CJ Pearson Reflects on Charlie Kirk's Legacy and the Explosive Growth of Turning Point USA Following Assassination

[00:00] I'm so glad you said that because this

[00:02] is one of the things that really bugs me

[00:04] about the media. We have it happen right

[00:06] here in Australia and I'll show you an

[00:08] example. CNN, this is their pitiful

[00:11] reporting. In their opening sentence,

[00:13] they say President Donald Trump said he

[00:15] is designating far-left anti-fascism

[00:19] group Antifa as a terrorist

[00:21] organization.

[00:23] CJ, there is nothing anti-fascist about

[00:25] Antifa.

[00:27] Just because they call themselves that

[00:29] to try to excuse their behavior doesn't

[00:31] mean it's accurate. It's like claiming

[00:33] North Korea is a is democratic because

[00:36] they call themselves the Democratic

[00:38] People's Republic of Korea or that white

[00:41] supremacists are superior because that's

[00:44] what they call themselves. This

[00:46] dishonesty in how Antifa is represented

[00:50] in the media has to stop.

[00:53] Yeah, you're exactly right. Just because

[00:54] they're good at branding doesn't mean

[00:56] they should get kudos for that, right?

[00:57] You know, these people are not

[00:58] anti-fascism America. They're anti-free

[01:01] speech. They're anti- dialogue. They're

[01:02] anti- debate. They're anti- everything

[01:04] that folks like Charlie Kirk stood for.

[01:06] This was an individual who didn't care

[01:08] about, you know, conservative supremacy

[01:09] on college campuses. He cared about

[01:11] actual equality of ideas between the

[01:14] exchange of them and they didn't believe

[01:15] that that was enough. And so, they took

[01:17] his life because of it. And so, you

[01:19] know, President Trump is exactly right.

[01:21] you know, AG PM Bonnie is exactly right

[01:23] to go after these people to ensure that

[01:26] they do not have the ability to commit

[01:28] the acts of violence that they have a

[01:30] long track record of doing right here in

[01:32] America. And again, we should encourage

[01:34] that. We should continue to protect that

[01:37] because these people, they hate this

[01:39] country. And if they had their way,

[01:41] there would be no other half of this

[01:43] nation with the ability to say they love

[01:45] their God, they love their country, and

[01:46] they love the idea of a nuclear family.

[01:48] They would absolutely eliminate every

[01:50] right to say those things.

[01:54] Oh yeah, we've seen that. We've seen

[01:55] that all too well in recent years. CJ, I

[01:59] want to play you a clip of you with

[02:01] Charlie on a university campus, this is

[02:05] special,

[02:06] being hunted.

[02:07] I Let me tell Okay, y'all can laugh, but

[02:10] until you have walked as a black person

[02:12] on this campus, y'all y'all truly y'all

[02:15] truly don't understand. CJ, come here

[02:17] really quick. I have a question. Come

[02:19] here. Go right there.

[02:24] So CJ, just really quick. You're a black

[02:27] person. Are you haunted at the

[02:28] university?

[02:28] You know, I don't I don't feel hunted at

[02:30] this university. But I guess the

[02:31] difference between me and some people

[02:32] here is that I don't choose to be a

[02:34] victim, Charlie. Which I think which I

[02:37] think is the biggest problem we have

[02:40] here today are people who wake up every

[02:42] single day looking for a reason to be

[02:44] oppressed.

[02:46] Tell me about that, CJ. And tell me

[02:49] about what Charlie was like as a man, as

[02:51] a friend.

[02:53] You know, Rita, that uh that clip

[02:55] actually, you know, makes me a little

[02:56] bit emotional because, you know, when I

[02:58] was just 12 years old, he was one of the

[02:59] first people to reach out to me in the

[03:01] National Conservative Movement. I was a

[03:03] young kid who made a viral YouTube video

[03:05] and he DM' me on Twitter and said, "Hey

[03:07] CJ, loved your work. Love your content.

[03:09] If I can ever be helpful to you, let me

[03:11] know how." And as someone who grew up in

[03:13] a democratic household uh with parents

[03:15] who weren't the fondest of my political

[03:16] beliefs, to have someone that validated

[03:19] the the mission that I was on meant a

[03:21] great deal to me. Uh and at that moment,

[03:24] the University of Alabama, which

[03:25] actually I'm actually here now on campus

[03:27] at Alabama because I came back to host a

[03:29] memorial uh rally for Charlie. Um it

[03:32] it's a full circle moment. This is an

[03:34] individual who stood for the ideas of

[03:37] free speech, who stood for the ideas of

[03:38] loving your God, loving your country,

[03:40] all things that make America America.

[03:43] And he went in the belly of the beast

[03:44] every single day knowing the risk that

[03:47] came with that. But he did it because he

[03:49] believed that America was a country. And

[03:52] uh it's a huge legacy to live up to. But

[03:55] I know that he would want us to carry on

[03:57] the torch. He would want us to continue

[03:59] to fight the good fight. And uh that is

[04:01] what honestly reassures me. I know that

[04:04] he's in a better place. I know that he's

[04:05] looking down upon this nation uh upon

[04:08] this world. We see vigils and rallies

[04:10] all across the world of people

[04:12] remembering his name. And I know that

[04:14] he's smiling ear to ear and saying not

[04:17] only is his legacy alive, it's alive and

[04:20] well. And God bless him for it.

[04:24] and his legacy is going to be, I think,

[04:27] stronger than anyone can fathom that

[04:29] there are 54,000 new applications for

[04:33] Turning Point chapters since Charlie's

[04:35] assassination. CJ, there are only around

[04:38] 2,000 chapters in place currently. I say

[04:40] only, that's plenty. But tell me about

[04:43] the reaction from young people. We've

[04:45] seen the ugliness. We've talked about

[04:48] that the the celebrations, but there are

[04:50] also plenty of young people who have had

[04:54] their eyes opened by this entire week.

[04:57] Yeah, you're exactly right. And I'll

[04:59] talk about on a micro scale. You know,

[05:00] again, I just wrapped up an event here

[05:01] at the University of Alabama here in the

[05:04] States, and I was talking to the Turning

[05:06] Point USA president, and they said that

[05:08] their group me, their group chat for

[05:10] their chapter went from 200 people to

[05:12] a,000 people uh in the aftermath of the,

[05:15] you know, terrible assassination of

[05:17] Charlie. And I think that, you know, the

[05:19] deal, you know, Charlie always said that

[05:21] if he would, if he were to be remembered

[05:23] for anything, it would be for the

[05:24] courage uh of his faith. And uh for him

[05:27] to lead a revival like this, to lead

[05:29] people to go to church, to read their

[05:30] Bible, and to join an organization like

[05:32] Turning Point USA, he would have felt as

[05:35] if his mission had been accomplished.

[05:37] And so, you know, I report to him, you

[05:40] know, looking up above, but his mission

[05:42] has indeed been accomplished. And the

[05:44] work that is, you know, lies ahead is

[05:46] just beginning. And we're going to do

[05:48] everything that we can to glorify his

[05:50] name and to make sure his legacy is not

[05:52] just what he left it as, but is bigger

[05:54] than he ever could have imagined.

[05:58] You're so right there. And and part of

[06:00] his legacy was the way that people have

[06:02] remembered him. They haven't remembered

[06:04] him by rioting or by engaging in acts of

[06:09] violence, but by having vigils, by

[06:11] having um group prayer and by uh paying

[06:15] uh tribute to his memory and it's all

[06:18] been very peaceful. Uh CJ, thank you so

[06:21] much for your time. Really appreciate

[06:22] it. Thank

[06:23] you so much