Erika Kirk Honors Charlie Kirk's Legacy at First Ever Charlie Kirk Legacy Patriot Award Ceremony

[00:00] We're honored to be here tonight as we

[00:02] celebrate the life and legacy of our

[00:04] good friend Charlie Kirk.

[00:08] [applause and cheering]

[00:12] >> He led a powerful movement rooted in

[00:14] faith, freedom, and a deep love for this

[00:17] country.

[00:18] >> Charlie was courageous, bold, and

[00:21] committed to sharing his vision for

[00:22] America, its families, and the future.

[00:26] >> His death marked a turning point for

[00:28] this nation.

[00:32] >> [music]

[00:36] >> Charlie wasn't president. He wasn't even

[00:38] a politician. But he shaped a generation

[00:41] through his words.

[00:43] >> We're [music] just trying to reinstitute

[00:45] the founding principles, free market,

[00:47] fiscal responsibility. We don't consider

[00:48] this a Republican versus Democrat issue,

[00:51] but rather a generational one.

[00:54] >> Charlie Kirk was bigger than life. Not

[00:56] only was he [music] tall, but his

[00:58] message was big, well beyond his years

[01:00] and really caring about the next [music]

[01:02] generation.

[01:05] >> Charlie understood very, very early on

[01:08] that [music] there was a void,

[01:10] especially on college campuses for young

[01:13] people.

[01:13] >> There have been a lot of youth

[01:15] organizations on campuses. They [music]

[01:17] met with varying degrees of success, but

[01:19] nothing even coming close to comparison

[01:22] of Turning Point. [music] And the reason

[01:23] for that was Charlie Kirk.

[01:26] >> I found Turning Point USA to tell young

[01:28] people in America that there's a better

[01:30] way than big government and old school

[01:33] corruption.

[01:34] >> I did this instead of going to college,

[01:35] which is the great irony of the whole

[01:36] thing, to start a college movement

[01:37] [music] without actually going to

[01:38] college. Only in America is that

[01:40] possible, where an 18-year-old can start

[01:42] with nothing and just a dream and build

[01:44] something and really [music] see that

[01:46] success.

[01:47] >> Charlie Kirk made conservatism cool. He

[01:50] [music] went into a battlefield where he

[01:52] knew

[01:54] many of the people would [music] reject

[01:56] him yet he still went.

[01:58] >> Charlie understood that to change a

[02:02] dynamic you [music] had to reach them on

[02:04] a personal level and that became his

[02:07] signature.

[02:11] What strikes me about this generation,

[02:13] this generation is the most conservative

[02:15] generation that we have seen in well

[02:17] over 50 years. And the numbers show it.

[02:20] [cheering]

[02:21] This is

[02:23] this is the greatest generational

[02:25] realignment since Woodstock. In [music]

[02:28] 2024, he was just flatout indispensable.

[02:30] When in your life did you ever think

[02:32] Republicans would [music] take the youth

[02:33] vote or even get close?

[02:36] He has impacted everyone in so many

[02:40] different ways, even the ways that we

[02:42] can't even see.

[02:43] >> It's people like Charlie Kirk who

[02:45] revolutionized [music] me, who made me

[02:48] realize the value in being a patriot.

[02:51] [music] He made me understand the

[02:53] freedoms that we are so blessed to have

[02:55] here in America. For Charlie, God came

[02:58] first. Erica and the children [music]

[03:01] came second.

[03:03] And somewhere down was his calling.

[03:05] >> What most people don't realize is before

[03:08] he [music] stepped behind any microphone

[03:10] or in front of any camera, he prayed

[03:13] [music] and he dedicated, "Lord, let the

[03:17] words that we speak be the words that

[03:19] you want us [music] to speak to be the

[03:21] words that people need to hear."

[03:26] He's amazing. [music] I'm very blessed.

[03:28] >> And I I would not have been able to do

[03:29] any of it without Erica. And that's the

[03:31] real truth.

[03:32] >> Today, we're here to honor and remember

[03:34] a fearless warrior for liberty, beloved

[03:37] leader who galvanized

[03:39] the next generation like nobody I've

[03:42] ever seen before. The late great Charlie

[03:45] Kirk.

[03:47] >> Charlie was full of energy and [music]

[03:49] life. He made politics fun. And we

[03:52] haven't had that in a very long time in

[03:54] [music] this country. This is a man who

[03:56] touched an entire generation of

[03:58] Americans, electrified them, and made

[04:00] them patriots. [music]

[04:01] And he did, in fact, change history.

[04:05] Charlie Kirk was an American original.

[04:08] >> God is not done with the United States

[04:10] of America. Our best days are ahead of

[04:13] us.

[04:15] [cheering]

[04:19] [applause]

[04:23] >> [applause]

[04:28] [applause]

[04:30] >> In the wake of Charlie's death, his wife

[04:32] Erica has made it her mission to keep

[04:34] his legacy alive.

[04:36] >> It is our great honor to present the

[04:38] first ever Charlie Kirk Legacy Patriot

[04:41] Award to the woman who refuses to

[04:44] surrender.

[04:45] Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome

[04:48] Erica Kirk.

[04:52] [applause]

[05:01] [applause]

[05:07] Heat.

[05:10] [applause]

[05:19] [applause]

[05:24] [applause]

[05:27] Heat.

[05:32] >> [cheering]

[05:35] [applause]

[05:50] >> I do too. [laughter]

[05:52] I do too.

[05:55] Um, thank you so much, Suzanne.

[05:58] Thank you so much to the Fox News

[06:01] family.

[06:02] Um, thank you so much to

[06:06] Jesse and everyone

[06:09] that loved my husband so well.

[06:12] Thank you. [applause]

[06:19] [applause]

[06:22] Tonight, as I receive this award on

[06:25] behalf of my incredible husband,

[06:29] it's not just

[06:31] myself that's receiving it on his

[06:33] behalf.

[06:35] It is also our incredible Turning Point

[06:38] USA staff.

[06:40] It's our incredible Charlie Kirk Show

[06:44] staff.

[06:46] It's our 4,200

[06:50] chapters on high school campuses and

[06:54] college campuses.

[06:57] [cheering]

[06:58] [applause]

[07:01] It's the 800,000

[07:04] student leaders that we have a part of

[07:07] our Turning Point USA family.

[07:10] And it's also the 8,000, excuse me,

[07:13] 800,000 students. Yes, it's a lot. and

[07:16] the 8,000 churches

[07:18] that are a part of TPSA faith.

[07:23] [applause]

[07:26] Charlie would always tell myself and

[07:29] others that America is worth fighting

[07:31] for

[07:34] and it is always will be. And

[07:38] I'll never forget the time where someone

[07:41] told him,

[07:43] "I appreciate what you're saying.

[07:46] I just don't really like how you're

[07:48] saying it. I don't like your delivery,

[07:51] and I think you could reach more people

[07:54] if you if you changed that."

[07:59] And with his smirk, he would say,

[08:03] "You're missing the point.

[08:06] you're missing the point. It's not how

[08:09] I'm saying it

[08:12] that's upsetting people.

[08:15] It's the fact that I'm saying the truth

[08:17] that's upsetting people. [applause]

[08:19] That's what he would say.

[08:22] And he would say the reason why they're

[08:24] upset is because the truth is convicting

[08:27] them and they know it. And that's what

[08:30] the truth does. It convicts you. It

[08:33] changes you. And he knew that. And

[08:36] that's why he always spoke the way he

[08:38] did. He wasn't afraid

[08:41] to say the truth, to defend the truth,

[08:44] to lean into it, to not follow the

[08:47] crowd. He was a leader of it.

[08:50] He never fled from the spiritual battle

[08:53] that's ahead. And we all know it. We all

[08:56] feel the spiritual warfare.

[08:59] This whole room feels it. This whole

[09:01] nation feels the spiritual warfare.

[09:04] But Charlie would say, "That's how you

[09:07] know you're over the mark. When you feel

[09:09] it, when the enemy is there. That's how

[09:12] you know you're doing the Lord's work.

[09:14] And that's how you know you're defending

[09:16] truth." And that was his true barometer

[09:20] was when he would feel that spiritual

[09:22] warfare. And I watched him pour every

[09:25] ounce of himself

[09:29] into the students,

[09:31] into raising up the most courageous

[09:34] generation

[09:37] and inspiring so many people to stand

[09:40] firm in faith and to love this country.

[09:45] And I know this award is about legacy.

[09:49] It's about my legacy, our children's

[09:52] legacy, my husband's legacy, but it's

[09:54] also about your legacy.

[09:57] And I really want you to take a minute

[09:59] tonight to think about what that is.

[10:02] What are you leaving behind for your

[10:03] children? What are you standing for for

[10:06] your family?

[10:08] Will you be proud of that when you get

[10:10] to heaven and stand before the Lord?

[10:13] Just think on that and pray on that

[10:15] because I want to encourage you

[10:18] to know and understand something that

[10:19] Charlie knew and understood so deeply.

[10:25] He knew that evil wins when good people

[10:29] stay silent.

[10:32] And so for the rest of my life,

[10:35] I will make sure

[10:39] that I don't stay silent. I'll keep

[10:41] speaking the truth no matter the cost,

[10:45] [cheering]

[10:46] [applause]

[10:48] no matter the cost.

[10:52] And I pray that all of you do too. For

[10:55] Charlie, thank you. God bless you. Hey,

[10:58] Sean Hannity here. Hey, click here to

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