Don Jr. Honors Charlie Kirk: A Brother, Martyr, and Champion of Faith, Family, and Country

[00:00] Uh Don Jr. now taking to the podium. Him

[00:03] and Charlie Kirk were very, very dear

[00:05] friends.

[00:06] Being a sentimental guy, anyone who's

[00:09] seen me on social media knows I'm far

[00:12] more likely to crack a joke or get

[00:14] myself in trouble for posting some

[00:16] grossly inappropriate memes than I am to

[00:19] shed a tear. I know this because I've

[00:22] even gotten the call from that guy a

[00:23] couple times.

[00:25] You know, Don Dun

[00:30] You're getting a little aggressive on

[00:32] social media, Don. Relax.

[00:50] But last week when I received word that

[00:53] Charlie, who was like a little brother

[00:56] to me, had been assassinated, I was

[00:58] truly devastated. We all were. And we're

[01:02] here today to celebrate

[01:04] the way he lived his life and to

[01:08] remember the way he changed so many of

[01:11] ours.

[01:12] So, I want to start where I know Charlie

[01:15] would want me to

[01:17] with what was most important to him, and

[01:20] that was his relationship with Christ.

[01:30] To say Charlie knew more about the Bible

[01:33] than me is an understatement, folks.

[01:36] It's like saying Donald Trump knows more

[01:39] about being president than Hillary

[01:40] Clinton or Cabala Harris.

[01:47] No kidding.

[01:53] But when Charlie was asked in an

[01:55] interview how he'd want to be

[01:56] remembered, he said, "I want to be

[01:59] remembered for my courage, for my

[02:01] faith." And let me tell you guys, those

[02:04] were not empty words.

[02:07] Last week, Charlie joined a long line of

[02:10] courageous men and women who were

[02:13] martyed for what they believe.

[02:20] According to the book of Acts,

[02:23] the first martyr in the early Christian

[02:25] church was Steven, who was stoned to

[02:28] death.

[02:29] And as Steven was being killed, he said,

[02:32] "Behold,

[02:34] I see the heavens opened and the Son of

[02:36] Man standing, standing at the right hand

[02:40] of God."

[02:42] Now, there are many times in the Bible

[02:44] where Jesus is seated at the right hand

[02:46] of God, but this is the only time he's

[02:50] seen standing.

[02:52] And while the Bible isn't explicit about

[02:55] this, I like to think Jesus was standing

[02:59] to welcome Steven, the courageous

[03:02] martyr, into heaven.

[03:10] And today,

[03:12] today that gives me great comfort

[03:15] because 11 days ago, as a cowardly

[03:19] assassin crawled on his stomach to end

[03:21] Charlie's life on Earth,

[03:24] I'm betting Charlie saw the son of God

[03:27] standing tall to welcome him home.

[03:41] I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the

[03:43] greatest treasures of Charlie's heart,

[03:46] his beautiful wife Erica and his two

[03:49] precious children.

[03:51] To watch Charlie with his family, the

[03:55] joy on his face, the devotion in his

[03:58] eyes was to see the gospel lived out.

[04:06] And for me,

[04:09] for me it was inspiring.

[04:11] And now in the face of unthinkable loss,

[04:15] Erica has shown extraordinary courage.

[04:20] Not only as a mother, but in stepping

[04:22] forward to carry on Charlie's mission as

[04:25] the CEO of Turning Point USA.

[04:37] Charlie always brought out the best in

[04:39] all of us.

[04:41] When Charlie first said to me during the

[04:43] 2016 campaign, "Hey, let's start doing

[04:46] events on college campuses." I was like,

[04:49] "Whoa, seriously? Come on, man. Uh,

[04:52] we've given up on that. We're going to

[04:54] let those kids grow up and we'll get

[04:57] them when they start paying taxes.

[05:01] But he convinced me to give it a shot.

[05:05] And there were a couple events that

[05:07] showed just how brave and courageous

[05:09] Charlie was. Even as a very young man

[05:13] at Michigan State University, 5 minutes

[05:16] before we were supposed to go on stage,

[05:19] the state police told us, and I quote,

[05:23] "We can no longer guarantee your

[05:25] safety."

[05:26] because the left-wing activists, they

[05:28] were going crazy. It was rough.

[05:32] That sounded like a great reason to pack

[05:35] it up and head out.

[05:37] But it was one of the many times that I

[05:40] would agree with Charlie who said, "No

[05:44] way. We're going out there anyway."

[05:54] At one of the last events of the 2024

[05:57] campaign at Arizona State, some lunatic

[06:00] called it a threat to try to keep us

[06:02] from going on the stage again. We went

[06:05] out there anyway without fear.

[06:08] Charlie led the way. His message was

[06:12] clear then and his message is clear now.

[06:17] We won't back down.

[06:24] We won't be intimidated.

[06:32] The Bible says over a hundred times in

[06:35] the pages of scripture, "Do not be

[06:37] afraid." And the 100,000 people here

[06:40] today are a signal to the world. Our

[06:44] message of faith, family, and country

[06:48] will not be silenced.

[07:00] It always amazes me how Charlie chose to

[07:02] use his platform. He had one of the

[07:05] largest microphones in the entire

[07:07] conservative movement. And what did he

[07:09] do with it?

[07:11] Day after day, week after week, he

[07:14] handed it to the very people who opposed

[07:17] him most.

[07:19] The media tried to smear him as some

[07:23] sort of dangerous radical,

[07:26] but Charlie embodied something at the

[07:28] very core of our movement.

[07:31] When people disagree with us, we don't

[07:34] silence them. We don't destroy them. And

[07:37] we certainly don't sink to violence.

[07:41] [Applause]

[07:49] We don't burn down their businesses. We

[07:52] don't scream at their children at

[07:54] Disneyland.

[07:56] No, we debate. We stand tall and we win

[08:02] with our ideas.

[08:11] The true extremists are those who would

[08:14] justify and celebrate taking an innocent

[08:16] life over nothing more than

[08:18] disagreement.

[08:21] That is the real radicalism and we

[08:24] reject it completely.

[08:26] [Applause]

[08:32] Charlie delighted in his belief that

[08:35] people could be persuaded.

[08:37] He believed the way to win hearts was

[08:40] with truth, with courage, and with

[08:43] conversation.

[08:46] He would always be the first to say,

[08:48] "You are welcome here."

[08:52] And that's what I want to leave you with

[08:53] today.

[08:55] If we're truly gonna honor Charlie

[08:58] properly, his loss cannot be the end of

[09:02] the story,

[09:03] his legacy must be that when they took

[09:08] his life, a million more Charlies

[09:12] stepped up to fill the void.

[09:20] We are all Charlie.

[09:29] So, let's send a message here today,

[09:31] guys. I want to make sure the world

[09:35] hears us loud and clear. Will you

[09:39] surrender?

[09:42] Will you back down?

[09:47] Will you give up in fear?

[09:50] [Applause]

[09:52] Good.

[09:55] If you're among the millions of people

[09:58] watching today, please see this and know

[10:02] you are not alone.

[10:11] Charlie's message like Christ's was an

[10:15] invitation.

[10:18] If this resonates with you and you

[10:20] believe American values are worth

[10:22] defending, welcome.

[10:25] If you believe in faith, family, and

[10:28] freedom, then you are with us.

[10:39] No matter your past,

[10:41] no matter how you've voted,

[10:44] no matter where you come from, this

[10:47] movement is your home.

[10:56] If you're not already seated at this

[10:59] table, we have a seat prepared for you.

[11:02] If you believe in God and family and

[11:05] country, you are one of us.

[11:12] If you believe our government should put

[11:14] the interests of our citizens first,

[11:17] welcome.

[11:21] If you believe American workers deserve

[11:24] dignity and American families should be

[11:26] able to afford a good life on one

[11:28] salary, welcome.

[11:36] If you reject the propaganda of the fake

[11:39] news media, welcome.

[11:48] If you want to eradicate the criminal

[11:50] cartels and get drugs out of our

[11:52] communities, welcome.

[12:00] If you believe our best days are ahead

[12:03] and are willing to stand up to make

[12:05] America great again for your children

[12:08] and for generations to come, welcome.

[12:18] Charlie loved this country, its people,

[12:22] and the work of persuading others to

[12:25] believe in something greater than

[12:27] themselves.

[12:29] And if we live with that same courage,

[12:33] our legacy, like Charlie's, will live

[12:35] forever.

[12:43] Charlie, my brother, we love you. We

[12:48] miss you. And we will not let you down.

[12:58] And as the scripture promises,

[13:01] well done, good and faithful servant.

[13:04] Enter into the joy of your Lord. God

[13:08] bless. Thank you so much.