Brilyn Hollyhand Remembers Charlie Kirk After Tragic Campus Shooting That Took His Mentor's Life

[00:00] And um it is very very worrisome.

[00:03] >> There were there were messages, you

[00:05] know, it surprised me Joe Biden, Kla

[00:08] Harris, Barack Obama, even Tim Waltz um

[00:10] had

[00:12] posts on X today that were appropriate

[00:15] and and and struck the right note. But

[00:17] then on the other side of that, many on

[00:19] the left, many unelected people like

[00:21] Stephen King, many in office like AOC

[00:23] immediately went to gun control

[00:24] immediately.

[00:25] >> Well, you know, I want I want to bring

[00:26] in Brian Holland. He's the chairman of

[00:28] the RNC Youth Advisory Council, author

[00:30] of One Generation Away, knew Charlie

[00:33] Kirk very, very well for many years,

[00:34] attributing Kirk with helping him get

[00:36] his start in pol. Brian, you know, just

[00:38] your take on this real quick.

[00:41] >> Yeah, thank you guys for having me. I

[00:42] appreciate it. You know, this is an

[00:43] incredibly heartbreaking night. Uh I'm

[00:46] on a college campus. We're all very

[00:47] shaken up. And I was proud to call

[00:50] Charlie one of my closest friends in a

[00:52] business that it was so hard to have

[00:53] close true friends in. He by all means

[00:56] was my mentor. I first got started in

[00:58] politics at 11 years old in the fourth

[01:00] grade. And it was very hard to have

[01:01] people on my podcast in the fourth

[01:03] grade, but Charlie took a chance on me.

[01:04] He came on and you know, he didn't have

[01:06] to do that. He was on TV every other

[01:08] hour. He didn't need to go on the fourth

[01:10] graders podcast, but he did. And I

[01:12] remember afterwards saying, "Charlie,

[01:13] can you give me any advice? I'm 11. I'm

[01:15] trying to get my start." And he sat me

[01:16] down and he said, "Brian, the left will

[01:19] always outf fundraise us, but they will

[01:20] never outwork me. I will stay up as late

[01:22] as I need to. I will get up as early as

[01:23] I need to. and I will work my tail off

[01:25] to fight for the future of this country.

[01:28] And that is what he's done every step of

[01:30] the way. Charlie was a walking talking

[01:33] beacon of hope. And and I will boldly

[01:35] say today that, you know, Charlie and I

[01:37] have traveled the country on college

[01:38] campuses. We worked to win the White

[01:40] House for President Trump. And I can

[01:42] pretty confidently attest that there

[01:44] would be no Donald Trump in the Oval

[01:45] Office this evening if it wasn't for

[01:47] Charlie Kerr getting off the sidelines

[01:48] and getting Jenzie engaged in a fight.

[01:50] And not just short term, but long term.

[01:52] This wasn't just a one-time election

[01:54] shift that we're thankful for Charlie's

[01:56] help. This is a long longevity pendulum

[01:59] shift of Gen Z, this generation that

[02:01] used to be a monopoly of of the left

[02:03] that Charlie can be attributed for.

[02:04] >> Yeah. And he and I don't think that

[02:06] pendulum stopping swinging because of

[02:07] this either. But you wanted to share

[02:09] some text messages that you had where

[02:11] you called him originally Mr. Kirk and

[02:13] he tells you, you know, call me Charlie,

[02:15] keep up the good work. I mean, these are

[02:17] these are revered things that you'll

[02:18] never forget.

[02:20] >> No, not at all. And that's the true

[02:22] character of Charlie. I mean, we just

[02:24] spoke yesterday and he was so excited to

[02:26] be back on college campuses and he was

[02:29] like genuinely like hyping me up and had

[02:32] fired off a text to me after I'd been on

[02:34] on a network just saying, "Great job.

[02:36] Like, you're killing it." Again, we're

[02:37] talking to a guy that's extremely busy,

[02:38] about to start a college campus speaking

[02:39] tour, a father, a husband, could have

[02:42] made a million excuses not to take the

[02:43] time to text a a freshman in college,

[02:45] but he did because genuinely he was like

[02:47] a pat yourself on the back. You're doing

[02:48] good work for the movement. And that's

[02:50] what I want to be really clear about

[02:51] right now of yes, we're all frustrated.

[02:53] Yes, we're really, really, really upset.

[02:55] And yes, like we're angry, but what we

[02:58] need to be doing with this is carrying

[03:00] the legacy of Charlie into the future.

[03:02] Not letting his memory be in vain. And

[03:05] this coward that was on that roof that

[03:07] took my friend's life tonight that tried

[03:08] to shut us up only woke us up. And that

[03:11] right there is what college kids need to

[03:13] understand. You talk about the rhetoric.

[03:15] You play the clips from TV hosts and and

[03:18] Democrat politicians. These people

[03:20] called my friend Charlie Hitler Jr. for

[03:22] a decade and now they're just shocked at

[03:24] the fact that one of their supporters

[03:26] took him out. No, they don't need to be

[03:27] shocked.

[03:28] >> Brian, can you talk about the impact

[03:30] that that Turning Point had on the youth

[03:33] vote um and Charlie Kirk in particular

[03:36] who helped make conservatism popular

[03:39] again on college campuses, which I don't

[03:41] think Reagan didn't do that. It

[03:44] certainly wasn't the case when I was in

[03:45] college either.

[03:46] >> No, Charlie Kirk made it cool to be a

[03:49] conservative again. And that was

[03:50] absolutely attested to the fact of his

[03:53] actual authentic engagement with the

[03:55] next generation. He didn't just post

[03:58] viral social media videos. He didn't

[03:59] just go and give speeches screaming at

[04:01] college students. You know what he did?

[04:02] This novel crazy idea called talking to

[04:04] us. Nobody had ever done it before, but

[04:06] he came to college campuses, didn't give

[04:07] a lecture in a lecture hall. He came out

[04:09] on the quad like you saw today and would

[04:11] talk to people, would have conversations

[04:13] and open up the floor for Q&A. And what

[04:15] he was famous for doing was saying, "If

[04:17] you disagree with me, come to the front

[04:18] of the line." I've been to dozens of

[04:20] events with Charlie. I've seen him do

[04:21] this time and time again. He wanted

[04:22] civil discourse. This lost art in our

[04:24] country. And that's what's so tragic

[04:26] about this. Charlie did this the right

[04:27] way. He came to a place where you're

[04:29] supposed to be able to have civil

[04:30] discourse. We're supposed to be able to

[04:32] have a free exchange of ideas. What is

[04:34] the point of higher ed if you can't have

[04:36] freedom of speech? And that's why my

[04:37] heart breaks because how do you explain

[04:39] this to Charlie's two young kids? How do

[04:41] you say, "Yeah, dad went to a college

[04:42] campus where you're supposed to be able

[04:44] to share your mind and talk to people

[04:47] and he never came home." That's the most

[04:48] heartbreaking part of this.

[04:49] >> Yeah.

[04:50] >> You're a freshman in college, Brandon.

[04:52] Is that what you said?

[04:52] >> Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

[04:54] >> Sharp guy.

[04:55] >> I couldn't even get up on Tom, man.

[04:57] Congratulations.

[04:58] >> Times have changed, gentlemen. Thanks

[05:00] very much.

[05:00] >> Our hearts are with you, Brian.

[05:01] >> Thanks, Brian.

[05:02] >> Thank you.

[05:02] >> What were you guys doing when you were

[05:03] 31?

[05:05] >> Seriously, 31? I had just gotten out of

[05:07] the military.

[05:08] >> Rob, local news.

[05:10] >> Local news. Got married when I was 31.

[05:13] >> Had my first kid.

[05:14] >> Yeah.

[05:15] >> Just got out of the military. Bring them

[05:17] to New