Forbes' Brittany Lewis and Brittany Martinez Discuss Lowering the Temperature After Charlie Kirk's Murder

[00:00] [Music]

[00:03] Hi everybody. I'm Britney Lubis, a

[00:05] breaking news reporter here at Forbes.

[00:07] Joining me now is Britney Martinez,

[00:08] Republican strategist and executive

[00:10] director of Principles First. Britney,

[00:12] thank you so much for joining me.

[00:14] Thank you for having me.

[00:15] Really tragic news out of Utah

[00:18] yesterday. Conservative activist and

[00:20] Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie

[00:23] Kirk was assassinated during an event at

[00:26] Utah Valley University. to start off the

[00:28] conversation. How do you react to this

[00:31] news?

[00:32] It's absolutely horrific. Um, no one

[00:35] should ever be the victim of political

[00:37] violence. Political violence has no

[00:39] place in this country. I feel so

[00:42] terrible for his wife, for his kids. Um,

[00:45] I've often been a critic of Kirk, but

[00:47] guess what? In this country, you have

[00:48] the first amendment right to freedom of

[00:50] speech. And no one should be violent

[00:54] because they disagree um with what you

[00:56] say. And I honestly I'm I'm pretty

[01:00] speechless. Um there's always threats

[01:03] and on social media, you know, people

[01:05] get nasty and there's trolls. Um but to

[01:09] see that happen, uh to see what many

[01:13] saw, myself included the video on on

[01:17] Twitter. Um and including the uplose

[01:20] one, which I don't know if that was

[01:22] accurate or AI because it was so

[01:25] horrific. Um, it's a really sad state

[01:29] that our country is in right now.

[01:32] And I think that you can see this

[01:34] heaviness if you turn on cable news, if

[01:37] you look on social media that it doesn't

[01:41] matter if you agreed with Charlie Kirk

[01:42] or you thought that what he said was

[01:45] polarizing. He had such a profound

[01:48] impact on the Republican party. Can you

[01:50] talk to us a little bit about that? What

[01:52] exactly did he mean to the conservative

[01:54] movement?

[01:55] He did have a huge impact especially

[01:57] when it came to young people Turning

[01:59] Point USA and what he created with that

[02:02] uh over the last few years especially I

[02:04] mean it was you know he wasn't a

[02:07] overnight success by any means I think

[02:09] he created turning point about a dozen

[02:12] year uh about 12 years ago or so but it

[02:15] truly still is such a meteoric rise what

[02:18] he um was able to do and and um

[02:23] accomplish and and have the ear of the

[02:25] president. He was only 31 years old. Um,

[02:29] and you know, he really put work in and

[02:33] he's one of those people where, like you

[02:36] said, perhaps he people find him

[02:39] polarizing, don't like what he had to

[02:41] say, but you cannot negate that he was a

[02:45] force to be reckoned with and had an

[02:49] impact um on the Republican party.

[02:51] Absolutely. I'm curious where you think

[02:54] that the party and really the country

[02:56] goes next because as you said he had a

[02:59] wife, he had two young children, he was

[03:02] only 31 years old. I mean, how does the

[03:05] Republican party move forward? And how

[03:08] does the country as a whole move

[03:10] forward? Because Democrats, a lot of

[03:12] Democrats are disgusted, are shocked by

[03:16] this, saddened, have said there's no

[03:19] room in this country for political

[03:21] violence either.

[03:23] I think in this moment um when people

[03:27] are frustrated and they're wanting to

[03:29] litigate his legacy and who he was and

[03:32] bring up controversial things he said, I

[03:36] think we will have plenty of time to

[03:38] talk about all of those things in this

[03:40] moment. I think we need to be human. I

[03:42] think we need to realize the severity of

[03:45] this situation that an a man was killed

[03:49] in front of all of our eyes in a way

[03:51] we've never quite seen political

[03:52] violence in the United States where

[03:55] there are very very horrific videos that

[03:58] look like something out of um a horror

[04:01] movie and and take a beat. And if you

[04:05] are trying to be critical in this

[04:07] moment, I encourage you to lower the

[04:10] temperature. And I think that is what

[04:11] everybody needs to do is to lower the

[04:14] temperature. Um I will say that I was a

[04:18] little disappointed with the president's

[04:20] remarks last night. I think we had great

[04:22] remarks by Governor Cox of Utah um who

[04:25] said we need to lower the temperature.

[04:28] And we had the president who gave his

[04:30] speech in the Oval Office and of course

[04:33] condemned these horrific acts as one

[04:36] absolutely must. Um but then also called

[04:39] out radical leftists and said

[04:43] essentially you know um it is your

[04:46] rhetoric that has led to this moment

[04:48] when I think the president himself has

[04:52] said very very atrocious things and is

[04:55] not helpful um in lowering the

[04:57] temperature and I think in this moment I

[05:00] would have hoped that he would have

[05:01] risen to the occasion and not called out

[05:04] especially when we still don't know so

[05:07] many facts um other than Charlie Kirk is

[05:11] no longer with us and he was shot with

[05:13] some sort of firearm. That's truly all

[05:16] we know at this time. And I think it's

[05:19] irresponsible for us to be anything but

[05:23] um calling out the condemnation of

[05:28] political violence against anyone and

[05:31] also um recognizing I think it's

[05:35] disingenuous for us to not recognize

[05:37] that there have been that that the

[05:40] temperature has been risen from both

[05:42] sides, not just one.

[05:45] And I mean, we have seen in recent years

[05:48] alarming acts of political violence or

[05:51] attempts at political violence. From the

[05:54] shooting of Steve Scaliz, the plot to

[05:56] kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen

[05:57] Whitmer, the assassination attempts,

[05:59] multiple against President Trump to the

[06:02] assassination of Minnesota House Speaker

[06:04] Melissa Hortman. Now this assassination

[06:06] and I know I am missing some events

[06:09] there but what do you make of or how do

[06:12] we rather lower this temperature and how

[06:14] do we stop this political violence?

[06:17] I do think it starts at the top uh with

[06:20] the president. I do think that a lot of

[06:22] people look up to him and mimic his

[06:24] rhetoric. Um, I do think it also is at

[06:26] the top with other high level, not just

[06:30] cabinet officials, admin officials, but

[06:32] senators, governors, you know, Democrats

[06:34] and Republicans. Americans are looking

[06:36] to you in this moment to see how you are

[06:39] handling the situation, the language

[06:41] that you are using and what you think it

[06:43] is and is not inappropriate to say in

[06:46] this time. And when you try to point the

[06:49] finger so callously when again we don't

[06:52] know we can make assumptions and we

[06:54] would probably be right by who this

[06:57] shooter ends up being the type like we

[06:59] can profile and assume and there's a

[07:01] good chance we're going to make a smart

[07:03] educated assumption but it's an

[07:05] assumption at this point and we do not

[07:06] know and I think that we need to come

[07:11] together and

[07:13] lower the temperature by being humans.

[07:16] Today is the 24th anniversary of 911.

[07:19] And back then, I remember we all had

[07:22] American flags on our cars right after.

[07:25] And it didn't matter who you were. Uh

[07:28] you were our brother and sister in this

[07:31] country. And Bush went out and he threw

[07:33] that pitch at Yankee Stadium. And it's

[07:36] it was those moments that really brought

[07:38] us together. and we need to come

[07:41] together and not just because of Charlie

[07:44] Kirk but what he represents in this

[07:46] moment. Um that political violence is

[07:50] here and it can't be. It just can't be.

[07:54] I mean to your point it is the 24th

[07:57] anniversary of 911 and again I remember

[08:01] September 12th and I remember the days

[08:03] that followed and what I don't remember

[08:06] is talking about politics at that time

[08:08] but I do remember everyone in my

[08:10] neighborhood had an American flag on

[08:12] their car in their yard. Everyone seemed

[08:15] to be a little nicer to each other

[08:17] around that time. There's still a lot we

[08:20] don't know right now. As you and I sit

[08:22] here, and things could change, but as

[08:23] you and I sit here, there's still a

[08:25] manhunt for the shooter. Details are

[08:27] still coming in. The investigation is

[08:29] still in its early stages. It is still

[08:31] ongoing. But what do you think his

[08:33] assassination means for the political

[08:35] landscape going forward?

[08:38] I

[08:40] feel like in this moment, people are

[08:43] rightfully upset. they are

[08:47] looking for leadership. Um they're

[08:50] looking for someone to tell them how to

[08:52] feel. Um or to sort of legitimize their

[08:57] feelings. Um and

[09:01] I am hopeful that we can get to a place

[09:06] where we are more empathetic to our

[09:08] neighbors. Um, I feel like we're sort of

[09:10] missing that empathy chip in a lot of

[09:13] ways, but in these first not even 24

[09:16] hours, and I don't mean to be hyperbolic

[09:18] here. I I've still seen a lot of people

[09:22] out there sort of pointing the finger.

[09:25] And like I said, there will be plenty of

[09:28] time for us to litigate all of those

[09:30] things, especially when we have more

[09:32] information. Um, but right now this is a

[09:36] sorrowful moment in our history. This is

[09:39] a dark dark day and I I hope that we're

[09:43] able to to come together and to really

[09:46] put a stop to this rhetoric and that

[09:49] this behavior and this shooter doesn't

[09:52] encourage more people to do that because

[09:54] we also know unfortunately whenever

[09:57] there is this sort of shooting that the

[10:00] next shooter is watching all the

[10:02] coverage, right? And I I I just hope

[10:05] that um we can be responsible in the way

[10:07] that we are covering this, in the way

[10:10] that we're talking about this, and that

[10:12] our leaders can be as well.

[10:15] And he was speaking at one of the stops

[10:17] on his American Comeback Tour. And if

[10:19] you're unfamiliar with some of Charlie

[10:22] Kirk's work, attendees could participate

[10:24] in his Prove Me Wrong debates. He would

[10:27] sit there at a table. He would take

[10:29] questions from the audience and he would

[10:31] have a back and forth dialogue whether

[10:33] you agree with him or not. And this is

[10:35] how Turning Point built the event. Join

[10:38] Charlie Kirk on campus for a lively

[10:40] discussion of freedom in America. Don't

[10:41] agree with Charlie? Great. You go to the

[10:44] front of the line. And then uh the New

[10:46] York Post had a cover that said this. It

[10:48] was quoting Charlie Kirk. What we have

[10:50] to get back to is being able to have a

[10:52] reasonable disagreement where violence

[10:54] is not an option. Do you think

[10:58] we will get to a place where we can have

[11:00] these reasonable disagreements? Because

[11:02] it seems like more and more it's just

[11:06] such a heated conversation. It's so

[11:08] charged politically. I mean, will we get

[11:11] to a point where we can have a a

[11:13] dialogue amongst a Republican and and a

[11:16] Democrat, people who don't agree on

[11:17] anything, and they can still sit at a

[11:19] table after their violence is not the

[11:22] answer, and violence isn't even anywhere

[11:25] remotely near an option.

[11:28] We must, we have to um for the

[11:32] betterment of all of us, I

[11:35] wish I had the answers as to how we get

[11:37] there. I think if someone did, you know,

[11:40] it is a trillion dollar idea. Um, I

[11:44] think we get there by being

[11:46] compassionate, by

[11:49] being mindful of the language that we

[11:51] use. Um, when we're talking about these

[11:53] things and when others escalate, trying

[11:57] to deescalate the conversation or just

[12:00] if not deescalate, at least be as even

[12:03] killed as you can. We're humans.

[12:04] Sometimes we don't react that way. Um,

[12:08] and uh, I I I'm really hopeful, you

[12:13] know, all these young people that

[12:14] Charlie Kirk was able to tap into. Um,

[12:18] young people in general when we're

[12:19] talking about college campuses and

[12:21] stuff, though, we've seen a trend

[12:22] towards Republicans, which is actually

[12:24] pretty insane because it's never that

[12:26] way. Um, I think we've also seen a trend

[12:29] of young Americans who don't like

[12:32] politics, who think that it's extreme,

[12:34] who thinks every time it's a fight, and

[12:38] don't even want to get into debates or

[12:39] discussions because they think it's

[12:41] volatile. And we need to get back to

[12:43] basics and remind folks that it is okay

[12:47] to disagree with people. Um, and that

[12:51] does not make them inherently evil just

[12:54] because they don't see the world the way

[12:56] that you do.

[12:57] And when Governor Gavin Newsome, a

[12:59] Democrat, started his podcast, one of

[13:02] his first guests or his very first

[13:04] guest, I don't know which one it is, was

[13:06] Charlie Kirk. And he sat there and he

[13:08] said, "My son, who's a teenager, wanted

[13:11] to stay home from school because he's

[13:13] such a fan of you." And a Democrat is

[13:15] saying that to Charlie Kirk. and they

[13:18] had a conversation back and forth. They

[13:20] disagreed on a lot, but President Trump

[13:24] reportedly credited Charlie Kirk with

[13:26] shoring up that youth vote that

[13:28] contributed to his win in 2024. So, as

[13:31] we sit here today, I mean, what do you

[13:34] think his legacy on this movement and

[13:37] the party is?

[13:40] Yeah. Uh, I I remember that interview

[13:42] and I remember thinking, you know, what

[13:44] is Newsome doing? Um, and that was just

[13:48] a few short months ago. And I can't

[13:50] believe we're in this moment. And I

[13:52] think Britney, you and I actually talked

[13:53] about that interview back then. And I

[13:55] can't believe in this moment we're

[13:57] having this really horrific conversation

[14:00] um about the assassination of someone in

[14:03] our country. And uh I think that uh you

[14:08] know,

[14:10] especially conservatives, they're

[14:12] incredibly upset. understandably they

[14:15] should be by what's happened. We should

[14:17] all be incredibly upset by what's

[14:19] happened. And um I think that he will

[14:23] have a lasting legacy. Turning Point

[14:26] will continue and be strong. And I think

[14:30] that, you know, um,

[14:34] sadly that of course it it's it's coming

[14:38] to this, but I I can see them having

[14:42] sort of a surge maybe in membership. And

[14:45] um, not that they need were in need of a

[14:47] surge in membership. they have plenty of

[14:50] of young folks who are very engaged. But

[14:53] what I mean is that I think this will

[14:55] sort of be a rallying cry um to some

[14:58] people and um I'm I'm just really sad

[15:02] for for him and his family and you know

[15:06] that this is where we are and um you

[15:10] know and this whole interview I

[15:11] apologize if I assume that I'm rambling

[15:14] at all but it's how do we talk about

[15:17] this right in a very thoughtful

[15:20] intentional way and I I do think that

[15:23] his legacy will continue to have um an

[15:26] impact for for years to come and I

[15:29] turning point will continue to exist and

[15:33] it exists because of him.

[15:36] I mean I think that's a really good

[15:37] point. I mean, how do we talk about this

[15:39] in

[15:41] in a conversation in an impactful,

[15:44] intentional way? Because I mean, it was

[15:46] the news was so shocking and then to see

[15:50] it play out on social media, I mean, it

[15:52] was just it was horrific. I think

[15:54] there's no words to describe it and

[15:58] aside from shocking

[16:00] just I mean, clearly I'm shocked because

[16:03] I'm not one to be at a loss for words

[16:05] and what we saw in the past. less than

[16:07] 24 hours. I mean, it's just I can't even

[16:11] wrap my mind around it, but I I'm

[16:13] grateful for the conversation and I

[16:14] think this is a reminder for everyone to

[16:18] turn the temperature down. Britney

[16:19] Martinez, thank you so much for joining

[16:21] me.