Glenn Beck Honors Charlie Kirk: Civil Rights Leader, Cultural Revolutionary, and Voice of a Generation

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2,422 videos 1,389,747,653 views US Joined Aug 30, 2018

Charlie Kirk is the Founder and President of Turning Point USA, the largest and fastest growing conservative youth activist organization in the country with over 250,000 student members, over 150 full-time staff, and a presence on over 2,000 high school and college campuses nationwide. Charlie is also the Chairman of Students for Trump, which aims to activate one million new college voters on campuses in battleground states in the lead up to the 2020 presidential election. His social media reaches over 100 million people per month and according to Axios, he is one of the "top 10 most engaged" Twitter handles in the world. He is also the host of “The Charlie Kirk Show,” which regularly ranks among the top news shows on Apple podcast charts.

Glenn Beck Honors Charlie Kirk: Civil Rights Leader, Cultural Revolutionary, and Voice of a Generation

Glenn Beck delivers a powerful tribute to Charlie Kirk, exploring his unprecedented impact as a civil rights leader, broadcaster, and catalyst for spiritual awakening across America. From his conversations with world leaders to his campus debates defending free speech, Charlie Kirk's legacy transcends politics, he inspired thousands to return to church, raised a generation of young conservatives, and championed dialogue over division. Beck reveals never-before-shared stories, including private conversations about assassination threats and Charlie's vision for America's future. This memorial broadcast captures the profound influence of a man who changed countless lives and redirected the course of a nation.

Categories: Tributes
September 17, 2025

A Tribute Beyond Politics

Glenn Beck opens this special memorial broadcast sitting beside Charlie Kirk's microphone, with Rush Limbaugh's golden microphone placed in front of it—a symbolic gesture honoring Charlie's place among broadcasting legends. Beck shares a story he never told Charlie himself: when they first met and young Charlie said he wanted to be like Glenn Beck, Beck knew Charlie was thinking too small. Charlie didn't just want to be Rush Limbaugh—he surpassed him by miles, becoming a broadcaster, narrowcaster, pastor, priest, rabbi, political organizer, think tank, and compassionate friend all in one.

Beck makes a bold declaration that must be planted deep: Charlie Kirk was a civil rights leader. His fight wasn't just political—it was for the fundamental right to free speech, to have civil dialogue with those who disagree, and to express oneself without fear of being silenced. The gunman who killed Charlie tried to take that right away from everyone, but Charlie's legacy stands as a testament to the power of open discourse.

The Making of a Movement

Andrew Kolvet, longtime colleague and friend, joins Beck to reflect on Charlie's extraordinary evolution. In just ten to fifteen years, Charlie transformed from an impressive young voice into a multifaceted leader who could have been president. Unlike Rush Limbaugh, who never sought the presidency, Charlie possessed the unique combination of skills that could have made him a great president. Beck notes that to replace Charlie would require six people at the top of their craft to cover everything he accomplished.

Kolvet reveals Charlie's private admiration for JD Vance, whom Charlie saw as "next man up"—someone who gave Charlie emotional freedom to focus on building the movement rather than seeking office himself. Charlie was being honed and sharpened for something greater, and people trusted him implicitly. If heated discussions happened behind closed doors, they stayed there. Charlie's goal was always to keep people together, understanding that forces in politics constantly work to tear everyone apart.

The Strategist and Philosopher

Just weeks before his death, Charlie sent Kolvet a hierarchy of virtues from ancient Greece, emphasizing that they weren't merely actors and entertainers at the bottom but should strive to be statesmen, philosophers, and theologians at the top. Charlie constantly thought three steps ahead, always considering what actions would do to the movement long-term. He crafted messaging and strategy around maintaining unity, managing current moments so everyone remained part of the broader mission.

Beck recounts a chilling lunch meeting from 2010 where George Soros's number two met with Beck's number two, delivering what Beck interpreted as a threat: stop hurting Soros or face consequences. Beck responded by doing a three-day special on Fox exposing everything about Soros. Charlie understood these battles and fought them with grace and strategic brilliance.

Exposing the Funding Networks

Ryan Morrow from Capital Research Center joins the broadcast to reveal explosive findings about George Soros's funding networks. After a year of investigation, Morrow's team traced over $80 million from Open Society Foundations to at least 54 groups engaged in crime and domestic terrorism on U.S. soil, or groups that are pro-terrorism or associated with foreign terrorist organizations. Over $23 million went to at least seven groups doing things that meet the FBI's definition of domestic terrorism.

The findings include grants to organizations that openly boast about participating in riots, creating "protest guides" that link to materials recommending property destruction, violence, false IDs, and obstruction of justice. Some groups are coalitions containing hundreds of entities, meaning the real number affected far exceeds 54. Morrow argues these violations of IRS code—prohibiting nonprofits from engaging in or encouraging crime—provide a clear path to revoking tax-exempt statuses and dismantling these networks.

Campus Confrontations and Truth-Seeking

The broadcast includes multiple clips from Charlie's campus events, showcasing his remarkable ability to engage with students who vehemently disagreed with him. In exchanges about abortion, Charlie dismantles arguments based on consciousness and development, asserting that human beings have inherent dignity and rights simply because they are human beings made in the image of the Creator. He argues this is a self-evident truth, not circular reasoning.

When confronted about E. Jean Carroll's accusations against Trump, Charlie meticulously corrects the record: Trump was never indicted in that case—it was civil, not criminal—and Carroll couldn't even remember the year of the alleged incident. He points out that Trump kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago, directly addressing attempts to connect Trump to Epstein's crimes.

An Italian exchange student studying abroad approaches Charlie, expressing frustration that as someone following legal immigration processes, he's upset seeing illegal immigrants who disregard the law receiving preferential treatment. Charlie affirms that every person who came illegally must be returned to their country of origin, earning applause from the crowd.

The Department of Education and Constitutional Limits

Charlie and Beck discuss dismantling the Department of Education, with Charlie laying out a strategic approach even before addressing constitutional questions. Student loans should move to the Department of Treasury. School-assisted lunch programs could fall under the Department of Agriculture. The Office of Civil Rights should be under the Department of Justice. Charlie reveals how the Department of Education weaponized school lunch funding to force transgender bathroom policies—withholding food assistance from children unless schools adopted radical policies.

Charlie notes the Department of Education never existed in its current form—it used to be part of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW). By finding duplicative processes and creating better synergies, the department could be weakened to the point of non-existence. Fundamentally, Charlie argues, the Department of Education is not constitutional—the federal government has no role in the education of children according to original intent.

Prophetic Warnings About Assassinations

Beck shares a deeply personal revelation: he publicly warned in May 2024 that people who hate Donald Trump might consider actual assassination if political attacks didn't work. He tracked the slide into radicalism since 2004-2005, studying revolutions worldwide to understand how they happen. Beck predicted a period of assassinations similar to the 1960s—Malcolm X, RFK, MLK.

In a private conversation on a Miami balcony around 2018 or 2019, Charlie asked Beck what was coming next. Beck told him: "Assassinations." They discussed what their responsibilities were and what to look out for, including how to respond if such events began occurring. This prescient conversation now takes on haunting significance, but Beck expresses gratitude for how people are responding—exactly as Charlie would have wanted.

The Spiritual Awakening

Perhaps Charlie's most profound legacy is the spiritual awakening sweeping the nation. Beck compares the moment to Gettysburg, where Abraham Lincoln became a Christian after witnessing the horrific battlefield. Lincoln issued a proclamation calling for national prayer, fasting, and humiliation—asking God for forgiveness for the nation's sins. That moment turned the war around.

This may be the Gettysburg moment for this generation. Thousands are committing to Christ, attending church for the first time or the first time in decades, saying "I'm going to change." The movement is sweeping not just America but the world—South Korea, England, and beyond. People who never knew Charlie personally felt like they knew him because he was so personal and authentic. His death on a killing field has become a catalyst for spiritual transformation.

A Song for Unity

Beck's daughter Cheyenne, who was approximately ten feet from the tent when Charlie was shot, joined David Osmond in the studio to record "We Are One"—a song Beck commissioned around 2018 for exactly these times. The lyrics capture Charlie's essence: standing for others' right to speak, raising voices, holding hands, beating drums, making choices to overcome because "we are one."

The song wasn't written for Charlie Kirk specifically, but Beck notes it's "amazing how the Lord works." The message perfectly encapsulates what Charlie fought for: standing shoulder to shoulder, being united, defending every friend, neighbor, and countryman. This is why Charlie's death is bringing people together across divides—because he stood for basic principles and truths that transcend politics.

The Path Forward

Kolvet and Beck discuss the path forward, acknowledging two reactions people are having. Some want to continue Charlie's open approach to debate and dialogue. Others feel righteous anger and believe they must go farther, change tactics, respond more aggressively. Beck channels that righteous anger as natural and part of grief, but he's been amazed and proud of how people are handling it.

Charlie would never have supported hate speech legislation or restrictions on free speech—ever. There is no such thing as "hate speech" legally in America. There is speech—uncomfortable speech, evil speech, bad speech, speech you hate—but no legal category called hate speech. The only speech requiring protection is speech that everybody hates. Beck worries about Pam Bondi's movement to go after people with hate speech charges, insisting that fighting for others' right to speak—especially when you disagree—is paramount.

Final Reflections

Beck worries about TPUSA staff and supporters next week and beyond, when company goes home and people are left alone with reality. That's when despair or hopelessness can play games. But Charlie would have wanted one thing: move forward, keep moving, keep pressing forward, keep staying true to principles. Beck hopes and prays nobody does anything stupid out of anger, believing it won't happen but acknowledging the possibility.

If people maintain real discipline and constitutional discipline—if they channel their grief into positive action, spiritual renewal, and continued commitment to free speech and civil dialogue—then Charlie's death will not be in vain. His legacy will be a generation raised to think clearly, argue persuasively, stand courageously, and love deeply. Charlie Kirk was not just a political figure or broadcaster. He was a civil rights leader whose impact will echo through generations, a modern-day voice for truth who inspired a nation to return to its founding principles and its faith.

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