Andrew Kolvet Recalls Charlie Kirk's Final Days and the Rise of Campus 'Prove Me Wrong' Events

[00:01] Charlie Kirk was only 31 when he was

[00:03] murdered. He was one of the most

[00:04] influential conservative voices of his

[00:06] time. In Erica Kirk's touching tribute

[00:09] to her husband last night, she

[00:10] acknowledged the people who helped get

[00:12] his voice out to millions.

[00:15] I want to thank the staffers of this his

[00:19] amazing Charlie Kirk show

[00:22] who helped him broadcast from this

[00:25] studio this

[00:29] chair.

[00:32] >> Andrew Kovvet, executive producer of the

[00:34] Charlie Kirk show was a central part of

[00:36] that program and he joins us this

[00:38] morning from Phoenix. Andrew, my

[00:40] condolences on the passing of your close

[00:42] associate and friend. It was horrific.

[00:46] Prove me wrong. Prove me wrong. It tells

[00:49] us a lot about Charlie Kirk and his

[00:52] ideas of engagement. Will you expand on

[00:54] that mantra?

[00:58] >> Yeah. Um, thanks for having me. Um,

[01:01] Charlie

[01:03] Charlie was never afraid of uh

[01:05] intellectual combat. He was not um he

[01:10] was willing to go into any arena uh

[01:13] debate with anybody and discuss

[01:15] anything.

[01:17] And um he loved it. He loved it. It

[01:19] energized him. He knew that those

[01:22] interactions were what people were

[01:25] hungry for. They didn't want the

[01:27] sanitized

[01:28] um in a box censored anything like that.

[01:32] It it was raw. It was riveting. it was

[01:36] impossible to take your eyes away from.

[01:39] And he loved it. And he spent all of his

[01:42] waking moments learning and studying and

[01:45] trying to hone his skills, hone his

[01:47] ability to um make his arguments more

[01:50] persuasively. And he was a student of

[01:53] history, a student of Western

[01:55] civilization. Um and um it was really

[01:59] remarkable. He loved to learn and he

[02:02] loved to give those uh those things he

[02:03] was learning away to the next

[02:05] generation.

[02:07] >> And when he would tour college campuses,

[02:09] what would the typical event consist of?

[02:12] How was it structured?

[02:16] >> Yeah, I mean the crowds um I remember it

[02:19] was actually spring of 2024. He was at

[02:23] Calpaly St. Louis Abyspo and you got to

[02:26] remember we've been doing this for

[02:27] years. Turning Point USA and it used to

[02:31] be that there was more protesters than

[02:33] there were supporters and you know he

[02:36] he'd have to sort of encourage people to

[02:38] come up to the table and the crowd

[02:41] started growing slowly and then suddenly

[02:44] um and I remember at Kpali there was

[02:46] about a,000 or 1500 students gathered in

[02:49] the quad to hear Charlie debate and all

[02:52] of a sudden they started singing the

[02:54] national anthem uh just organically they

[02:56] did it themselves and it this beautiful

[02:59] moment and uh we all paused to kind of

[03:02] take that moment in and that was in the

[03:04] spring. It was before the fall runup to

[03:06] the election and we paused to take that

[03:08] moment and I I looked at Charlie and I

[03:10] said, "Charlie, something's happening.

[03:12] Something remarkable is happening on

[03:14] these college campuses." And it was at

[03:17] that point uh he fully embraced the

[03:21] moment. He fully realized that there was

[03:24] something we had to seize and we had to

[03:25] pour into. Um, and we doubled and

[03:29] tripled uh how many stops we did and we

[03:31] we did all of these quad events because

[03:34] oftent times the campuses were really

[03:36] hostile to Charlie and the

[03:38] administrations didn't want him on the

[03:39] campus. And so they would give us these

[03:41] tiny little rooms and we'd have 3,000

[03:43] people that couldn't get into the venue.

[03:45] And so we decided um let's start doing

[03:48] all these prove me wrongs out in the

[03:49] quad so everybody could come. the sea of

[03:51] kids could come and you know Charlie put

[03:55] up a card table and a tent and we'd have

[03:58] to bring more and more speakers in

[04:00] because the crowds kept growing and

[04:02] growing and growing and they became uh I

[04:05] mean these almost festival rock concert

[04:07] events and he would come out we'd drive

[04:09] him up we would always plan his route

[04:11] he'd come up and the crowd would see him

[04:13] there'd be a huge cheer um and he loved

[04:16] that um and that is one of the great

[04:19] comforts in all of this I can tell you

[04:21] is that um he died doing what he loved.

[04:23] Um I was texting with him minutes before

[04:25] it happened and we were talking about

[04:28] different concepts and different uh

[04:30] debate points about different topics and

[04:33] he was he was focused on you know he

[04:36] wanted to be as persuasive as he could

[04:37] be and that was my he died doing what he

[04:40] loved and it truly energized him. I I I

[04:43] I want people that love Charlie to know

[04:45] that he loved it. He loved that moment.

[04:50] He was more energized doing campus stops

[04:52] than just about anything else. And um

[04:55] and uh there's some solace for me in

[04:57] that. And uh the crowd loved him and the

[05:01] people loved him. And I think you're

[05:02] seeing that with all of these these

[05:04] vigils. And I just want to say I'm so

[05:06] proud of the people that love him and

[05:08] support him all around the world. And

[05:10] we're not burning things down. We're not

[05:13] um we're not rioting. They're praying.

[05:17] And um I am so proud and honored by that

[05:21] testament to his character and his

[05:23] message.

[05:24] >> Andrew, to to that point, if it had

[05:27] happened to somebody else and Charlie

[05:30] were still among us, what do you think

[05:32] he'd be saying right now?

[05:36] >> He would be condemning the violence and

[05:39] saying that we need to be using words,

[05:42] not violence, not guns. And um you know

[05:46] Charlie some of the last messages that

[05:48] he sent to some of my mutual friends and

[05:52] uh was that we have to stop these groups

[05:54] that are fermenting violence that that

[05:56] that they're that that's actually their

[05:58] core mission. Um and uh you know I uh I

[06:03] just know that Charlie ne would never

[06:04] want his legacy to to be that this was

[06:08] used to rip apart the country or to tear

[06:11] us apart as a nation. He devoted his

[06:14] life and every measure of his life to

[06:18] restoring the promise of the founding

[06:20] that we could be one nation under God.

[06:23] And he wants that for his kids. He

[06:24] doesn't want his kids He's not He was

[06:26] not a revolutionary. He was an

[06:27] anti-revolutionary. He wanted to bring

[06:29] the nation together and to make a better

[06:31] nation for his kids.

[06:33] >> Can Can I just offer this one

[06:35] observation? I have a hot mic in front

[06:37] of me for 16 hours a week. I I know what

[06:40] it's like to say something stupid and

[06:41] regret it. I know that many are now

[06:43] parsing things that Charlie said over

[06:46] the course of his career. I've I've not

[06:48] seen anything suggestive of him

[06:51] embracing anything other than

[06:55] some combative language, but other than

[06:57] engagement and intellectual debate on

[07:01] the issues. You get the final word on

[07:03] that issue.

[07:06] Yeah, I mean there's, you know, Charlie

[07:09] had detractors. He had people that

[07:11] didn't like what he had to say, and that

[07:13] was never going to stop him. And that's

[07:14] never that never should be the issue.

[07:16] Charlie was not um he was not afraid of

[07:20] like I said ideological combat and um of

[07:24] debating the ideas vigorously and he was

[07:26] passionate about them and he believed in

[07:28] them uh deeply and that should be okay

[07:31] and you're free to disagree and u

[07:34] there's not you won't find one single

[07:36] word uh that Charlie ever uttered that

[07:38] would have condoned or encouraged

[07:41] violence. He was exactly the opposite as

[07:43] a matter of fact. And um he uh

[07:46] ultimately his message and his legacy

[07:48] will be one of faith, love, um calling

[07:51] people to get married, to love Jesus,

[07:55] and um and and that's his legacy. And

[07:59] there's just there's just no debate

[08:01] about that.

[08:02] >> Andrew Kovit, sorry for your loss. Sorry

[08:05] for the nation's loss.

[08:08] >> Thank you. I appreciate it.

[08:10] Let's see what you're saying via social

[08:12] media. You can follow me on X and all of

[08:14] the usual platforms. I disagreed with

[08:16] much of Charlie Kirk's ideology, but he

[08:18] was the real deal. So much can be

[08:20] learned through rigorous debate. Yeah.

[08:22] And from from a guy who like, hey, I'm

[08:24] not going to go to college. I'm going to

[08:25] immerse myself. There's a there's a a

[08:27] funny story about the back and forth

[08:28] between he and David Urban because Urban

[08:31] of course went to West Point. Charlie

[08:33] Kirk, you know, wanted to go to West

[08:34] Point and then decided to pursue another

[08:36] path. and and no one doubts his his

[08:38] intellectual rigor. Uh I didn't mean to

[08:40] cut off halfway through that uh that

[08:42] statement. Uh I want to remind all of

[08:44] you, please go to my website. It's

[08:46] recottish.com. So, Governor Cox, Spencer

[08:48] Cox has inspired today's poll question.

[08:51] These are his words from yesterday. Is

[08:54] this the end of a dark chapter in our

[08:56] history or the beginning of a darker

[08:58] chapter in our history? Go to

[09:00] smarcottage.com and vote on today's poll

[09:03] question. And still to come, your social

[09:04] media reaction to my commentary. Plus,

[09:07] imagine a series of blockbuster scripts

[09:09] that Hollywood never wrote. Prosecutors

[09:11] taking on presidents, rules changing

[09:13] midgame, careers, and constitutions on

[09:16] the line. Our very own Ellie Honing. A

[09:19] brand new book lifts that carton, that

[09:21] curtain on the drama inside the DOJ that

[09:24] shaped American history. He'll be here

[09:26] in a moment.

[09:28] [Music]