Glenn Beck and Friends Mourn Charlie Kirk Following His Assassination, Reflecting on Faith and Legacy

[00:00] Hello, Liz.

[00:02] >> Hi, Glenn.

[00:05] >> I spoke to you yesterday and we were

[00:07] both pretty raw at the time. How are you

[00:10] doing this morning?

[00:13] >> I

[00:14] I'm in a fog of grief, Glenn. I think

[00:17] that a lot of us are. I feel it still

[00:21] feels very unbelievable what happened to

[00:23] our dear friend Charlie Kirk. feel like

[00:26] I'm floating up outside of my body in a

[00:28] sense watching all of this unfold.

[00:32] It's quite something to see the reaction

[00:37] from the American people um over this

[00:40] assassination. I think you're correct

[00:43] when you say that our country has

[00:46] changed forever.

[00:48] I think this is one of the most

[00:50] significant not just political

[00:53] assassinations but political events that

[00:55] we've experienced since the inception of

[00:57] our country. And I think I've been

[01:00] praying about this since you and I spoke

[01:03] for so long yesterday. I've been

[01:04] thinking about this endlessly. Obviously

[01:07] on my knees praying for sweet Erica and

[01:10] Charlie and Erica's two babies. But I

[01:13] think one of the things that has

[01:14] happened in the last 24 hours is

[01:19] people in our country, and I don't even

[01:21] want to say conservatives, I don't want

[01:23] to say right-wingers because it's not

[01:25] just that, have realized that Charlie is

[01:29] so normal. He's not radical. He's not

[01:33] extreme. He's not bombastic. He's not

[01:36] edgy. He's just a regular guy. and he's

[01:41] kind and they killed him because of

[01:45] those beliefs and opinions, those

[01:48] principles and values, Glenn, that we

[01:50] share with him. And you and I work in

[01:54] this industry and we've written a lot of

[01:56] books about this political enemy that we

[01:58] face and we talk about it a lot. But for

[02:01] the majority of the American people,

[02:03] this is the first time, Glenn, that

[02:05] they're realizing exactly who this

[02:08] political enemy that we face is. And

[02:10] it's jarring and it's gut-wrenching

[02:13] because they realize that just as easily

[02:16] as they assassinated Charlie Kirk and

[02:18] are now dancing on his grave, they want

[02:21] to do that to us, too.

[02:32] Liz, I um

[02:38] and I know you do. I have such

[02:43] faith in the Lord

[02:48] and I know I don't know how our lives

[02:51] end. I don't know how things work out,

[02:55] but I know

[02:58] everything that happens is used for his

[03:01] good. There is no way to thwart God's

[03:05] plan. You can make it You can make

[03:08] getting there harder. You can make

[03:11] getting there more painful.

[03:14] But if we trust in him,

[03:17] great and glorious things are going to

[03:20] happen.

[03:22] because of this.

[03:27] >> Charlie,

[03:30] >> go ahead.

[03:31] >> Charlie once said when someone asked him

[03:33] what he wanted to be known for the most,

[03:36] and he wore a lot of hats, so he could

[03:37] have picked a lot of different

[03:39] accomplishments and identities, and he

[03:42] said he wanted to be known for his

[03:43] faith. And

[03:46] there that's I mean, it's so powerful.

[03:49] You and I are clinging to God right now.

[03:51] Everyone sitting here with us is

[03:53] clinging to God. I'm literally sitting

[03:54] here gripping a rosary as we talk. Evil

[03:59] happens in our world. And we all ask

[04:02] that question. Why? Why does God allow

[04:04] bad things to happen to good and

[04:07] innocent people? And you know, as Father

[04:10] Mike Schmidtz reminded us yesterday,

[04:12] when evil happens, that is not God's

[04:15] perfect will. It is God's permissive

[04:18] will which is very different. God

[04:22] allowed

[04:23] Charlie's death to happen but he did not

[04:26] want it to happen. God values human

[04:30] freedom and can bring about a greater

[04:33] good through these allowed events. But

[04:36] God does not cause evil. He uses it to

[04:39] achieve his higher purpose. When

[04:43] sometimes we don't know what that is.

[04:44] And I I'm human. I find it very

[04:47] difficult not to have an immediate

[04:49] answer to okay, what is that higher

[04:51] good, but it could be testing faith or

[04:54] demonstrating compassion, teaching

[04:56] people how to uphold his perfect will of

[04:59] good. And if God were to remove evil

[05:04] from the human existence, he would also

[05:05] be removing our free will to love him

[05:09] and to love others. And he knows that

[05:12] despite the evil that he allows to exist

[05:13] in the world, this greater good can be

[05:16] achieved for eternity, which is where

[05:20] Charlie is now. And Glenn, there are a

[05:23] lot of bad people online right now, you

[05:26] know, celebrating Charlie's death and

[05:28] saying how ironic it was that Charlie

[05:30] was killed by a gun when he was a

[05:32] champion of gun rights. But do you want

[05:33] to know what the real irony is? The real

[05:36] irony is that Charlie at this moment in

[05:39] eternity, I guarantee to you, Glenn, is

[05:42] praying for those who did this to him.

[05:44] We are not going to be silenced by an

[05:47] enemy who harms us. We are not going to

[05:50] back down. We are not going to be quiet.

[05:53] We are going to honor Charlie's legacy.

[05:56] We are going to care for and love

[05:58] Charlie's family. We are going to

[06:01] understand in a clearer sense exactly

[06:05] what we are up against. And it's going

[06:08] to

[06:09] with God on our side, it is going to

[06:13] lead us to victory in a way that our

[06:15] country has not yet experienced because

[06:17] we do have this binary choice. The left

[06:20] wants violence. The left wants civil

[06:22] war. The left wants to hurt us and kill

[06:24] us. But what's going to happen instead

[06:28] is these people in our country, people

[06:30] who are politically apathetic or

[06:32] lukewarm liberal or, you know, maybe

[06:34] right-wing but not that active in

[06:36] politics, the same thing is going to

[06:39] happen as a result of Charlie's

[06:41] assassination that happened after the

[06:44] Black Lives Matter riot or after the

[06:46] COVID vaccine mandates where people

[06:49] realized that the other side does not

[06:51] want the best for us. that the other

[06:54] side during the Black Lives Matter riots

[06:56] was willing to falsely accuse us of

[06:59] being racist when that wasn't true or

[07:02] during COVID to tell us that we couldn't

[07:04] go to church and worship God and we had

[07:06] to take their medical product because

[07:08] they said so and they didn't care about

[07:09] the harm. Glenn, this is that times

[07:14] 1,000. People are now looking out across

[07:17] our country realizing that there are

[07:20] subversive forces and not just a radical

[07:23] lunatic madman isolated incident. There

[07:26] are radical forces who want to kill us

[07:29] and the the awakening that's going to

[07:32] happen, the eye opening. You are going

[07:33] to see churches filled with people

[07:36] turning to God. You are going to see

[07:37] politics a swell of good people who want

[07:41] to stand for normaly and common sense.

[07:45] 2 million, 5 million, 10 million new

[07:47] Charlie Kirks are going to be minted

[07:50] because of this.

[07:52] And that's hard to picture in this

[07:55] moment. And there will be hard choices

[07:58] to make because we're angry right now.

[08:02] And the left is taunting us.

[08:06] But I have so much faith.

[08:09] I have so much faith

[08:11] in what Charlie did and in the prayers

[08:13] that he is going to be bathing our

[08:15] country in now from eternity.

[08:17] >> Another friend of Charlie Kirks and a

[08:19] good friend of our program and and mine,

[08:22] Steve Dace, who follows me on Blaze TV.

[08:26] Steve,

[08:28] I know it has been a hard 24 hours. Um,

[08:31] how are you holding up?

[08:33] >> I'm pretty devastated. Um, I think I

[08:37] have sobbed more Glenn in the uh last uh

[08:43] 18 hours uh than I probably did since

[08:46] the night of my own conversion.

[08:49] >> I'm angry

[08:51] and I know a lot of people are and there

[08:55] will be a time after we've had we need

[08:57] to mourn first, Glenn, because otherwise

[09:00] the anger will come out destructively.

[09:02] Um, and it needs to come out but

[09:04] constructively. And I think we have to

[09:06] mourn first.

[09:07] >> I think um Charlie's legacy as a father,

[09:10] husband, friend, patriot uh merits that

[09:14] and I think TPUSA and uh um his family

[09:19] need that. But in the not too distant

[09:21] future,

[09:23] uh we're going to have to get the

[09:25] message that was sent here. He was the

[09:27] best of us. Um, when you saw him behind

[09:31] the scenes or in public, genuinely kind,

[09:35] generous, I I too many pastors and

[09:38] ministry leaders thought they were too

[09:39] good for Charlie in TPUSA. Didn't want

[09:42] to get their hands dirty. And yet he and

[09:44] claimed they were being seeker friendly.

[09:45] And yet he was the one that sought out

[09:47] the seekers. He went to the places that

[09:48] those nicer than God pastors didn't go

[09:51] to. And he took the bullet. Uh, that

[09:53] frankly that's part of their calling

[09:55] that they're supposed to take. And I

[09:57] hope in a good way it shames some of

[09:58] them this morning that they wake up and

[10:00] they realize that they have slept on the

[10:03] job and that's why somebody like Charlie

[10:05] had to do their job for them. And as um

[10:09] as Charlie him you know named his own

[10:11] organization. This is a turning point.

[10:13] We're never going back to the way things

[10:15] were before. What we do next will decide

[10:18] whether or not they are better. And as

[10:20] uh one of Charlie's biggest uh biggest

[10:22] uh supporters and donors texted me this

[10:24] morning, we can only pray that out of

[10:26] one many will rise up.

[10:30] >> That's a guarantee. That is an absolute

[10:33] guarantee

[10:35] uh that that is going to happen. Um

[10:39] you know uh when the tyrant is killed,

[10:44] his reign is over. Mhm.

[10:46] >> When the martyr is killed, his reign has

[10:48] just begun. Um, and make no mistake, for

[10:53] liberty, Charlie Kirk was a martyr. Um,

[10:57] he was assassinated and martyed

[11:00] yesterday. And um

[11:04] and I you know and I I I

[11:10] think I I hope that

[11:14] um America

[11:17] I wish America could know him the way we

[11:19] knew him because he was a he was such a

[11:23] generous man. Um, it didn't matter who

[11:27] you were or what rank in life you were.

[11:30] If you needed help, he was there. And at

[11:34] the

[11:35] >> no matter how busy he was, everything

[11:38] stopped and he would help you. And I saw

[11:41] it in him over and over and over again.

[11:45] And I wish people could see that because

[11:47] it, you know, this cartoon character

[11:49] where they're making him into this

[11:51] bombthrower, he was anything but. I

[11:55] mean, he would have the greatest

[11:57] conversations with people. I mean, I

[12:00] couldn't have done it. I couldn't do it.

[12:02] I couldn't sit through that nonsense.

[12:03] Um, but he could. And he could logically

[12:07] and peacefully have a great conversation

[12:11] with people who despised him. And that

[12:15] was so important for the healing of our

[12:17] nation. And I really think that that's

[12:19] one of the reasons why he was killed.

[12:21] Not just because he was effective at

[12:22] what he did, but because he was healing

[12:26] us.

[12:27] Something that is really vital to

[12:31] happen. He was healing all of those

[12:34] divides.

[12:36] >> I couldn't have said it better myself.

[12:38] And if you just look on social media and

[12:40] see so many people in our movement who

[12:44] have such incred people I don't know,

[12:46] people that don't know me, such

[12:48] incredible testimonies of everything you

[12:50] just said in their interactions with

[12:51] Charlie. You know, we had a a very

[12:54] divisive presidential primary. And to be

[12:56] honest, I didn't always handle it well.

[12:58] One of the first people I heard from

[13:00] when it was over was Charlie. And he

[13:02] texted me and he said, "Don't give up.

[13:05] We need you."

[13:06] He didn't have to do that. He won and

[13:09] he's got the bigger platform. He's got

[13:10] the bigger show. He didn't have to do

[13:12] that. But that's the kinds of those are

[13:14] the kinds of things leaders do. And the

[13:16] the void that is left here is massive.

[13:20] And um

[13:25] at my lowest point I've ever had in my

[13:27] faith,

[13:29] um the Lord said something to me that

[13:32] will stay with me the rest of my life.

[13:35] And he said, "Stephen,

[13:39] I'm sorry.

[13:43] Stephen, I need apostles,

[13:46] not assassins."

[13:48] And I want to share that with your

[13:50] audience because to win the fight that

[13:52] is going to come after this, that is

[13:54] what will be required.

[13:56] If you know me, you know this isn't

[13:58] about being a pansy. Apostles rebuke,

[14:02] but they don't seek revenge. Apostles

[14:04] confront, but they don't condemn. The

[14:08] apostles did something that Hannibal

[14:10] couldn't do. No other civilization in

[14:13] the fertile crescent could do. They

[14:15] conquered the Roman Empire.

[14:18] Um, they set the stage for Western

[14:20] civilization.

[14:22] And they did not do it because they were

[14:23] passive and they sat on the sidelines

[14:25] and they were nicer than God and they

[14:26] wore pleated khakis and Hawaiian shirts

[14:28] year round with sweater vests. They did

[14:30] it because they got their hands dirty.

[14:31] They did it because they did the kinds

[14:32] of things we saw Charlie do. Build

[14:34] infrastructure, direct, lead, guide. I

[14:37] mean, we would have to have a literal

[14:39] conclave, Glenn, and and and come with

[14:41] literally everyone in our business and

[14:43] movement and come up with divisions to

[14:45] do all the various things Charlie

[14:47] himself was leading and doing. And that

[14:49] organization was I told Charlie at

[14:51] dinner recently, it's like you are like

[14:52] if Rush Limbaugh and the Heritage

[14:54] Foundation had a baby. This is what you

[14:56] and TPUs are. And

[15:00] that's what it's going to take to fill

[15:02] that void. And I I I can't I'm sure with

[15:05] the size of your audience, my inbox, my

[15:07] wife is going through it as we speak. It

[15:09] is full of people. You were right. I

[15:12] have to get off the sidelines. I have to

[15:14] do something. My buddy Sloan over at

[15:17] TPUSA texted me yesterday. He goes,

[15:18] "Steve, I can't tell you how many

[15:19] pastors we're hearing from. They thought

[15:21] they were too pious for us, too good for

[15:23] us. And now the stakes have been raised.

[15:25] They're getting it. And I'm just so

[15:27] sorry that it took two little children

[15:30] and and their and their and their mom's

[15:33] family away from them for two for more

[15:35] people to get the message. And I want to

[15:38] I want to specifically challenge my

[15:40] generation, Gen X. No more grunge. No

[15:45] more we're too cool for school. No more,

[15:48] well, everything sucks. Nothing we can

[15:50] do. No more. That was a 31-year-old man

[15:53] doing the work. as a young father and

[15:55] husband. Frankly, it wasn't his time to

[15:56] do yet. He has other primary duties that

[15:59] he should have been given the benefit of

[16:01] of devoting to as a husband and father.

[16:04] But our generation has sat on the

[16:05] sidelines for too long. We must lead. It

[16:09] is our children now that are grown, that

[16:10] are leaving the nest. We are the ones

[16:12] with the free time. We are the ones with

[16:14] the discretionary income. It is our time

[16:16] now to lead. to stop bitching and

[16:18] complaining about boomers. And I say

[16:20] that to me more than anybody else. And

[16:22] to stop looking around like we're still

[16:24] listening to Pearl Jam and Stone Temple

[16:26] Pilots and and and Sound Garden, and

[16:28] nothing's going to get better. It is

[16:29] time now to lead. This is our moment. Um

[16:33] and we are the ones that are in place to

[16:35] do this with the positions of our

[16:37] families and with our productivity and

[16:39] prosperity. We have to step to the

[16:41] forefront now.

[16:42] >> Such great good will come out of this.

[16:44] Ellie, I know this is a tough day for

[16:46] you and thank you for joining me.

[16:48] >> Yeah, God is in the business of

[16:51] redemption. He is in the business of

[16:52] thwarting Satan's schemes. He is in the

[16:55] business of bringing beauty out of

[16:56] ashes. He is in the business of bringing

[16:58] glory to himself and bringing people to

[17:00] himself. And if Charlie had had the

[17:03] choice, if someone had been able to come

[17:05] to him and say, "Okay, this is what your

[17:08] death will accomplish. It will

[17:09] accomplish more people hearing the

[17:10] gospel. It will accomplish more people

[17:12] waking up. I know that if Charlie had

[17:15] had that choice, he would have said yes.

[17:18] He would have said, "Yes, Lord, send

[17:19] me." And not only would he have, but he

[17:21] did. He went into the lion's den, and

[17:23] now he is with the Lion of Judah. Now he

[17:26] is with Jesus. And everyone is going to

[17:28] know who he was and why he lived and the

[17:32] gospel that motivated him. And that is

[17:34] the only thing right now that is giving

[17:37] me any hope or any peace or any comfort.

[17:41] I know that um all I could think of

[17:44] yesterday

[17:48] was how glorious

[17:51] >> the uh greeting must have been on the

[17:54] other side, you know, good well done,

[17:57] good and faithful servant.

[17:58] >> Yes, absolutely. And before any of us

[18:01] heard the news, before his sweet wife

[18:03] Erica got the phone call, he was already

[18:06] hearing those words. And I am so happy

[18:09] for him. I'm so happy that he's with the

[18:11] saints and the martyrs and the

[18:13] persecuted through which the church of

[18:16] Christ has been advanced for millennia.

[18:18] I'm so happy for him. But I'm so sad for

[18:22] us. I'm so sad for us. Heaven gained an

[18:26] incredible person, but we we lost a huge

[18:30] presence.

[18:33] >> That's how I know when people have

[18:35] faith. They don't weep for the dead.

[18:39] They weep for the loss to themselves and

[18:42] to the world and to the families that

[18:44] are hurting. They they mourn that loss

[18:47] on themselves, but they they when they

[18:50] think of the person who has died, they

[18:52] know exactly where they are.

[18:54] >> Yeah.

[18:54] >> And uh and with Charlie,

[18:57] I

[18:59] I I

[19:01] mean, I knew him when he was 17 and he

[19:04] was a good kid, but what a change.

[19:08] uh happened to him. He he was on fire

[19:13] for Christ. On fire for that.

[19:16] >> Yes. Absolutely. He grew into over the

[19:19] past 5 to 10 years such a theologically

[19:23] deep and apologetically astute man of

[19:25] God as he became a husband, as he became

[19:28] a father, as he became even more of a

[19:32] warrior for truth. And that is really

[19:34] what that's what inspired me. And when I

[19:38] heard the news yesterday,

[19:41] I thought my first thought was that's

[19:43] it. I'm done. I I'm throwing in the

[19:46] towel. That is it for me. I'm not I'm

[19:48] not willing to do this anymore. And then

[19:51] later after he died, I went through some

[19:54] of the texts that he had sent me over

[19:56] the years. He was always sending

[19:58] everyone, all of his friends, these very

[19:59] encouraging texts. and he sent me this

[20:01] article from a liberal outlet that of

[20:03] course had taken some jabs at me that

[20:05] had made me anxious and he said, "Well

[20:07] done. Keep slugging."

[20:10] And I just I just know that if he were

[20:13] here, that's exactly what he would say.

[20:16] Not just to me, but to all of us. He

[20:18] would say, "No, you can't get out now.

[20:21] You got to keep going. You got to keep

[20:23] going." That's exactly how he would

[20:25] feel, and that's exactly what he would

[20:27] tell all of us.

[20:31] I have received so many emails from

[20:33] people who have said, "I don't know how

[20:35] to get back up again."

[20:37] >> Yeah.

[20:40] >> And I don't know what to tell them other

[20:41] than

[20:43] faith in God. Faith in God. I I think if

[20:49] I think if our if if if our side, if you

[20:52] will, um boy, I hate that in this

[20:55] context, but if if if we didn't have

[20:57] God,

[20:59] um we'd be very much like the left right

[21:02] now. We would be mired in anger and and

[21:06] screaming for vengeance. And it would be

[21:09] a really ugly place today.

[21:12] >> Um if if we didn't have God.

[21:15] >> Yes. And if Jesus wasn't raised from the

[21:17] dead, like if he wasn't resurrected,

[21:19] then we don't have a hope of a

[21:21] resurrection. If he didn't defeat death,

[21:23] then we can't defeat death. If Jesus

[21:25] didn't live forever, then we can't live

[21:26] forever. And that's exactly what Charlie

[21:30] always preached, what he always posted

[21:32] on X, what he always said. If you were

[21:36] to be able to text him right now and

[21:37] say, "Look, Charlie, I've got this

[21:39] really tough thing to talk about today,

[21:42] and I don't know how to say it. I don't

[21:44] know what to say. What are your thoughts

[21:46] on it? What should I say? I know exactly

[21:49] what he would say. The one word that he

[21:51] would text back and that would be Jesus.

[21:53] Just tell him that. Just tell him that

[21:55] Jesus is the only way to fulfill it.

[21:57] That is what he would say. People don't

[21:59] may not realize that, but every time he

[22:02] went on a college campus, he wasn't just

[22:03] talking about capitalism or Donald Trump

[22:06] and all those things are important.

[22:07] >> He shared the gospel. He knew that every

[22:10] single person that walked in front of

[22:11] him was made in the image of God with a

[22:13] soul that was going to live forever in

[22:14] one of two places. He desperately wanted

[22:16] the people who hated him to go to

[22:18] heaven. And I just pray that I can have

[22:20] that same boldness for the rest of my

[22:22] life.