Brilyn Hollyhand Remembers Charlie Kirk: The Mentor Who Changed a Generation and Never Stopped Working

[00:00] David. Um, want to welcome in friend of

[00:02] the show, Brian Hollyand, uh, who is at

[00:04] college. Brian, I know you were very

[00:07] close with Charlie. Charlie was almost a

[00:09] mentor, and I loved this story. You told

[00:12] me this when you were in studio here,

[00:14] and I've seen the footage, but he went

[00:17] on your podcast when you were, I think,

[00:20] in like the fourth or fifth grade. Can

[00:22] you tell us about that? Yeah, I mean

[00:24] Charlie Kirk was one of my closest

[00:27] friends in politics. Uh a business where

[00:29] it's really rare to have friends. It's

[00:31] so lonely. And he was a mentor

[00:33] genuinely. You you said it right there.

[00:35] In the fourth grade at 11 years old, I

[00:37] started a podcast. I'll be honest with

[00:38] you, Rob, not a lot of people wanted to

[00:39] join my podcast at at 11. Uh but he took

[00:42] that chance on me. And Charlie didn't

[00:44] need to. He was on TV every other hour.

[00:46] He was in the prime of his career. But

[00:47] he took the opportunity. And I asked him

[00:49] a few months later, I said, "Charlie,

[00:50] why did you do that?" He said, "Because

[00:51] I was giving speeches about getting the

[00:53] next generation involved and here was a

[00:54] young person involved, I wasn't going to

[00:56] just ignore you." Uh, and then he did

[00:58] and he took that opportunity and he came

[01:00] on the podcast and my favorite moment, a

[01:03] memory that the only thing that's made

[01:04] me smile this entire afternoon and I was

[01:05] reminiscing with some of his family and

[01:07] friends a few moments ago on the phone

[01:08] and I remember the story at the very end

[01:10] of the interview. I said, "Charlie, what

[01:11] advice do you have for me? I'm 11. I'm

[01:13] just trying to get my start. You're this

[01:14] titan in the political arena. What

[01:15] advice do you have?" And he said,

[01:17] "Brian, the left will always out

[01:19] fundraise us, but they will never

[01:20] outwork me. I will stay up as late as I

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

[01:23] to. I will work every hour of the day to

[01:26] save this country." And that's what I

[01:28] want to be really clear to everyone

[01:29] watching here right now. Um, if this

[01:31] coward thought that he was going to shut

[01:34] us up, shut my generation up with this

[01:36] this horrible tragedy. The only thing he

[01:39] did, Rob, was wake us up. And I will

[01:40] tell you, Gen Z is more engaged and

[01:43] energized and aware of the high stakes

[01:45] of this fight. And and again, Charlie

[01:48] was on a college campus doing what

[01:50] you're supposed to do on college

[01:51] campuses, having free conversations, of

[01:53] free expression. Isn't that the whole

[01:55] point of higher ed? He had lines where

[01:58] you could come up and join the very

[01:59] front of the line and debate him and

[02:00] have a Q&A and have civil discourse.

[02:02] This thing that we always say is lost in

[02:04] America. But genuinely, the the lack of

[02:07] civil discourse cost Charlie. And what

[02:09] do you say to his two young kids today,

[02:10] Rob? How do you explain to him your dad

[02:12] went to talk on a college campus, a

[02:14] place you're supposed to go to freely

[02:15] express yourself and have a

[02:16] conversation, and he never came home?

[02:19] >> You know, he had a baby, a little baby,

[02:20] and a little girl. Um, and he just loved

[02:23] those kids so much. And his wife Erica

[02:26] >> as well. Um,

[02:28] can you talk about the impact that

[02:31] Charlie had, but that turning point had

[02:33] on the youth vote? I I think some people

[02:36] maybe aren't aware of the impact that

[02:39] Charlie Kirk had on the 2024 election.

[02:43] Arizona might not go for Donald Trump,

[02:46] for example, in November if there's no

[02:49] Charlie Kirk. He also somehow made being

[02:53] conservative a cool to your generation.

[02:56] And I don't know if that's ever

[02:58] happened. Reagan didn't do that.

[03:01] >> You know how he did it? He talked to us.

[03:03] He was authentic and he had

[03:04] conversations with Jenz. He didn't go to

[03:06] college campuses and lecture people. He

[03:08] didn't scream at Jenz. He sat down in a

[03:10] chair in a tent and had a conversation

[03:12] and said, "Please come talk to me. Let's

[03:14] have a conversation." And guess what? If

[03:15] he leaves still disagreeing, that's all

[03:16] right. We had a conversation. And that's

[03:18] better than what the generations ahead

[03:19] of us are doing. I will very clearly say

[03:21] to you, Rob, tonight that the only

[03:23] reason that Donald Trump is sitting in

[03:24] the Oval Office this evening is because

[03:26] Charlie Kirk and his tireless work ethic

[03:28] to go state by state, door by door, and

[03:31] campus by campus and fight to get the

[03:34] next generation off the sidelines. And

[03:35] that memory cannot be in vain. His

[03:37] legacy must be a torchbearing one that

[03:40] inspires all of us to get off the

[03:42] sidelines, to fight to continue the work

[03:44] that he started, not only in the

[03:46] midterms, but in 28. And the most recent

[03:48] conversation when Charlie and I was

[03:49] talking politics back back and forth, it

[03:51] was about what the future looked like

[03:53] and strategies and plans for the future.

[03:55] And and one of the comments that he made

[03:56] was, you know, it's great we got Trump

[03:57] in office. That's awesome. But that's

[03:59] short term. That's a patch on the

[04:00] problem that we have right now. There

[04:02] will be more elections. That that was a

[04:03] small victory and a longer term war. And

[04:06] that right there is how Jenzy needs to

[04:07] realize we cannot take our foot off the

[04:10] gas. We cannot sit on the sidelines and

[04:12] just let this terrify us into oblivion.

[04:14] Rob, I'm speaking just this weekend in

[04:16] in South Carolina at a youth event

[04:19] trying to encourage Next Generation and

[04:20] my team is terrified. They're saying,

[04:21] "No, we need to cancel. We need to

[04:23] actually take a little step back and

[04:24] maybe reevaluate security." But we can't

[04:26] do that. We can't let this coward scare

[04:28] us into just submission of just not

[04:32] fighting anymore. If that can't happen,

[04:33] >> good for you. Good for you. But I I do

[04:35] want you to be safe and be cognizant um

[04:38] as best you can. You know, there's

[04:40] nothing Charlie could have done himself

[04:42] today. Um, his wife, by the way, and

[04:45] this just this gave me chills and it

[04:47] still does. Uh, Charlie was a man of

[04:49] God. And people don't know that about

[04:51] him, but he he really was. And about a

[04:54] half an hour before he was shot dead on

[04:57] this campus, his wife tweeted this.

[05:00] Erica, God is our refuge and strength, a

[05:03] very present help in trouble.

[05:06] And then we know what happened about 30

[05:09] minutes later. Um, there is a vigil

[05:11] happening right now, right near where

[05:14] this happened in Utah. I think we've got

[05:16] some footage. There it is. Um,

[05:19] remarkable the outpouring uh of support

[05:22] from people who were not at the event

[05:24] today on that college campus, but are

[05:26] from that small community, Oram, Utah,

[05:29] who are now lining streets with American

[05:31] flags and have shown up on campus.

[05:32] Again, people that were not there today

[05:34] and maybe do not have a son or daughter

[05:36] that goes to school there and do not

[05:38] know much about Charlie Kirk, but

[05:40] patriotic Americans who were saddened

[05:44] but touched by what happened today and

[05:47] by the life and legacy that Charlie Kirk

[05:49] will forever leave behind. Um, Brian,

[05:52] just a final thought on the impact that

[05:54] he had on you and his continuing lasting

[05:56] legacy. I mean, Rob, Charlie Kirk will

[05:59] be remembered in a lot of ways by a lot

[06:00] of people over the next week or so, but

[06:02] I just want to be very clear and say

[06:04] that I will remember my friend Charlie

[06:06] as a bold father of faith. Somebody that

[06:09] legitimately, you understand, like the

[06:10] hustle and bustle of a campaign trail,

[06:12] always took the time to fly home on

[06:14] Sunday and take his children and his

[06:16] wife to church. Always turn his phone

[06:17] off on Sunday. You couldn't reach

[06:18] Charlie on the Sabbath if he needed him

[06:20] because he took that time and respected

[06:22] the Lord with it. And I'm so thankful

[06:24] that that man got to hear, you know,

[06:25] well done, good and faithful servant

[06:27] tonight because that should be the

[06:28] example and the legacy that he leaves

[06:30] the next generation to not only vote

[06:31] Republican, but to give your life to the

[06:33] Lord.

[06:34] >> Absolutely. It's interesting you say

[06:35] that. My booking producers would always

[06:37] be frustrated on Sundays because you

[06:39] couldn't get in touch with him and if

[06:41] something happened over the weekend,

[06:42] everybody wanted Charlie Kirk. We're

[06:44] always in a competition to book Charlie

[06:46] first. And uh and he shut his phone off

[06:48] on Sundays and it finally made sense. We

[06:50] just thought, you know, he didn't like

[06:51] us and it was just he didn't have his

[06:53] phone on him on Sunday so he could be

[06:54] with that family. Brian Hollyan, great

[06:56] to have you back on. We appreciate it.

[06:57] I'm sorry for your loss tonight. Thank

[06:59] you.

[06:59] >> Thank you, Rob. I appreciate it.

[07:00] joining.