Alex Marlow Reflects on Charlie Kirk's Presidential Aspirations and Erika Kirk's Leadership of Turning Point USA

[00:00] It was um Donald Trump a little earlier

[00:01] who was asked about his friend Charlie

[00:03] Kirk again today and he mentioned that

[00:04] they'd had discussions in the past about

[00:06] one day Charlie Kirk potentially running

[00:09] for president. Well, someone who might

[00:10] know a bit more on that is Alex

[00:11] Brussowitz who is a uh a friend of

[00:13] Charlie Kirk and also a Trump adviser as

[00:15] well. Alex, thanks for your time today.

[00:17] >> Do you think he would have wanted to be

[00:18] president?

[00:19] >> I don't know if he would have ever

[00:20] disclosed that uh himself that you

[00:23] >> but you know we all saw it. We all saw

[00:25] it. We all recognized that that was his

[00:27] path and that's why he was so uh there's

[00:29] so many different reasons he was so

[00:30] special to all of us. But we saw

[00:32] greatness in him and you know he helped

[00:34] bring out greatness in all of us. Uh and

[00:36] he he really just had such a unique

[00:38] characteristic about him. Uh but he was

[00:40] a leader of of men and it would have

[00:42] undoubtedly uh been in his future to

[00:44] become the next pre become a president

[00:46] one day.

[00:47] >> And so now you've got the news this

[00:48] morning that his wife will be running

[00:50] turning point.

[00:51] >> Yeah. Erica is incredible. She's one of

[00:53] the strongest women I've ever met in my

[00:54] entire life. I just got in late last

[00:56] night. I walked in here this morning. I

[00:58] give Erica a big hug. Um, you know, she

[01:00] has been dealing with so much, but uh,

[01:03] she she recognizes that, uh, Charlie is

[01:05] now with our Lord and Savior in heaven.

[01:07] Uh, and, you know, she's now going to

[01:09] keep his legacy alive and keep moving

[01:11] forward, uh, just as he would want her

[01:14] to do. And she's the perfect person to

[01:15] continue to run it. and she's gonna have

[01:17] all of our help, all of our support.

[01:19] Anything that we can do to to help her,

[01:21] uh, we're gonna be there for.

[01:22] >> How much of a political force do you

[01:24] think she could be? And and would the

[01:26] White House be Is that too too early to

[01:28] say?

[01:28] >> I think less about political. I think

[01:29] more about spiritual. I think, you know,

[01:31] we're not we're no longer in a political

[01:33] battle. We're in a spiritual battle.

[01:35] And, uh, Charlie recognized that. And

[01:37] that's why, you know, he was out there

[01:39] preaching the truth. You know, he is

[01:40] preaching the message of Jesus Christ.

[01:42] Uh, and because it's not Republican

[01:44] verse Democrat anymore. We have good

[01:46] versus evil, humanity versus insanity.

[01:49] And I think that Turning Point

[01:50] recognizes that and Erica uh has an

[01:52] incredible heart. Uh she she is a true

[01:55] believer uh in God and I think that's

[01:58] going to be the message that she takes

[01:59] forward that the entire nation needs to

[02:01] hear. You're seeing what's happening

[02:02] now. This memorial is beautiful. But

[02:04] what's even more beautiful in my opinion

[02:06] is just on Sunday night and Sunday,

[02:08] hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of

[02:10] people who haven't been to church, you

[02:12] know, in the last 10 years, they're

[02:13] going to church again. They're getting

[02:14] baptized. are opening their Bible. And I

[02:16] think that's what our nation needs. We

[02:17] need a revival. Uh and I, you know, it's

[02:20] unfortunate that Charlie can't see this

[02:23] on earth, but I know he's looking down

[02:24] on us. Uh really excited about by what's

[02:27] happening.

[02:27] >> Let's talk about Jimmy Kimmel. First of

[02:29] all, what did you make of his comments?

[02:30] And then we'll get to the debate.

[02:31] >> I think his comments were disgraceful.

[02:33] You know, he claims to be a comedian,

[02:34] but I've never heard this guy tell a

[02:36] joke in my life. And then the Democrats

[02:38] are saying, "Well, Jimmy Kimmel's

[02:39] getting fired for a joke." That is not

[02:41] true. Out of his comments, what was

[02:43] supposed to be the punch line? what was

[02:44] supposed to be the humorous part. He

[02:46] just straight up lied about Charlie

[02:47] Kirk. He said Charlie Kirk's assassin

[02:50] was a mega guy. He wasn't a mega guy. He

[02:52] was a far-left who was in love with

[02:54] transgender people. It was a total

[02:56] lefty. He was a foot soldier of the

[02:57] Democrat party and he just killed my

[02:59] friend. Jimmy knew that, but he said the

[03:01] other thing anyway. And so he got held

[03:03] accountable. And this isn't cancel

[03:05] culture. This is called conse

[03:06] consequence culture. It isn't um

[03:09] censorship. It's accountability. And so,

[03:11] you know, I'm so uh, you know, outraged

[03:14] that he's not pretending to be the

[03:16] victim here. He insulted the victim. He

[03:19] he he lied about the victim and that the

[03:21] victim is Charlie Kirk.

[03:22] >> Okay, let's get to the other side of

[03:23] that argument. And, you know, it should

[03:24] be said too that Jimmy Kimmel is is is

[03:26] no supporter of Donald Trump. I mean,

[03:28] there's been constant attacks in the

[03:29] past and constant jokes. But on the

[03:31] other side of the argument about freedom

[03:33] of speech is that isn't that Jimmy

[03:34] Kimmel's right to say what he wants

[03:36] under the banner of freedom of speech?

[03:38] Sure, but he doesn't have to he doesn't

[03:40] have the right to say it on ABC. He put

[03:41] ABC in jeopardy. You know, you had all

[03:43] these different affiliate networks

[03:44] saying that we're not going to air uh

[03:46] Jimmy Kimmel's show that's going to lose

[03:48] out on marketing revenue, advertising

[03:49] revenue. Why? Because these affiliate

[03:51] networks wanted to do the right thing.

[03:52] You had NextStar that came out and said

[03:55] we're not going to air. And that's 32

[03:56] networks. You had Sinclair, that's even

[03:58] more. And so, uh, he put ABC in a bad

[04:00] spot. And his show already sucked, by

[04:02] the way. He barely got 300,000 viewers.

[04:05] Nobody liked this guy. He peaked in 2005

[04:08] when he wore blackface on television. He

[04:10] hasn't been popular since. And so, uh,

[04:12] ABC made a smart business move by

[04:13] getting him off the air and now

[04:15] everybody's acting like he's some sort

[04:16] of martyr. Charlie's the martyr. Jimmy

[04:18] Kimmel's a disgraceful liar and he's

[04:20] being held accountable for his actions.

[04:22] >> Just finally, let's talk about Turning

[04:23] Point, Turning Point USA. I know that

[04:25] numbers have have been boosted

[04:26] dramatically since Charlie Kirk's death.

[04:28] Um, we just had Joel from Turning Point

[04:30] Australia who who mentioned there's been

[04:31] increased interest in Australia Turning

[04:34] Point. What can you say about about the

[04:37] movement?

[04:37] >> Yeah. Well, Charlie's movement wasn't

[04:39] just confined by our borders. You know,

[04:40] he reached the entire world. I was just

[04:42] with Charlie in South Korea uh 11 days

[04:45] ago as he was giving a speech and

[04:47] thousands and thousands of young Koreans

[04:49] who were praying over him, singing, you

[04:51] know, songs about Jesus. Uh and it was a

[04:53] really a powerful powerful moment. But

[04:55] Charlie has influenced people all over

[04:58] the world. And there's been fun for me

[05:00] for the last nine months. I've been

[05:01] traveling. I've been in South America,

[05:03] Latin America, Asia, Europe, and I keep

[05:05] meeting these Charlie Kirk types, these

[05:07] people who are podcasters that turn

[05:09] conservative activists, and they're all

[05:11] downstream of Charlie. And Charlie has

[05:13] this this influence that just

[05:14] transcended uh anything within our

[05:17] country. Uh and I'm so excited that his

[05:19] numbers are growing big time here. Tyler

[05:21] Boyer, who's the chief operating officer

[05:23] uh of Turning Point, uh he's been with

[05:25] Charlie since 2014. Justin Strife. These

[05:28] guys are gonna make sure uh that this

[05:30] organization only grows from here and

[05:32] obviously Erica Kirk at the helm. This

[05:34] movement is only just begun and Charlie

[05:36] Kirk's legacy is going to live long into

[05:38] the future.

[05:38] >> All right, Alex. Uh you've been generous

[05:40] with your time. Thank you so much today

[05:41] and we'll see you again. Yeah. So there

[05:43] you go, Kenny. So I mean the the former

[05:45] head of Turning Point, if you like, may

[05:47] may no longer be with us, but uh but the

[05:49] movement itself certainly will continue.

[05:52] >> Yeah, certainly. Pete, thanks so much.

[05:53] We'll check in with you soon.