[00:00] I really didn't want to have to make a
[00:01] video like this. And it's insane that I
[00:04] need to. I feel the need to at least put
[00:06] out some extra personal context in a
[00:09] massive raging online conversation. But
[00:12] I'm going to because I feel that it is
[00:16] completely unfair and cruel what is
[00:19] happening to Erica Kirk. The conspiracy
[00:23] theories largely fueled by Candace Owens
[00:28] that she is somehow involved in the
[00:31] murder of her husband, the father to her
[00:34] two kids.
[00:36] The evil of this is is
[00:40] beyond description,
[00:42] but it's being circulating online. And
[00:46] there's these bits of evidence, which
[00:48] are not evidence and lead to absolutely
[00:50] nowhere that keep being pushed on
[00:52] Canace's shows as she gets lots of views
[00:54] and monetizes from all this attention.
[00:58] But frankly, all it does is just make
[01:01] someone who is grieving suffer even
[01:04] more. I mean, for someone that
[01:05] constantly talks about the Bible and
[01:08] their Christian values,
[01:10] it says in Exodus 22, 21, "You shall not
[01:14] ill treat any widow or orphan. If you do
[01:17] mistreat them and then cry out to me, I
[01:18] will surely hear their cry and my anger
[01:21] shall blaze." It is so clear to me that
[01:24] what's happening here is just coming
[01:26] from, you know, the the the conspiracies
[01:29] against Erica is coming from what seems
[01:32] to be a very dark place. dark emotions,
[01:36] dark need for attention,
[01:39] goodness knows, rivalry, jealousy, envy,
[01:42] I don't know. But I just wanted to add
[01:44] in a little bit of insight from my
[01:47] personal experience of having some uh
[01:50] interactions with Erica Kirk just
[01:53] because I feel that I have a little bit
[01:55] of personal insight that I'd like to
[01:58] share with you and that might help to
[02:02] calm down, put to bed some of this
[02:05] nonsense.
[02:06] So I met Charlie Kirk in late 2018 and
[02:12] he and I spoke about the need for a
[02:17] opposition to the kind of far-left
[02:19] progressive culture on college campuses
[02:22] and he asked me to spearhead a UK
[02:26] version of Turning Point and I agreed
[02:31] and he came to the UK in uh March 2019
[02:35] with Erica who was then his girlfriend.
[02:39] And
[02:40] Erica and I and Charlie spent a fair bit
[02:44] of time together when we're on the road
[02:46] traveling, having some meals together.
[02:49] And then I would sometimes go over to
[02:51] America for some conferences or whatever
[02:54] it was. and Erica and I would text uh
[02:58] over uh just occasional points of
[03:03] interest when I was congratulating her
[03:05] on getting engaged to uh Charlie. Um
[03:08] sharing some books to do with Torah and
[03:11] the Bible that we both uh found of of
[03:13] interest. And uh sometimes if I just
[03:16] needed to coordinate a particular
[03:17] meeting with Charlie or whatever, Erica
[03:20] would uh be my point of contact. Here's
[03:23] what I want to tell you about her from
[03:25] my experience.
[03:28] Listen, I you know, I I not claiming to
[03:30] be a a close friend or anything like
[03:32] that, but I experienced Erica before she
[03:35] was someone that was in the limelight
[03:38] before uh she had any reason to think
[03:41] that she was, you know, going to have
[03:44] this position of bit of running turning
[03:46] point that she had today. What I found
[03:48] from Erica Kirk was this. And I think
[03:50] this is particularly important what I'm
[03:51] about to say because the real test of
[03:53] someone, I think, is actually how they
[03:56] behave behind closed doors when they're
[03:59] not the center of attention, where they
[04:01] don't have to put on a show.
[04:03] And what I found was this, that Erica
[04:06] Kirk actually was someone who was not
[04:09] craving the limelight. Um, was actually
[04:12] quite bashful,
[04:14] maybe a little bit shy and introverted.
[04:17] who greeted everyone with a smile and
[04:22] engaged them and looked them in the eye
[04:24] and I could see she was someone that was
[04:27] really grounded and rooted in her faith
[04:30] and really had a love for that
[04:34] and who really loved Charlie and Charlie
[04:37] clearly really loved her. You could just
[04:39] see it. Some of these things, you know,
[04:43] you talk about your theories, whatever
[04:44] size, you can actually just see it when
[04:46] you're there in the room.
[04:52] over the years and even recently after
[04:54] Charlie's death, she was, you know, when
[04:55] I I had a quick uh brief text exchange
[04:58] with her and despite all the weight that
[05:00] she was carrying, I just wanted to offer
[05:01] her for what it's worth my own uh
[05:04] support
[05:06] and just outrage at the nonsense that's
[05:09] being thrown her way. And she was
[05:12] gracious enough to reply, um, I was just
[05:14] so incredibly gracious and strong amidst
[05:17] all this pain and upheaval.
[05:20] I'm telling you this information because
[05:23] again this is Erica Kirk when she is out
[05:28] of the limelight when she's behind the
[05:30] scenes when she doesn't need to put on a
[05:32] show.
[05:34] And I'm telling you that my experience
[05:36] with her then when she was Charlie's
[05:38] girlfriend, when they were engaged, and
[05:41] even recently is someone who is deeply
[05:45] gracious, who from what I can see
[05:48] appears to be deeply rooted in their
[05:50] faith, who is strong,
[05:54] and who is not seeking the limelight.
[05:58] That's just what I saw.
[06:01] Now the the you know I understand that
[06:04] people are complicated. I understand
[06:05] that I only got a snapshot.
[06:08] But I sometimes think these snapshots
[06:11] can be helpful context when there are
[06:13] people who are spreading so much
[06:15] nonsense online who frankly know very
[06:18] very little. Or perhaps they do know but
[06:21] they they know better but they choose to
[06:24] push nonsense out there.
[06:27] I'm not here to make a claim that Erica
[06:29] is some angel. You know, I personally
[06:32] have much more reservations about JD
[06:34] Vance, for example, than she she may
[06:36] appear to, but I know for her that she
[06:39] uh probably just feels that her job is
[06:42] to just keep going what and and build
[06:45] what Charlie created. I know Charlie,
[06:47] I'm pretty sure, was very supportive of
[06:49] JD Vance. So, she's probably just doing
[06:51] what Charlie uh would have would have uh
[06:54] wanted, I guess. Um but to me there is a
[06:59] very strong contrast between someone who
[07:04] had greatness thrust upon her really who
[07:07] I don't think was seeking the limelight.
[07:09] Yes, she would have her Bible uh
[07:12] commentary social media accounts and
[07:14] podcasts and she'd appear on stage with
[07:16] Charlie, but I did not see someone who
[07:19] was
[07:21] cynically, stealthily trying to, you
[07:24] know, take control. That's just sick. I
[07:27] saw uh a very gracious, decent person
[07:32] who was always uh kind and respectful to
[07:37] me.
[07:38] In fact, I remember I remember when uh I
[07:42] managed to uh meet Glenn Beck at one of
[07:45] these Turning Point events because uh
[07:47] Glenn was actually one of the original
[07:49] inspirations for me behind the setup of
[07:51] this channel, JTV. Um because of his I
[07:54] just was so taken by his ability to
[07:56] edutain, you know, do ed educational
[07:58] content that was entertaining. Um and I
[08:01] was like, "Oh, that's really cool. We
[08:02] need we need to do this in a Jewish
[08:03] way." And I remember texting her about
[08:05] this at the time and saying, "I'm just
[08:06] so grateful for that meeting." And he
[08:08] mentioned it on his show and everything.
[08:09] And she was just like, "Wow, this is
[08:11] just so incredible and so encouraging to
[08:13] me." You know, I was I was young. I was
[08:15] just starting out in this space. And uh
[08:19] she was uh as I say, I found to be very
[08:23] decent. That was just my experience.
[08:25] Contrast that with other people online
[08:28] who I think are really showing the
[08:31] opposite of that.
[08:34] What we're seeing particularly from
[08:35] Candice with these conspiracy theories
[08:38] with this
[08:40] neverending and evidence b evidence that
[08:43] is non-evidence that leads to nowhere
[08:46] other than just more views and more
[08:48] hatred and conspiracies directed at
[08:50] Erica. The contrast for me is clear.
[08:54] You have someone who is not seeking the
[08:57] limelight and is doing what they need to
[09:00] do and is being strong in the face of
[09:01] all this darkness and someone that is
[09:04] pushing darkness that is
[09:07] shoving hatred and conspiracies and
[09:11] falsehoods
[09:13] all in the name of what? Attention
[09:16] seeking
[09:18] views, clicks, money, I don't know.
[09:22] To me, there just seems to be a real
[09:23] contrast here.
[09:25] And I kind of feel like I should share
[09:28] this with people because
[09:32] maybe it's worth something. Maybe that
[09:34] little bit of extra context context
[09:36] might just mean something for some
[09:39] people out there who feel a little bit
[09:41] undecided about all this rubbish that's
[09:44] going on out there about Erica.
[09:47] So, as I say, I don't know her very very
[09:50] well, but I did spend a meaningful
[09:53] amount of time with her before she, you
[09:57] know, became head of turning point after
[09:59] Charlie's murder.
[10:02] And that is what I saw.
[10:04] And I my heart really goes out to her.
[10:07] Yes, she is, you know, uh
[10:11] we all have blessings and challenges in
[10:14] life.
[10:15] And yes, she does have, yes, she does
[10:17] have blessings, but she also has some
[10:19] deep deep challenges.
[10:22] And I would not wish that on anyone to
[10:23] have to go through what she's going
[10:25] through. And I think it's
[10:28] it's just painful and sickening that
[10:30] we're having to watch this spectacle
[10:32] unfold.
[10:35] and I wish her a great deal of strength
[10:39] and encouragement as she deals with all
[10:43] of this. Just quickly, we've all heard
[10:45] of heaven, hell, and the afterlife. And
[10:47] at some point, I'm sure you've given it
[10:48] some thought, but the Jewish view is
[10:50] radically different from almost
[10:52] everything you've been taught. And once
[10:54] you hear it, it will change how you
[10:56] understand life itself. Have a watch of
[10:58] the trailer for our new JTV Plus
[10:59] documentary called Heaven, Hell, and the
[11:02] Afterlife. And you can watch the full
[11:03] film right now by clicking the link
[11:05] below in the video description. Across
[11:07] the world, the afterlife is described in
[11:10] simple terms. Heaven above, hell below,
[11:13] the devil waiting to tempt you, and a
[11:15] humanity born in original sin. But
[11:17] Judaism tells a story that is older,
[11:20] deeper, and far more hopeful. Less
[11:22] obsessed with fear and more rooted in
[11:24] purpose. A story where the soul is not
[11:27] born guilty, but born noble. Where the
[11:29] body is not the enemy, but the partner.
[11:31] where the devil isn't God's rival but
[11:34] his assistant because Judaism has no
[11:36] second power. Where hell exists but not
[11:38] forever. Where heaven exists but not as
[11:41] the final destination. And where the
[11:43] real end of the human story is
[11:45] resurrection, not escape. Judaism views
[11:47] history as a mission, not a mistake.
[11:50] Other civilizations teach [music] that
[11:51] we are here to earn our way into heaven.
[11:53] Judaism teaches that we are here to
[11:56] bring heaven down to earth. And to
[11:58] understand [music] what happens after we
[12:00] die, we first have to understand why
[12:02] we're here in the first place. In this
[12:04] JTV Plus documentary, we're going to
[12:06] reveal the Jewish vision of life after
[12:09] death. One of the most misunderstood
[12:11] ideas, but if understood correctly, can
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[12:16] life itself. [music]
[12:17] To watch this JTV Plus documentary and
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[12:21] content, click on the link in the video
[12:23] description.
