Brilyn Hollyhand and Matt Gorman Remember Charlie Kirk's Life, Legacy, and Impact on Conservative Movement

[00:00] As you heard earlier in the broadcast,

[00:01] Charlie Kirk was only 18 when he founded

[00:04] his group Turning Point USA. You see him

[00:06] here just a year later, opening an event

[00:08] build as the next generation of

[00:10] conservatives in 2013. His group went on

[00:13] to host events at colleges and even

[00:15] holding campaign events for President

[00:17] Trump. Tonight, the president's son,

[00:19] Eric, posting this photo with Charlie

[00:20] captioned, "Charlie Kirk was an

[00:22] incredible patriot, brave, tough as

[00:24] hell, and a dear friend to our entire

[00:26] family." For more on Charlie Kirk's life

[00:28] and legacy, I'm joined tonight by Brian

[00:31] Hollyand, a political commentator and

[00:33] freshman at Auburn University and

[00:35] Republican strategist and good friend of

[00:36] Top Story, Matt Gorman. Uh, thank you to

[00:38] you both. I I know both of you knew

[00:40] Charlie Kirk. I I'm sorry for your loss.

[00:43] Uh, Brian, I I do want to ask you, you

[00:45] were close with Charlie and you spoke to

[00:46] him just the last few days. How are you

[00:48] doing tonight?

[00:50] >> You know, we're we're extremely shaken

[00:52] up and heartbroken. Um, Charlie Kirk was

[00:54] that larger than life figure and the

[00:56] last person that you imagine this

[00:58] happening to. Um, Charlie Kirk was a

[01:01] walking talking beacon of hope. And I

[01:04] can really confidently say as someone

[01:05] who has been on college campuses with

[01:08] him, who's been on the campaign trail

[01:09] with him, uh, who has seen him in

[01:11] conversations with the president, that

[01:12] the only reason that President Trump is

[01:14] in the Oval Office this evening is

[01:16] because of Charlie Kirk's tireless

[01:18] efforts to reach out to the next

[01:19] generation. And that's what makes this

[01:20] so hard. such a fighter for the movement

[01:22] as a whole. And I got to say, the first

[01:24] time we met, it was in the fourth grade.

[01:26] I just started a podcast at 11 years

[01:28] old. And I'll be honest with you, not a

[01:29] lot of people wanted to come on a fourth

[01:30] graders podcast, but Charlie took a

[01:32] chance on me. He came on and afterwards

[01:34] asked him for some advice. And this

[01:36] afternoon, just reeling with the news

[01:37] and speaking with his family and

[01:38] friends, it brought a smile to my face

[01:39] thinking of the advice uh because it was

[01:41] so like authentic and so Charlie. And he

[01:44] said, "Brian, the left will have all the

[01:46] money and fundraising in the world, but

[01:47] nobody can ever say they outwork me. I

[01:49] will wake up as early as I need to. I

[01:51] will stay up as late as I need to. I'll

[01:52] travel to whatever campuses I need to.

[01:53] Uh but he always took that time to fight

[01:56] for the next generation and that's what

[01:58] we'll be remembering.

[01:59] >> Matt, you've been in a Republican

[02:00] politics a long time. Again, I'm sorry

[02:03] for the loss of somebody, you know,

[02:04] within the Republican party and in in

[02:06] the in the movement you work for. How

[02:09] how are you and your colleagues taking

[02:10] this? I mean, you're out there with

[02:12] political candidates all the time.

[02:14] You're out there doing Republican

[02:15] events. This guy wasn't running for

[02:17] office. He wasn't elected. He was an

[02:20] influencer, huge following, huge, you

[02:22] know, we we know how big his movement

[02:23] was. But it's just wild that he was

[02:25] assassinated, right? And and he wasn't

[02:27] somebody that that he had even run for

[02:29] office.

[02:30] >> No, he he wasn't a traditional operative

[02:32] per se in the in the traditional sense

[02:34] of of the word. But you talk to almost

[02:37] any Republican in either the Trump

[02:40] administration or just in power or

[02:42] around power today, it was always either

[02:44] one or two degrees of separation from

[02:46] not just meeting Charlie once, but

[02:48] knowing Charlie. Uh he was that

[02:50] ubiquitous in circles and and and Brian

[02:52] Brian is is right in many respects. uh

[02:55] his get out the vote campaign um was

[02:57] instrumental last year uh that with to

[03:00] knock on doors, chase mail ballots and

[03:03] really ensure that people came out to

[03:04] vote and but a particularly hard

[03:06] demographic, young people, right? And

[03:08] that's always very tough to get them out

[03:10] and also going to college campuses and

[03:12] his reach was very strong there. But he

[03:14] was also a a massive advocate for

[03:17] family, for getting married, having

[03:19] kids, you know, going to to uh church or

[03:22] h or having religion as or one's role in

[03:24] life. Very very important, influential

[03:26] among young people especially too.

[03:28] >> Yeah. Brian, how did he break through

[03:30] with young people? Because, you know, he

[03:31] had podcast, he was huge on social

[03:33] media. What was it about his message as

[03:34] Matt alluded to? he sort of broke the

[03:37] mold when it came to Republican

[03:38] operatives and he probably wouldn't call

[03:40] himself that as well because he he kind

[03:41] of came out of the MAGA movement and you

[03:44] know that sort of the people that wanted

[03:46] to to get rid of the swamp in Washington

[03:48] DC on the right.

[03:50] Charlie was authentic and I think it's

[03:52] what resonated with people so well. Um

[03:54] he really took the time to talk to

[03:56] people. He didn't come to campuses and

[03:58] scream at college students. Like I'm a

[04:00] freshman at Auburn University. People

[04:02] love to see him actually come and

[04:03] interact with people. And Charlie was

[04:04] doing this the right way. Every event

[04:07] that he's ever done on a college campus,

[04:08] he has a Q&A. The entire event is just

[04:10] come and ask me questions. And he

[04:12] encourages people that are on the

[04:13] opposition, people that disagree with

[04:15] him to get in the front of the line. He

[04:17] wants to have conversations. And I think

[04:18] that that's something that we've lost in

[04:20] the country. And if anything comes from

[04:21] this, it's a need for civil discourse

[04:23] because Charlie was doing that. He was

[04:24] bringing back conversations. And this

[04:26] whole tragedy could have been prevented

[04:28] by a conversation. That's why he was

[04:30] there. I mean, how do you explain this

[04:31] to a two young kids today? Your dad went

[04:34] to a college campus, a place of free

[04:36] expression and free conversation, and

[04:37] didn't come home. Like, where else was

[04:39] this supposed to happen?

[04:41] >> Yeah. Matt, what do you think happens

[04:42] now? I mean, in in the way people

[04:45] campaign, in the way people try to get

[04:46] their message out, you know, I was

[04:48] talking to Kristen Welker a lot about

[04:49] this. As much as social media is is

[04:52] necessary right now and any political

[04:54] candidate wants to get their message

[04:55] out, you still sort of have to go out

[04:57] there. The president does it himself.

[04:58] even after his assassination attempts,

[05:00] but you have to go out there and you

[05:01] have to start the movement and press the

[05:03] flesh. How do you think this changes

[05:05] everything when somebody like Charlie,

[05:06] who again was incredibly popular on the

[05:08] right, is assassinated?

[05:10] I I'm worried it could have a physical

[05:13] but also maybe a different type of

[05:15] barrier between, you know, people like

[05:17] Charlie, whether it's on the left or the

[05:18] right, and you know, uh, people on a

[05:21] college campus or his ability to engage

[05:22] with kind of the general public, right?

[05:24] We saw this in some respects after the

[05:26] the shooting of the in Butler of

[05:29] President Trump, right? His events got

[05:31] more controlled, more guarded. He got

[05:32] more distant. He had it had to for his

[05:34] safety. I I hope that, you know, free

[05:37] expression, as as Bradlin was saying,

[05:38] was such a cornerstone of what he

[05:40] believed in and debate and and and

[05:42] civilized debate. I hope we don't lose

[05:44] that and we can still talk and and and

[05:46] be civilized without, you know,

[05:47] barriers, physical or otherwise, in

[05:49] between us.

[05:50] >> Yeah. Uh, Brian, I'm gonna I'm gonna

[05:52] give you the last word here of what

[05:53] you're going to remember about your

[05:54] mentor, Charlie Kirk.

[05:57] >> A family man and a man of faith. That is

[05:59] how I will be remembering Charlie and

[06:01] conversations this week. I got to tell

[06:03] you, you understand like the hecticness

[06:05] of a campaign and like traveling and

[06:07] criss-crossing the country, Charlie, in

[06:09] my entire, you know, 10 years of knowing

[06:11] him, never didn't take a Sabbath. every

[06:13] single Sunday, flew home, took his wife

[06:15] and two young kids to church, actually

[06:17] took the time uh to be a father figure,

[06:19] took the time to turn his phone off on

[06:21] Sundays, and actually be present with

[06:23] his family. That's so rare and so unique

[06:25] and just shows that genuinely he was a

[06:27] family uh Christian man and and America

[06:29] lost a really good one tonight. Ryland

[06:31] Hollyand, you were a political

[06:33] commentator but also a freshman at

[06:34] Auburn University. We thank you for

[06:36] joining us tonight. Matt Gorman, we know

[06:38] I'll see you again here on Top Story. We

[06:39] thank you for your analysis as well.

[06:42] Thank you sir.