Charlie Kirk Remembrance Day: Medal of Freedom & Benny Johnson’s Big Reveal

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[00:07] Welcome back everybody to our final

[00:09] segment of the night. Today, October

[00:11] 14th, marks Charlie Kirk Remembrance Day

[00:14] after both chambers of Congress voted to

[00:16] honor his life and legacy, officially

[00:18] designating his birthday as a national

[00:20] day of remembrance. in a very powerful

[00:22] tribute today. He was also postumously

[00:25] awarded the Presidential Medal of

[00:26] Freedom recognizing his unwavering

[00:29] commitment to free speech, faith, uh,

[00:32] and the next generation of conservative

[00:34] leaders. Do we have our guest tonight,

[00:36] guys? Our very special guest.

[00:39] >> Not yet. Okay, we're we're going to

[00:40] wait. But, John, I was there earlier

[00:42] today and the mood in there was just

[00:44] incredible. And it was really a who's

[00:46] who of freedom fighters. It was people

[00:49] from the media. It was people obviously

[00:51] from politics, people from the faith

[00:53] side of things,

[00:53] >> a lot of people we see on this network

[00:55] every day, which I'm really proud of.

[00:56] >> Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean,

[00:58] Charlie's I don't think that people

[00:59] realize just how vast his influence was,

[01:02] especially in the faith side.

[01:03] >> I you know, I know the me the medal was

[01:05] award named long before Charlie was

[01:07] given it today. But if you were going to

[01:09] give a medal for anything Charlie, it

[01:11] would be fighting for freedom. I mean,

[01:12] it's what he stood for. Freedom of

[01:14] speech, freedom of faith. It uh it's

[01:16] pretty powerful.

[01:17] >> Yeah, absolutely. someone who spent a

[01:19] ton of time with Charlie as friends and

[01:21] colleagues. Benny Johnson. Benny, thanks

[01:23] so much for being here.

[01:25] >> It's my honor. I'm uh actually walking

[01:27] out of the White House at this very

[01:29] second.

[01:31] >> Yeah.

[01:31] >> And I have breaking news for your

[01:33] program because I know this is a

[01:34] breaking news show.

[01:37] >> Let's do it.

[01:38] >> All right. So, I and I I didn't have

[01:41] time to send you the video to your

[01:43] producer, but I just looked at the

[01:45] Charlie Kirk Presidential Medal of

[01:47] Freedom, and I I saw it with my own

[01:50] eyes. I looked there as Erica Kirk

[01:54] showed us, and something historic

[01:55] happened uh with this Presidential Medal

[01:58] of Freedom. For the first time in the

[02:00] history of the Presidential Medal of

[02:02] Freedom, there has been a Christian

[02:05] cross, a Christian crucifix uh emlazed

[02:09] on the back of the medal with Charlie's

[02:12] name on it

[02:13] >> to honor his march for Christ and the

[02:16] kingdom of Christ and Christendom. Uh

[02:19] this is a historic first. Erica Kirk was

[02:22] profoundly moved by this. I was able to

[02:24] see it myself. We'll post the video

[02:27] soon, but it's it's it's just beautiful.

[02:30] >> Well, Vinnie, I know Charlie had a a

[02:33] very very large influence on you in your

[02:35] own faith journey.

[02:38] >> Yes, absolutely. When I first met

[02:41] Charlie, I was a degenerate loser,

[02:44] alcoholic. That describes approximately

[02:46] 94% of Washington DC's population.

[02:49] >> So, I'm not special. Uh however um

[02:54] through his e excellent example, Charlie

[02:58] was able to help Christ center my life.

[03:01] And after working nearly 10 years with

[03:03] Charlie, I am now a proud, sober father

[03:07] of four because it's no fun to have a

[03:10] hangover with little kids.

[03:13] >> Indeed.

[03:14] >> Isn't that the truth? What what wisdom,

[03:17] uh Benny, that's such a great story

[03:18] you've shared that and it does inspire

[03:20] people. And I think what's so remarkable

[03:22] about Charlie is that everybody came in

[03:24] contact always had an impact from he

[03:27] just had a way even if it was two

[03:28] minutes there's that moment of impact.

[03:31] What made him so magnetic? What made him

[03:33] so ability that in a short period of

[03:35] time he could actually change a

[03:37] conversation change a life change a

[03:40] position that you had?

[03:43] I John. Yeah, thank you for that

[03:45] question because it is a profound

[03:47] question and it's a magnetism that I'm

[03:51] not sure that can truly be described.

[03:54] Anybody who worked closely with Charlie

[03:56] and I know John that you were very close

[03:57] with him saw it. But I'll give you a

[04:01] little anecdote. So when I was backstage

[04:04] with Charlie and the president of the

[04:05] United States and I was back there on

[04:08] many occasions, what you would find is

[04:10] that the president would arrive

[04:13] and Charlie and him would sit or stand

[04:18] together. They were always standing and

[04:20] he would be legitimately advising the

[04:23] president of the United States. Now,

[04:24] this is a 29year-old, a 28-year-old

[04:28] >> and Trump would be going back and forth

[04:30] with him on various topics of great

[04:33] interest and he would be per he, this is

[04:36] the most powerful man in the world and

[04:38] Charlie would be giving him wise

[04:39] counsel. He was just wise beyond his

[04:42] years. And it is uh something that is

[04:45] was remarkable to see. And I'll I'll

[04:46] close with this. Um I I witnessed a

[04:49] miracle. The birth of my own children

[04:51] certainly is a miracle for me and my

[04:53] wife, but I was witness for the last

[04:56] decade to a miracle that we all were

[04:58] able to witness, which was Charlie

[05:00] Kirk's life and the profound effect that

[05:02] it's had on this country uh in such a

[05:04] moving ceremony today. The heavens

[05:06] opened. I know that you've both been to

[05:08] the White House many times. I've never

[05:10] seen a more beautiful day at the White

[05:11] House in my life. The heavens were truly

[05:14] open and it was a a majestic moment uh

[05:18] in honor of Charlie.

[05:20] >> Absolutely. Ben, we've just got about 60

[05:22] seconds left. The legacy that Charlie

[05:24] leaves behind at Turning Point. Do you

[05:26] feel that this organization is going to

[05:27] explode in his presence?

[05:32] >> Uh I'm so sorry. Can you repeat the

[05:34] question one time? I'm walking on the

[05:37] street. I apologize.

[05:38] >> Sure. his legacy turning point. Do you

[05:41] anticipate that it is going to explode

[05:43] in the in the coming years?

[05:45] >> Oh, yes. Uh again, I'll give you an

[05:46] anecdote from right inside the White

[05:48] House at the reception, which is that

[05:50] the major problem for Turning Point

[05:52] right now is finding stadiums big enough

[05:54] to do events at

[05:57] >> what a problem to have.

[05:59] >> That is it. Yep.

[06:01] >> Absolutely.

[06:02] >> Benny Johnson, host of the Benny Show

[06:04] and friend of Charlie Kirk. You are so

[06:07] special. You were special to Charlie.

[06:08] You were special to us. And thanks for

[06:10] coming on tonight. And thank you for

[06:11] that special anecdote about the cross.

[06:14] >> It's my great honor.

[06:16] >> Likewise.

[06:17] >> Pretty amazing. If you're going to

[06:18] change a Medal of Honor, that's that's

[06:19] the sort of juice.

[06:20] >> My goodness. And how to put a cross on

[06:22] it.

[06:22] >> Yeah. You know, I know for a nation

[06:23] under God

[06:24] >> for Erica having to spend this day uh

[06:27] mourning her husband. I know that that's

[06:29] got to be so hard, but spending it with

[06:31] Charlie's friends, people who admired

[06:32] him and loved him and respected him.

[06:34] >> Like Benny.

[06:35] >> Yeah. Like Benny. Absolutely. All right,

[06:37] everybody. That's all the time we have

[06:38] for this evening, but we will be back

[06:40] here tomorrow night at 6 p.m. Eastern.

[06:41] Have a great night.

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