marxism was bad.
00:31:46.000And I remember thinking back then, I'm going to admit to you guys, I was a little skeptical.
00:31:49.000I said, college campuses, you're going to do that?
00:31:51.000Why don't you start somewhere easier, like for example, communist Cuba, you know?
00:32:02.000In place after place over the last 12, 14, 16 years, we've seen this renaissance.
00:32:08.000Understand where we were at that time in our history.
00:32:11.000Understand where we are still today in many places, where young Americans are actively told that everything that they were taught, that all the foundations that made our society and our civilization so grand, they were all wrong, they were all evil, that marriage is oppressive, that children are a burden, that America is a source of evil, not of good in the world.
00:32:31.000And here was this voice that inspired a movement in which young Americans were told that is not true.
00:32:37.000The highest calling we are called to is to be in a successful marriage and to raise productive children and a movement that taught them that ours was not a great country, but the greatest, most exceptional nation that has ever existed in the history of all of mankind.
00:33:00.000And that it's worth fighting for, it's worth defending, it's worth preserving, and it's worth passing on to the next generation.
00:33:12.000This was the mission and the work of Charlie Kirk.
00:33:16.000And a couple things that stand out about him, he led this movement, but he did so with incredible knowledge.
00:34:28.000Increasingly, people are moving into neighborhoods with other people that agree with them politically and isolate themselves from people that do not agree with them.
00:34:39.000He actively sought out to engage peacefully, respectfully, those who he disagreed with.
00:34:45.000As recently as two days ago, we learned of one of the hosts on CNN who said that one of the messages he had gotten just a few days before Charlie's passing was from him, inviting him to dialogue.
00:35:02.000Time and again, he sought to engage those he disagreed with because he understood that we were not created to isolate ourselves from one another, but to engage.
00:35:10.000The irony in all this is that what our nation needs, one of the many things it needs, is the ability to discuss our differences openly, honestly, peacefully, respectfully.
00:35:20.000And Charlie Kirk did that more than anyone alive in America today is doing.
00:36:46.000But I hope many who are watching, I imagine there are people watching here tonight that didn't know much about Charlie Kirk until 11 days ago.
00:36:53.000Maybe they were disengaged from politics.
00:36:56.000I hope one of the things they take from this is that the movement Charlie Kirk led and started and gave fuel to was about politics, but not only about politics.
00:37:08.000And I would say that taking the liberty, but I'm confident he would agree, one of the things he wants us to take away from this, from all of this, is the following.
00:37:19.000His deep belief that we were all created, every single one of us, before the beginning of time, by the hands of the God of the universe, an all-powerful God who loved us and created us for the purpose of living with him in eternity.
00:37:34.000But then sin entered the world and separated us from our creator.
00:37:38.000And so God took on the form of a man and came down and lived among us.
00:37:48.000But on the third day, he rose unlike any mortal man.
00:37:52.000And then, and to prove any doubters wrong, he ate with his disciples so they could see and they touched his wounds.
00:38:02.000He didn't rise as a ghost or as a spirit, but his flesh.
00:38:06.000And then he rose to the heaven, but he promised he would return and he will.
00:38:10.000And when he returns, because he took on that death, because he carried that cross, we were freed from the sin that separated us from him.
00:38:18.000And when he returns, there will be a new heaven and a new earth, and we will all be together and we are going to have a great reunion there again with Charlie and all the people we love.
00:39:16.000and gentlemen, please welcome Secretary Pete Hegseth.
00:39:35.000Charlie Kirk, A patriot, a conservative, a leader, a builder, an advocate, an author, a lover of freedom.
00:39:47.000A husband, a father, a Christian, and a warrior.
00:39:54.000You see, Charlie Kirk was a true believer for the cause of freedom, for the power of young people, belief in our republic and our founding principles, in America first, and make America great again.
00:40:09.000But more importantly, he was a true believer.
00:40:16.000Only Christ is King, our Lord and Savior.
00:40:27.000Our sins are washed away by the blood of Jesus.
00:44:11.000His personal loss at that moment was our nation's great gain.
00:44:24.000Charlie Kirk was a citizen who had the biblical heart of a soldier of the faith who put on every single day the full armor of God with a smile as the scriptures tell all Christ followers to do.
00:44:41.000Charlie Kirk, a warrior for country, a warrior for Christ.
00:46:15.000Please welcome to the stage Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
00:46:36.000Charlie's overarching passion was his Christianity and his devotion to his God.
00:46:44.000He believed what St. Francis taught us almost a thousand years ago: that we should strive to live our lives in perfect imitation of Christ.
00:46:58.000We should turn every day and every moment and every interaction into a prayer.
00:47:05.000And Charlie understood the great paradox: it's only by surrender to God that God's power can flow into our lives and make us effective human beings.
00:47:17.000Charlie, Christ died at 33 years old, but he changed the trajectory of history.
00:47:26.000Charlie died at 31 years old, but because he had surrendered, he also now has changed the trajectory of history.
00:47:42.000Charlie's, Charlie's other passion was free speech.
00:47:47.000He understood that the free flow of information was the soil, the water, the sunlight for democracy.
00:47:55.000He understood democracy's great advantage was that our policies were formed by ideas that had triumphed in a marketplace of debate and conversation.
00:48:09.000He thought that conversation was the only way to heal our country.
00:48:15.000And this was particularly important during a technological age when we are all hooked into social rhythms, social algorithms that are hacked into the reptilian cores of our brain and amplify our impulses for tribalism and for division.
00:48:36.000He felt that the only way to overcome that biological impulse was with a spiritual fire and with developing community.
00:48:46.000And the only way to develop community was through conversation.
00:48:50.000And so he always gave the biggest microphone to the people who were most passionately aligned against him because he believed that we need to talk to each other and that we needed to be able to say what we mean without saying it mean.
00:49:08.000A few years ago, my brother David died.
00:49:12.000And I asked my mother, does the hole that they leave in you when they die, does it ever get any smaller?
00:49:21.000And she said to me, it never gets any smaller.
00:49:24.000But our job is to grow ourselves bigger around the hole.
00:49:28.000And we do that by taking the best qualities, the best, most admirable character traits of the person that died and integrate them with restraint, with discipline, with practice into our own character.
00:49:42.000And in doing that, we make ourselves larger, and the whole gets proportionally smaller.
00:49:49.000We also give a kind of immortality to the person who left us because their work continues through us.
00:49:57.000A couple of days ago, my niece or my granddaughter left for college in Europe.
00:50:05.000Her mother noticed that she packed a Bible.
00:50:08.000And her mother asked her why she made that choice.
00:50:11.000She said, I want to live more like Charlie.
00:50:14.000And in one of my first conversations with Charlie in July of 2021, we were talking about the risks that all of us take when we challenge entrenched interests, the physical risk.
00:50:34.000And he asked me if I was scared of dying.
00:50:37.000And I said to him, there's a lot worse things than death.
00:50:41.000And one of those things is if we lost our constitutional rights in this country and that our children were raised as slaves.
00:50:50.000And I said to Charlie, I said, sometimes the best consolation we can hope for is that we get to die with our boots on.
00:51:08.000Well, Charlie died with his boots on, and he died to make sure that we didn't have to undergo those fates that are worse than death.
00:51:24.000For those of us who were friends with Charlie, we don't need any more evidence of the love of God because the evidence of friendship is the best evidence that God loves us all.
00:52:40.000I'm not widely known for being a sentimental guy.
00:52:44.000Anyone who's seen me on social media knows I'm far more likely to crack a joke or get myself in trouble for posting some grossly inappropriate memes than I am to shed a tear.
00:52:57.000I know this because I've even gotten the call from that guy a couple times.
00:53:01.000You know, Don, Don, you're getting a little aggressive on social media, Don.
00:53:10.000But last week, when I received word that Charlie, who was like a little brother to me, had been assassinated, I was truly devastated.
00:54:29.000But when Charlie was asked in an interview how he'd want to be remembered, he said, I want to be remembered for my courage for my faith.
00:54:39.000And let me tell you guys, those were not empty words.
00:54:44.000Last week, Charlie joined a long line of courageous men and women who were martyred for what they believe.
00:54:56.000According to the book of Acts, the first martyr in the early Christian church was Stephen, who was stoned to death.
00:55:06.000And as Stephen was being killed, he said, behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing, standing at the right hand of God.
00:55:18.000Now, there are many times in the Bible where Jesus is seated at the right hand of God, but this is the only time he's seen standing.
00:55:29.000And while the Bible isn't explicit about this, I like to think Jesus was standing to welcome Steph, the courageous martyr, into heaven.
00:55:46.000And today, today that gives me great comfort.
00:55:51.000Because 11 days ago, as a cowardly assassin crawled on his stomach to end Charlie's life on earth, I'm betting Charlie saw the Son of God standing tall to welcome him home.
00:56:17.000I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the greatest treasures of Charlie's heart, his beautiful wife, Erica, and his two precious children.
00:56:28.000To watch Charlie with his family, the joy on his face, the devotion in his eyes, was to see the gospel lived out.
00:57:30.000We're going to let those kids grow up and we'll get them when they start paying taxes.
00:57:38.000But he convinced me to give it a shot.
00:57:41.000And there were a couple events that showed just how brave and courageous Charlie was, even as a very young man.
00:57:49.000At Michigan State University, five minutes before we were supposed to go on stage, the state police told us, and I quote, we can no longer guarantee your safety.
00:58:03.000Because the left-wing activists, they were going crazy.
00:58:08.000That sounded like a great reason to pack it up and head out.
00:58:13.000But it was one of the many times that I would agree with Charlie, who said, no way, we're going out there anyway.
00:58:30.000At one of the last events of the 2024 campaign at Arizona State, some lunatic called it a threat to try to keep us from going on the stage.
00:58:40.000Again, we went out there anyway, without fear.
01:02:31.000If you're among the millions of people watching today, please see this and know you are not alone.
01:02:47.000Charlie's message, like Christ's, was an invitation.
01:02:54.000If this resonates with you and you believe American values are worth defending, welcome.
01:03:02.000If you believe in faith, family, and freedom, then you are with us.
01:03:14.000No matter your past, no matter how you voted, no matter where you come from, this movement is your home.
01:03:32.000If you're not already seated at this table, we have a seat prepared for you.
01:03:38.000If you believe in God and family and country, you are one of us.
01:03:48.000If you believe our government should put the interests of our citizens first, welcome.
01:03:57.000If you believe American workers deserve dignity and American families should be able to afford a good life on one salary, welcome.
01:04:12.000If you reject the propaganda of the fake news media, welcome.
01:04:24.000If you want to eradicate the criminal cartels and get drugs out of our communities, welcome.
01:04:36.000If you believe our best days are ahead and are willing to stand up to make America great again for your children and for generations to come, welcome.
01:04:53.000Charlie loved this country, its people, and the work of persuading others to believe in something greater than themselves.
01:05:05.000And if we live with that same courage, our legacy, like Charlie's, will live forever.
01:05:19.000Charlie, my brother, we love you, we miss you, and we will not let you down.
01:05:34.000And as the scripture promises, well done, good and faithful servant.