Charlie Kirk is gone. Writing those words, less than 24 hours after he was politically assassinated by an evil and mentally deranged sociopathic individual—on a college campus in Utah—still does not seem real.
How could the ubiquitous conservative giant—who regularly appeared on Fox News, spoke on hundreds, if not thousands, of college campuses across the country, and seemed to release a new podcast to his millions of followers every couple of hours—be gone for good?
How could someone so instrumental in bringing young voters into the conservative movement, and someone so intellectually refined and gifted at articulating his thoughts and ideas, be taken not only from us but also from his young wife and two beautiful children in such a violent and despicable manner?
The fact that this atrocity happened one day before September 11th reminds us of the unfortunate reality that there will always be sick and evil people in this world who do not share the Judeo-Christian values, customs, and ideals of Western civilization. There will always be mentally disturbed individuals, with dangerous ideologies and a warped sense of the world, who see only darkness and desperately want us to feel their hellish misery.
And, unfortunately, there will always be those who do not seek to debate respectfully or persuade with their ideas, using logic and reason—as Charlie Kirk did so often and so effectively on college campuses for the past decade—but rather there are devils among us who resort to violence and destruction instead of civil discourse.
In the hours after this dark and miserable day, I discovered some old notes that I took when I watched Charlie Kirk speak at an event in Florida in the spring of 2021.
Kirk spoke about a whole litany of issues, including the goals and mission of Turning Point USA, the incredible youth organization that he founded and helped turn into one of the most powerful political movements ever created. He spoke of rebuilding the American family through a restoration of faith and a shared commitment to attending church.
He spoke about the assault on the First Amendment, the pervasiveness and evils of leftist indoctrination in our schools and universities, the divisiveness and falsehoods of critical race theory, and about the dangers of censorship, Orwellian Big Tech “fact checkers” (prior to Elon Musk acquiring X) and leftist doublespeak, where truth is portrayed as false, and falsehoods are depicted as true.
Kirk discussed at great length how conservative states ought to be governed and cited how Florida was thriving under the leadership of Governor Ron DeSantis because, unlike in blue states, citizens were not forced to get the COVID vaccine in order to keep their jobs or attend church. Schools were kept open, sporting events and other forms of entertainment continued, and businesses were allowed to thrive.
Kirk contrasted Florida’s excellent governance with that of totalitarian states like California, where people were outcasted and ostracized if they did not carry around a vaccine passport in order to participate in society.
And while much of Kirk’s warnings were reserved for the evils of the totalitarian and the increasingly socialist ideologies of the Left, Kirk was also critical of the conservative movement (or at least the old movement), which he felt had lost too many constituents due to years of poor messaging, misguided priorities, and inadequate branding—that is, until a man named Donald J. Trump decided to run for president.
Above all else, the line from my notes that spoke the loudest to me was when Kirk said something to the effect of, “Good people know something nefarious is going on but are unaware of how to act.”
In other words, for far too long, God-fearing Americans, who work hard to support their family, who raise their kids to be successful citizens, and who help their neighbors and those in need, have stood idly by as we have witnessed a concerted and orchestrated effort by the Left and their acolytes, whether in the media, in academia, in government, or elsewhere, not only to shut down debate with those whom they disagree with but also to silence them into submission or, as we tragically learned yesterday, to assassinate them.
And so, in light of this unspeakable tragedy, the last thing that Charlie Kirk would want is for virtuous people—especially young virtuous people—to retreat or cower in fear for speaking truthfully, powerfully, honestly, and patriotically about the threats that our great country faces, and the values they cherish, and the things they believe in.
Our country is in mourning and in need of healing, but the work of Charlie Kirk and the generations of patriots that he inspired is only just beginning.