Isabel Brown Honors Charlie Kirk's Legacy at AmericaFest With Andrew Kolvet and Mikey McCoy

Hey gang, it's Isabelle and I am traveling for the holidays. And I say holidays including Christmas because it is still Christmas. So merry Christmas to all of you and happy almost new year more and where I am traveling with my family in just a few days. But in the meantime, we recorded some amazing content at TPUSA's America Fest just a few weeks ago that I am dying to share with you, especially in the midst of what many people are calling the conservative civil war. Yeah, not a great time, particularly when it comes to trying to make friends with a whole bunch of people in the movement, but we're doing what we can and trying to tell the truth to everyone in a united front against the lies of leftism, extreme radical Islam, government corruption, and censorship all over the world, and so much more. So, how do we come together? How do we continue to honor the life and legacy of our friend Charlie Kirk in the wake of his passing going into this new year in 2026? And how do we bring our conservative movement together when the world needs us the most? All of this and more today on the Isabelle Brown Show. First up at Amfest, we had a chance to sit down with two of Charlie Kirk's closest team members and people who have been in the spotlight a whole lot over the last couple of months in the wake of his assassination. First, Andrew Kulvette, the executive producer of the Charlie Kirk show, as well as Mikey McCoy, who was Charlie's chief of staff and one of his closest closest friends in all of the most recent years that they've been working together. You guys, I'm sure, have a lot of questions for both of them, and we tried to answer preemptively as many of them as we possibly could. I have personally known Andrew and Mikey for many, many years. And it was a pleasure to sit down with them in a new context, not working with them at TPUSA as I did for many years, but now over at the Daily Wire, getting to ask them about the continued legacy of the Charlie Kirk show of Turning Point USA, who Charlie was to them, what they will miss the most about their friend, and how we can come together and unify this movement in a time where that seems really difficult and to some, many are saying impossible, but I think is even more important now going into 2026 than ever before. So, first up, please join me in welcoming the amazing Andrew Colvette, executive producer of the Charlie Kirk Show to the show. We are joined here on the floor of America Fest 2025 in Phoenix, Arizona with my friend Andrew Kvette, the producer of the Charlie Kirk Show. Andrew, it's amazing to see you. >> It's amazing to see you. Honestly, we've known each other a long time. >> I know you've seen me go through a lot of eraser of Isabelle. >> You're going to go on your eras tour. >> Sure. Yeah, we we love that. Although now we don't necessarily need to. The era tour is all about Charlie. And that's what I'm being reminded of everywhere we go in this convention center, seeing so many incredible photos of him and his family and unpacking all of his eras of legacy through Turning Point USA. He >> had a bunch of eras. He did. >> The many looks of Charlie, the many haidos of Charlie. >> Somebody asked me yesterday about Charlie in the early years when I first met him for a project we were filming. And all I could think about was ill-fitting suits and New Balance white dad sneakers before the dad sneakers were cool. It was like way before those. This was distinctly when they were not cool actually. And that's I mean I you know I've gotten asked a lot of questions and uh so it was a 14-year-old girl I think her name is uh her show is like Honey American Honey. >> So little shout out to her. It was great cuz you know she she asked me she's like what did you like most about Charlie? And I was like that's an amazing question. And actually and and you could relate to I think a lot of these things the ill-fitting suits. I love that he did not care about visuals about himself at least. He cared about aesthetics for events and and other things and videos, but for himself he just it was just such an afterthought like I guess I have to put a suit on. So, you know, we'll just >> number of times I saw him do a Fox News hit at our office when we had one tiny little podcast news studio in the office. >> Big moves though. >> It was it was huge moves when we built that out. And in the era of COVID, especially when everything was Zoom and everything was Skype, he would come into the office wearing basically like slippers or sneakers, basketball shorts, and then on top was a whole suit look. >> Yep. And he always had the long socks. So he would walk around the office with uh shorts and long socks and you know, he would be like, "Well, they're good for circulation. I'm a tall guy. I need help with circulation." And so they were always like really tight socks all the way up to the knees. And you know, it's those moments with Charlie that uh you know, a lot of people know Charlie from his social media videos and the debate clips and the Charlie Kirk show, uh his speeches, but for me, and I think for you too, and you can relate to this, it's those it was those moments, you know, running in between one thing and the next or the car rides or the plane trips and and um he was just such a great guy. He was what I loved about traveling with Charlie was he was such an impatient guy. Like legitimately one of the most impatient people. So if you were running 2 minutes late, he he was already you could feel it the energy on him because I think in some ways God put this little timer in the back of his head and he just knew that he had to make the most of his time, you know. Uh but when you would travel with him, he he was stuck and and you would get this this side of Charlie where you would realize how funny he was. He was legitimately one of the funniest guy. He had he made me like belly laugh more than anybody else in the last eight years when I worked with Charlie. And he was so generous and he was so kind and loyal. He would never speak ill of you even in private. And you know, even if he had something funny to say about somebody or maybe maybe he was tempted to say something un nice, he would just go, >> you know, even give you that look, >> wash my hands immediately. >> You know, he was he was just a a genuinely >> just a genuinely wonderful guy. And um you know I I find it striking that over the course of 8 years I didn't get more annoyed with him and be like man I burned out I need a change. It was like I am more impressed with how he's grown how mature he's become what he what u being a family man a father and a husband how that changed him and added to his just the depth of his character. >> Yeah. So there was just there's so many things to love about Charlie and I I really want people to know him in 3D, you know, not just the the caricature, not just what the left says of him or what the right says of him. He's just a wonderful human being. >> On that note, I we talked about this with Mikey a little bit last night, but we're struggling to find the balance between celebrating and honoring and realizing the whole of the legacy that Charlie has left behind. He was this intellectual giant. He was the face that we see on Tik Tok to millions of followers. He was the podcast and radio host, but he also was a real person. And in many ways, you more than anyone watched Charlie grow up over the last several years. >> I think the question on everyone's mind is how are you guys doing really? And I know people have asked you this a million times. Obviously, it's impossible to even remotely characterize the entire emotional spectrum of what people are going through. But people seem confused as to the response of TPUSA still putting on events like this, the Charlie Kirk show, still carrying forward and doing episodes. They're confused >> that it's not appropriate somehow because >> I would think Yeah. I mean, I think it would be inappropriate if we didn't do this. You know, I I'll be really honest. I think it sounds macob to some or morbid or whatever, but the the day Charlie was killed, you know, there was a group of us uh at the hotel in Salt Lake City where we just kind of ended up somehow. I don't even know how we ended up there. Uh, and we we you know, in those moments of where you're devastated and you're shell shocked, you know, somebody made a joke. They're like, you know, Charlie would be mad that we're not streaming right now. And that's like I mean, it's sort of true. I mean, anything would happen, Charlie would you'd get the me memo like get to the studio, get to the studio, got to stream, got to stream. And that, you know, Charlie Charlie gave his life for this country for free speech. I believe he's he's a martyr. Um, and we would be derelictked in our duty to the mission that he built, to the movement he built, and to this organization he built if we didn't do everything in our power to squeeze every last drop of energy and momentum and this outpouring of love, you know, in our power to do. I mean, we would be we'd be derelict in our duty. So, I, you know, I'm certainly excited about Christmas. I somebody asked me, you know, what do you plan to do for the holidays? And I was like, I just want to like snuggle on the couch with my my my kids, watch some great Christmas movies, uh, eat some food, and take a break. I I mean, there's no doubt the team needs that. >> And I'm excited about it. And, you know, but how do you grieve? That's a really interesting question. How do you grieve? People are People have asked me, "How have you grieved this?" And I'm like, I don't know. I genuinely don't know. I'm I've tried my best. I've I've prayed. I've had, you know, cried plenty of tears and um but I I who there's no road map for this. There's no what happened with Charlie in front of the whole world and for us to be sort of thrust into this position. There's no right or wrong way, I would think. And you know, we're just doing the best we can. >> Back to it in a moment. But first, I want to talk about something that has hit me so much harder after becoming a mom. I have realized that every decision plan that I make about my life, my health, everything is not just about me anymore. It's about showing up for my daughter Isla, being present for her and all of her milestones, and having the energy to keep up with her for decades to come. And that is a completely different kind of motivation. But here's the problem with that, especially with health. Our healthcare system is built to be reactive. You wait until something is really, really wrong and then you try to fix it. 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Yeah, there I don't think there's ever a proper way to grieve. Everybody says there's no playbook for how this is supposed to play out in any situation. Now, when I've been asked about this the last couple of months, it's kind of dawned on me that it would have been one thing if Charlie had tragically died in a car accident or a plane crash. That would have been truly tragic. We all would have been devastated. But there's a level of surrealness about how this has all unfolded the last 3 months that of course is going to take time to set in for everyone. You mentioned it happening in front of the world and I want to ask you if I can about the trial that is upcoming in 2026. We've just learned a couple of days ago that cameras will be allowed in the courtroom for the trial of Tyler Robinson, which I know you and Jackobic and many other people associated uh with the organization have really been pushing for given Charlie didn't have a say in the fact that his assassination was public. So, of course, the trial should be public as well. Do we know anything else about what to expect in those first few weeks and months of this trial? >> Well, so the way that I understand it is, you know, we're we're still out a ways. We're not going to have what's called the evidentiary hearing or the probable cause hearing until May. >> And so that's really the first time that we're going to be presented with evidence that you haven't seen that that has already been explained in the charging document. And so the charging document is pretty detailed. I recommend everybody read that. And in I guess in May then they're going to reveal their probable cause. So why we are now able to take this to a full jury trial. So they they have to lay that out in front of the judge and they will reveal new evidence that they have. I'm told there's mountains of new evidence in addition to the charging documents. So, you know, I I'm I hope that the transparency of the trial is really good for the internet, really good for educating people in the civic process and a and a and a judge and jury process. You know, it occurs to me that a lot of people chiming in that, you know, want things done a certain way, don't understand the way the judicial system works, the criminal justice system works. And so, it's going to be an opportunity for people to relearn that, a whole new generation to relearn that because obviously Charlie meant a ton to Gen Z, uh, high schoolers, Gen Alpha even. And so, they need to they need to see this play out and see how it actually works. Um, and I think there's going to be I think if you have an open mind, you're you're going to see that uh this case is pretty pretty open and shut. >> You know, I think that's been surprising to people because there's this expectation in our instant gratification culture where you're expecting an answer 5 minutes and especially when you can have, you know, your favorite pharmaceuticals delivered to your door in an hour from Amazon, the idea of waiting months and months and months. >> The criminal justice system does not work at the speed of TikTok. That is, that is certainly true. And um that that that chasm on timing basis is is really playing out. I mean we were hoping it was going to happen in March, you know, we were like and then we were here in March, April and then it went all the way to May and I was just like come on, you know. Um but it is what it is. And you know I I this this judge I think is doing everything he can to make sure that there's nothing that you know he's he could sort of give the defense a foothold for to you know try and peel something or reversible error as they call it. I'm learning all this stuff too. Yeah, >> it's really fascinating getting sort of one foot in being personally invested in the trial because this is our friend and we want justice to happen, but also watching the like 30,000 ft societal reaction to all of this. It reminds me a lot of the Derek Schovin trial that everyone had their eyes glued to the last several years. Uh the Idaho student murders the last few years people have been really invested in. And there's almost a temptation to treat this as like a criminal minds episode or a true crime podcast. people sensationalizing things, making really wild claims on social media. If you could share a message uh for people on why they should trust the process and how this investigative process works, what would you say? >> Yeah, I mean there's a couple things I would say there's been a lot of focus on the FBI. Well, this is actually not being this case is not being run by the FBI. It's actually being run at the state and local level. So, there's one thing, right? And I I've you know, I've been told that that's actually a good thing. It'll it'll speed up the process. It's um in a lot of ways it's beneficial for getting justice. And I would also say you don't have to trust the process. Actually, I have questions. You know, one of the frustrations is that uh for me personally is, you know, I want to know if there was a conspiracy. I want to know if there were people that knew about this beforehand. I want to know if there was foreign funding. I want to know who radicalized this kid, if anybody, if it was, you know, um there certainly is indication that people knew about it in advance. I want to know all those things. And so I'd say, you know, trust but verify, I guess, or don't trust at all, but, you know, follow the facts. Follow what you know, you can see with your own two eyes and and put together with your own common sense and go where it may. But, you know, there's a lot of actually, I think, really understandable potential conspiracies that you could look into. And I want to look into those. So, I have questions. I I'm not trusting everything, but you know, follow the facts. Don't sensationalize them. let them be what they are. >> Zooming in in a different direction on Charlie's legacy a bit. I am blown away at everything we're seeing here at Amfest this year, especially having been at conferences way back in 2017 when there was a handful of students in the room, >> Holiday Inn and things like that. Yeah, >> I I actually looked through my camera roll the last few months cuz it's been really fun thinking about those first conferences and at the very first event I ever attended for TPUSA, it was YWLS in Dallas in 2017. It was in the hotel attached to the airport. Is that is that the uh I know exactly which hotel that is. I It might be a Hiatt. >> I think it's a Hiatt if I'm remembering correctly. And there was maybe 500 to a,000 students there maybe. And one of the nights we did a PJ party and I have a picture of me and Charlie with pajamas on yesterday. Did >> Charlie wear the PJs? >> Charlie wore the PJs. It was amazing. It was so girly and fun. But it's amazing to see it turn into this, right? I've been told there's 30,000 people here. 31,000 >> 31,000 80% of whom are first-time attendees at any Te USA event. What does this mean for you and the team, both the Charlie Kirk show and Turning Point USA to pick up that mantle and keep running in 2026? >> Yeah, I I mean it kind of blew us away, you know, after everything happened, you know, I think it was a couple days after somebody maybe 10 days after somebody had the, you know, the thought maybe we should look at how many tickets we sold for Afest. And we were like, uh, we we should probably turn the the ticketing system off. I mean, cuz, you know, we were all just in mourning and yet things were happening behind the scenes that we weren't even aware of. Um, but yeah, to see it turn into to this, you know, candidly, we were already trying to find a new venue for this event because we wanted there was I just being candid, we could have sold twice as many tickets and we wanted everybody who wanted to be here for this to be able to come. But unfortunately, we had to turn off the the ticketing. But it's just a testament to what Charlie meant to so many and how he changed so many so many lives, so many hearts. He, you know, I've said I've said so many things about Charlie, it's hard to remember all the things, but some of the things that stand out is that, you know, he's a modern-day founding father. He was a modern-day prophet. He was a he's a and he's an American martyr, a Christian martyr, and he was the best the very best of this country all in one package. And that's the really amazing part about his life. And you know, so many people here now see it and people went back through the cataloges of all the all the things he said and how he always integrated his faith into everything. So you get this political, but it's also there's a lot of faith elements and you know how much he talked about character and doing the right thing. And it was it's just he he was truly a light in the darkness and he shone so brightly and I'm so glad that so many people now realize that. And so when I see all of this around here, it's just I I hope that we take it and we seize it. I hope that we take the message, the lessons that he left us with, and that we seize this moment. And uh you know, a lot of people are worried about the the infighting or the squabbbling. And you know, I don't worry about that stuff at all, actually, because I think we're conservatives. We're we're we're a rowdy bunch. We're we're we we like to uh mix it up. We we have strong opinions. We're not hive-minded collectivists. We're going to we're going to have differences of opinion on a lot of different topics. And sometimes we need to fight those out. Sometimes family business needs to be addressed. And you know, maybe Charlie delayed some of that >> just by the sheer force of his of his uh personality and and his influence, but it was going to happen eventually. These these fissures were were uh behind the scenes for a long time. So, let's have it out. Let's have the argument. Um hopefully we can make it about ideas and not about personalities. Um sometimes those those in our modern uh day and age, those those are mixed. But but I'm not I mean honestly what a great place to have those. Imagine the other options that are at at our disposal like to do it at Amfest to do it with the the the type of people and the quality of people we have here. This is the right place to do it. And I'd rather be doing it in December of an off year than you know August or September of an election year. >> Amen to that. You called Charlie something interesting there. A founding father, a modern founding father. I don't know if you know this, but the average length of an empire, Charlie always used to repeatedly tell me into my head is 250 years. and he always believed that we were going to somewhat come to a reckoning as a country on our 250th anniversary, which we're headed into in just a few days. There's a in a way a really interesting dichotomy between what's happening now and what happened in 1776. You're watching the founding fathers then have vehement disagreements to the point of literal duels and taking each other's lives over these. >> We were joking about that. I was like, we need to go we just need to go back to like Aaron Burr and Hamilton and, you know, >> rap battle it out maybe in 2026. But the founding fathers disagreed on all kinds of stuff and yet they shared a common vision for what this country and what this society would mean for the world in the midst of what many people are calling the civil war or the infighting or whatever. Do you think this paves a path to us really bringing the best ideas to the top and creating a new ethos of what it means to be a conservative? >> I I mean listen, we've had battles about foreign policy, about uh you know bombing foreign lands and and and those have made the movement better and stronger. Honestly, we we end at a better consensus. There's no there's no timeline on how long that's going to take. So, yeah, this could take a while to kind of come to that new consensus, that new coalition building consensus, but again, I think you have to just embrace that. Also, if you have a dynamic, charismatic leader, maybe it could be JD Vance, but you're you're going to build a new coalition around whoever the the uh you know, the leader of of the movement is going to be anyways. And so, we're just working it out. We're hashing it out, everybody. I mean, we've we've gone through 10 years of President Trump. >> That was a very contentious time. He did a hostile takeover of a dead and dying GOP, brought in new elements, and we're going to see this renewal, this sifting. It's It happens periodically, and I think that's just what's happening. We're coming to kind of the tail end of of a coalition that President Trump built and we're going to see which elements are going to stay in and which elements are going to be filtered out, which new ones we can bring in and hopefully we can we can rebuild the entire entirety of the Trump coalition. But don't be afraid of the arguments that happen in the interim. >> It is still the Christmas season, people. The 12 days of Christmas are not over. And we since we are still in the Christmas season, I need your help. This Christmas, you could help to change a life. Actually, make that two lives. Picture a young woman who just found out that she's pregnant and she wasn't expecting it. She's scared. Maybe she doesn't have much support. She isn't sure what her options are. That's exactly where our friends Pre-born Ministries are there for women. They offer free ultrasounds and counseling to women who are facing tough decisions. 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And we held events like this multiple times a year to set that standard for everyone with a microphone and and people with a platform and influence whether that's in government uh in media or anywhere else in the movement. In your mind, what is the Kirk doctrine and and what do you think we can all learn from that with him being the leader of the conservative movement? >> That's a great question. the Kirk doctrine, man. Everything flows downhill from faith in Jesus Christ. And there's room for other faiths there, too. But it's really Charlie believed in a Christian nation that he wasn't a Christian nationalist. He just believed that whatever that means, by the way. Um, but he just believed that this was a nation founded by Christians for Christians. And there was a a a Jewish element even from the earliest days and Catholic element, of course, Maryland. Um but that is that ultimately is the first step. Those values, those freedoms, Charlie used to always say, you know, those who those who drink from the streams of liberty will find its source. And so I think that's first and foremost is that. But it's get married, have kids, build things that matter. Um you know, hold up the good, the true, the beautiful. Uh always be looking to get back to those things when you stray off course. Uh, build friendships, work out your differences behind the scenes, work together. Uh, don't be afraid of who gets all the credit. You know, there's plenty to go around when when when you win. Uh, certainly, but win. Build build the systems and outwork your opponents. Outwork your opponents. And when when one of the things I learned from Charlie is that when negativity or controversy springs up, you know, do good work. The way you get through is through. you do good work, you work hard, and you advance positive lines. And that that was always the the the guiding light. It's like, listen, we could get distracted over on this shiny thing or this feud or whatever the whatever it is, but we're going to be about doing good work. We're going to be about advancing the mission. And, you know, we're going to outwork everybody else. And if we do those things, good things are going to happen. And we're going to stay low, stay humble, stay close to Jesus, and just push forward. One person in particular has been tasked with doing that more than anyone, and that's the new CEO of Turning Point USA, Charlie's beautiful wife, Erica. Many people speculating on everything that they think they know about Erica Kirk, but you spend a lot of time with her day in and day out. What does the world need to know about who she is and how she's going to lead this company? You know, one of my favorite anecdotes after everything happened, um, it was actually Blake Nef, who is on the show with us at the Charlie Kirk show, and he, uh, he was just like, I brought it up with him about Eric. I forget what we were saying, and he just had this instant reaction. He was like, "What a woman." >> And I was like, "That's well said." You know, what a woman, Blake. And coming from him, it felt just sort of appropriate and all those things. But yeah, I mean, she's she's an incredible person and she's she's found courage and poise and uh grace in the most unimaginable of circumstances. And you know, Charlie told me multiple times, he told the board, he told everybody. It wasn't it was like not a secret that if anything happened to him, Erica was going to be in charge. And I never really thought that hard about it to be honest cuz, you know, I thought Charlie was going to be 98 by the time, you know, we lost him. But he chose well. He chose very well. And she is she's very strong. She's very strong. >> And she is got a a really incredible faith that is rock solid. She's she listens to the Lord. And it it's almost kind of like this new era is almost a little bit like Deborah and Barack, you know, where she's like under the palm like praying and God is talking to her and giving her wisdom and she's sort of dispatching her lieutenants out in the field to to to to wage war. And you know, I think that's a a fun image, but man, I will tell you that she she is um we used to always joke that she was more conservative than Charlie. And there's that one clip that ended up going viral. And man, I we used to joke I remember this one trip that we took from it was from Iowa City to Chicago. We had a campus stop and we it was Erica, me and Charlie. We got a rental car and we drove all the way up to Chicago cuz that's where Charlie was from. And um you know, we were debating immigration. This was back in Charlie's uh open border phase, so I called it. You know, he was never I mean I'm I'm exaggerating, of course, but >> his beliefs evolved of course like everyone. Charlie came from Chicago where there was we I think they had net population loss and he went to a pretty diverse high school and it was always fine. And it was pre it was pre-woke era though. So it was a little little different. And so he was like, "No, look at all this uh farmland, all this corn these corn fields. Like we could have more more people. We we could get some productivity out of this." And Eric and I were like, "No, no. Close the border. Immigration moratorium. We're done." You know, like we we we had this great like uh argument for like 3 hours in the car. And uh I remember getting out of the car going like looking at Erica and like doing a fist bump and then like we got this. And then slowly but surely over the years, Charlie came around to our our line of thinking. But, you know, Erica's just never she's never struggled with those types of dilemmas or questions. U she's she's solid as a rock. Um conservative and I think, you know, I'm listen, she's she's the perfect choice. Charlie knew this. We know it. And uh I couldn't say enough good things. >> Amen. She's so so beautiful. And I keep letting her know over the last few months, I totally see the Holy Spirit just radiating wisdom through her. It's a strength and a fortitude I've never seen from a human being and I know she's going to inspire so many people. Last question cuz I know you got a jet to a bunch of other things here at Amfest. Charlie is so much. He's a symbol. He was a leader. He set the tone for everyone, but he was also your friend. So, what are you going to miss the most about your friend Charlie? >> Well, you might you're going to try and get me. And I I I'm not I'm not going to get emotional here. Um, I'm going to miss I'm just going to miss the the ideation, the the creativity, the like I'm going to miss the plane flights cuz that was those were really really fun. But I I miss when he would call me and we would, you know, he didn't have to call me. He just like wanted to like hear what he said out loud and I'd be like, "Yeah, Charlie, that was great." like or you know after after a news hit and he'd be like you don't want to go through the the points he'd be like no that was good or you got to you got to clear that up and you know there was just this this way he it was almost like he needed a little bit of like secondhand affirmation or like wrestling through an idea and and that was like a special place Charlie and I shared together you know that I I had a really unique uh role to play and a vantage point just to see the way he worked through how to be better how to how to get better at his craft, but as a as a family member, as a leader, and I and I just missed there was just a just a a quietness and a and a just a closeness that uh I'm really going to miss those those quiet moments, honestly. >> Well, thank you, Andrew, for your continued bravery and courage and leadership. I'm so excited to see what's next for the Charlie Kirk Show, for Turning Point USA, and as always, thank you for letting me be a part of this family over the years. It's been an incredible journey. It's been great to watch you grow in the many eras and you're doing amazing and uh we're rooting for you and we have your back 100%. Good job. >> Thank you so much. >> Thanks. >> My amazing friend Mikey McCoy joins us here on the floor of Amfest at in Phoenix, Arizona. Mikey, talk to me about the environment. We are one full day into Amfest now. What's going on here in Phoenix? I mean, this is super exciting. And um for the first time ever, I mean, we broke record numbers. And I shared this earlier today. Charlie back in 2022 cast a three-year plan with the most ridiculous goals for every department. You probably saw this, by the way. >> He always did. >> Vision 2025 as he always did. And all of us were like, "These are unattainable. Why are you trying to get us to do these?" And but surely slowly but surely under leadership pressure and this visionary that he was, he pushed us to achieve every single one of those goals. But there was one left. There was one goal left that he didn't even get to see before he was murdered and taken from us. And it said 25,000 people at America Fest. And you can ask, you know, you could ask our events team, you know, a year ago there, they would say there's no way we're getting 25,000. Well, I mean, I don't know if you saw last night and today, we broke that number. So, >> So, what are our numbers? Give us a topline overview. >> We're over 30,000 people. >> Wow. >> Yeah. 80% of which this is their first Turning Point event ever. >> Wow. >> Majority young women. >> That is huge. I want to start with that before we get into the nitty-gritty of telling stories about Charlie and talking about your impact on all of this, too. 55% of the attendees here at Amfest, of which there's more than 30,000 people here, are young women, which you call the Erica effect. >> It's the Erica Kirk effect. >> What does that mean to you? >> Well, okay, this is actually the first time ever for America Fest and SAS that we've had more women than men. So, yep. >> Traditionally, that has not been the case. But there's young women and women in general that have just flooded Amfest for the first time ever. And I think that has to do with Erica cuz Charlie reached young men at crazy numbers. I mean, you saw that in the exit polls in 2024. You saw MSNBC literally went to college campuses and said, "Why did you register to vote?" Oh, cuz I went to a Charlie Kirk event. Why? Why did you vote? Oh, I saw the Charlie Kirk Tik Tok video. I mean, he was the third biggest Tik Tok account. >> Years, by the way, I just want to vindicate myself here. years of me begging Charlie to get on TikTok and he refused. There's no way I'm ever going to do that. The second that he did, you guys hit like 7 million followers overnight. >> I know. And then he was like, "Wait a minute. >> We could really use this thing to win the election." And he did. >> I'm telling you. I'm telling you. >> Yeah. You You were ahead of the curve on that one. But >> radical crazy. >> You were the China plan. You're the Tik Tok China plan. >> But Charlie did. He completely transformed the culture of an entire generation of young men. And that's exactly what's needed now. you see Erica. I mean, we went to a football game, Elizabeth and I, my wife, we went to a football game with Erica, and we walk on the field, all the cheerleaders come over, all these young women, and that's kind of when it dawned upon me. I was like, wait a minute. >> Like, this is a thing. Like, young women really love Erica Kirk. And then I was like, let's see how this plays out. Look at all these young women here right in front of us right now. It's amazing. And uh but I mean, 55%. We're breaking numbers, but it's also growing. So for other events that we've already opened up registration for, the numbers are insane for young women getting involved, but we're also registering voters. We're getting them involved. So here's to hoping that Erica Kirk can do what Charlie did and win over the young women like he won over the young men. >> Before we think bigger than Amfest, last night was our opening night. I was on an airplane watching a live stream of this and uh drama. Some fireworks. Caught some fireworks. So what happened? Tell us what happened. >> Well, you can say a lot about Afest. You can't say it isn't entertaining. Amen. You >> know, so Charlie was this coalition builder in this bridge builder. He was, you know, the the glue that kind of held it all together. And you saw in his passing how important of a role he played in that because as soon as he was murdered, I mean, every our entire movement like began it was a civil war. Like I don't even know. It was insane. It still is to to an extent, but it's really cool to kind of see this coalition come back together. Like, we're pushing ideologies and we're arguing with each other, but we're doing it in the same place and we're all still conservatives as we do it. But, I mean, last night was super entertaining. Russell Bran said it best. You never thought he would be Ben Shapiro, Russell Brand, Tucker Carlson. He said, and what did he say about the Diddy Party? Oh yeah, >> in Hollywood, if I ever found myself between Ben Shapiro and Tuck Carlson, it must have been at a diddy party. So I don't know how we are 25 instead. But I love that and that is so speaking to the heart of who Charlie was and what he really believed about the nature of conservatism that we are not an ideological monolith. We do not enforce ideological authoritarianism in the same way the left does. We encourage debate and discourse and argument and the best ideas always rise to the top after we talk to each other. Right. Well, iron sharpens iron. So, it's you see on the left they kind of say this is what we believe and then everybody kind of gets behind it. And if you don't, you're a Tulsi Gabbard and you kind of just leave the party or an RFK. But, um, and in our side, this is I think this is also why we traditionally don't do the best in midterms because we come together when we really need to, which is like during a presidential election, and then we're like, "All right, let's get to infighting. Let's start fighting each other and finding the receipts from 20 years ago to try to blackmail you, right? >> Screenshotting every tweet, no fan, all of it. It's a lot. >> But you said this. How could you have changed what >> shocking people their opinions on >> But I I mean, I think it makes us really strong as a movement. But we're figuring out on the right right now what direction we want to head in as a movement. And I think there's like this generational disconnect between old people and young people. Like the Gen Z stance on foreign policy isn't necessarily the stance of our parents. >> Yeah. >> And I mean it's last night we saw Ben speak and then the first question was a young kid asking about the USS Liberty. And so it's like there young people kind of want their own version of foreign policy. And I don't think that's because they just hate foreign policy. I think that's just because >> they're they're sick of sending our money overseas. >> Back to today's fun conversation in just a second. But first, you guys know that I am a huge advocate of all of us making informed decisions in our day-to-day life. And the exact same thing goes for making decisions about our healthcare. It is open enrollment season right now, and insurance companies are betting that you'll just autorenew everything that you're already subscribed to without asking any questions. But you are smarter than that. You're listening to the Isabelle Brown Show. If you are tired of overpriced premiums and really confusing fine print in your health insurance, there is a better way out there. Our friends at Crowd Health are a community where people fund each other's medical bills directly. There is no corporate middleman, no network, no nonsense required. 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But we're looking around at 8 million posters of Charlie, of his greatest quotes. Everybody's talking about him on stage. The entire undertoe of the message of this event is honoring his life and legacy. And I think for people like you and I, the last few months and this event >> is odd. It's a little unsettling because it's so easy to think about Charlie Kirk the giant. Charlie Kirk the intellect. Charlie Kirk the author or the podcast host or the politician. But not very many people got to see Charlie Kirk behind the scenes. Charlie as the husband and the dad and the friend beyond you especially. You spent more time arguably with Charlie than Erica ever did, which is crazy. >> There were some weeks that we were away from our lives more >> all the time. So, the last time I really spent a long long time with you, we were backstage at one of Charlie's last events on this earth in Vaselia, California. Can you walk us through what Charlie was going through the last few weeks of his life as Charlie the person, not just Charlie the child? >> Yeah, I mean I I just talked about this earlier, but one of the last podcasts he did was that Ice Coffee Hour one >> where he said, you know, what do you want to be known for? And he said, I want to be remembered for courage for my faith. And like that's where Charlie was at in his life at that moment in time. Like I just keep saying he he was always striving to learn more about the gospel because he loved God and because he loved God he wanted to understand God. So he would have debates with people. He would go deeper on plane rides. He'd be arguing with chat GPT and and he had this he wanted to debut this binder on this college campus. the this tour specifically, he wanted to do this binder like Kaylee Mcini used to have as press secretary, you know, with all the tabs and everything. And he wanted that, but then he also wanted a separate binder with just Bible verses in specific Bible questions because he got a few in the spring that he didn't know the correct answer on. He's like, "That's not going to work for me." And so, he really went super deep. And that's where he was having Frank Turk come to push him on the craziest out of context Leviticus verses and Deuteronomy and the random Torah questions. And then he also had Dr. Orur come out and all these experts in different fields because he wanted to make sure that when he was talking to a student that he was bringing them the entire truth, not a watered down one. >> And I mean Andrew pointed this out from our team. And he was like, you know, it kind it finally dawned upon me these were tent revivals. Like this, we were luring in young people to say, "Watch Charlie Kirk prove liberals wrong." But then they walked away hearing the gospel message from him often times. Um, but Charlie was always striving to be at the top of his faith. But he really died at like the peak, like literally the peak of his faith. We were texting about this. Like I I was kind of I got really emotional thinking about it. like he was literally at the peak of his faith. And the the plane ride to Utah, I literally remember it. It was Blake and Dr. Turk and myself and Charlie. And on the flight, like instead of going through, you know, typical questions you might get from a lib or whatever, he was just started talking about the gospel again, he's like, "What if I get this question about slaves in Leviticus? Like, what do how do I how do I reconcile that? How do I make sense of that?" and but he genuinely cared. And then in the car ride as soon as he got to campus and then when he got to campus, his first full question was talking about Christ and talking about the Bible and it was a Mormon question and he was going deep though on all these topics. And that was his first and last really full question that he got into. And so it's good for us to always strive to be at the pinnacle of our faith, but to die at the peak of your faith is something that all Christians, all of us should strive to do. To become a martyr for the faith. To have a clip that says, "I want to be remembered for courage for my faith." >> Yeah. >> Like we were arguing backstage in Viceelia. Like >> arguing is the funniest word, too, because if you knew Charlie personally, Charlie loved to like fake debate all of his friends. We weren't interested in arguing back with him. He would kind of be arguing with himself and putting you in the crosshairs to play devil's advocate. And that's all he wanted to talk about for two plus hours. You were there sitting around this small table at one of his last speaking engagements on this earth. And he wanted to talk about Mary and church history and esquetology and the afterlife. And he brought all of that to his speech that night, too. I don't know if you heard this, but I was standing next to the event organizer backstage that night. And I leaned over and I said to her, "Surely in another life, Charlie Kirk was a pastor." And she laughed and she said, "Maybe someday he still will be." And that was a week before he passed away. But watching this revival in the wake of all of that, I think has encouraged so many young people to ask tough questions, to realize that more than fighting for politics, more than fighting for the right guy to be in the Oval Office, which is very important, the biggest thing we need to be focusing on as a society is fixing our entire identity on Christ. What was life like walking through that with him, watching him as a husband and a dad? >> Well, also like you backstage were debating Catholicism and, you know, Protestantism and um but like I was I actually said this to Erica like the other day, Charlie pushed every boundary of his faith that he was asked not to push like as a traditional Christian. Like, oh, you're a Protestant, you can't you cannot attend mass. Like, oh, you're attending mass, you can't also attend a a Protestant church. what's wrong with you? And like he pushed every boundary. And again, it's cuz he loved God. So therefore, he wanted to understand God. And to understand God, he wanted to just go deep on every level. >> Well, it's St. Augustine that famously said, "The deeper your faith is, the more questions you have. And the more questions you have, the deeper your faith is." And you're always going down this curiosity journey. >> I know. Yeah. And we actually got a question earlier. Someone was like, "How do you There's so many Christian factions. Like, how do you just work together?" And like Charlie was the best representation of that that I could possibly think of. He he I mean thinking about the tribulation and like the end times, people would always say post-trip, pre-trip, what are you? He's like I'm pantrip. It'll just pan out in the end. Amen. >> Like I'm just going to keep working here on earth and I want the Lord to find me. He literally used to say this. He would say, I want the Lord when my time comes to find me working in the purpose that he's called me to do. >> Wow. Like he literally did that. Like he he did exactly what God called him to do. And it's so emotional cuz like you know we're both young. Charlie found us when we were young. Charlie saw in us things that we didn't even see in ourselves. Saw in all the students here things we didn't even see in ourselves. Like even when he was on a campus arguing with Alib like half the time his mic was on the the table like he wasn't arguing like way back in the day that he would probably like get a quicker but as he got older he wanted he like had this heart this genuine heart for young people >> and he would put the mic down. He would just listen and if the crowd booed them, he'd say, "Guys, please give them the respect that sometimes the left doesn't always give us. Like, let's calm down. Get let them speak." Like, he cared. He cared about young people up until the point where like he literally died doing what he loved. Like throwing out hats, like taking pictures with young people, telling them about Jesus, telling them about how great their country really is. And it's like I was the the intro video last night encompassed that entirely like it was it was him. It demand the welfare of of the the state that you were in. It's in what is that? Jeremiah 12. It's I can't think of it. But I mean it's just like he loved this country and he loved God and he wanted to see this country love God, but he specifically wanted to see young people. It's just beautiful. I he he literally died doing exactly what God called him to do. >> I haven't gotten a chance to ask you this yet in depth. We've had a lot of shallow, very surface level conversations because we've been running around very very crazily the last few months as all of us who knew Charlie have been. >> Tell me about that day. >> What was that like for you? You were standing right next to Charlie. >> Yeah. Um I uh yeah it I remember I I actually went to go pick him up and uh in the morning and we got in the car and we were headed to the airport and he was like so excited. I remember he was he was literally so excited. This was the first campus stop. These were like his college playoff games if you will. like he just got so excited and he was asking if there was energy on the ground already and he was asking what walkout music he was going to have and how many hats we had to throw out for students >> things that nobody ever thinks about right but >> yeah only Charlie Kirk thinks about this and then we we flew there the entire time he was talking about the gospel and Christianity we landed in Utah we went to an event beforehand that he was doing for his cousin and that was the last full interview that he did with somebody We got in the car and we went straight to campus and we we got there. He took pictures with our volunteers. Uh he went up, used the restroom. He always you had to he had this clocked out, timed out perfectly. And um and then we went to the tent and it was like just a normal regular day. It was just like I I still like truthfully I still have not fully like processed everything. Um I it's something that I never thought would happen. >> Like I literally it just you you it was beyond reason like how it didn't you of course that would never happen. Like you've been with him 6 years like you know him and like you never thought that would happen. Like we're we're fine and obviously everything happened. Um, >> yeah, it was. Yeah, I won't go into too much detail other than there's a lot of shock and trauma and >> things I still like don't even remember entirely if I'm being honest. Like there's about 30 seconds where I kind of still piece together in my mind. >> Of course, I mean shock is the best word possible. I think everyone was in shock, particularly those of you there boots on the ground on campus with Charlie. But none of us ever believed that something like this was even possible. I mean, we certainly knew that there was an increased threat and an increased level of violence in our society in the last few years. Some of that had been boiling over in the background. But Charlie loved opposition, right? His favorite thing at any event at Vaselia, California a week before, he's like, "Are there protesters out there? Let's go out there. Let's talk to them." And security said, "No, no, no. Don't do But he loved this stuff. He loved engaging with people, boiling down who they were as a human person instead of just the loud opposition that you had with a difference of opinion. And I know collectively, I mean, I think the world will never be the same. Certainly for our generation, this feels like a 9/11 style event that is fundamentally reshaping culture, which is hard for people like you and I to wrap our heads around because to us, Charlie is just Charlie, right? It's not a globally defining event or something that changes humanity forever. You found yourself being Charlie's chief of staff and his right-hand man with everything that he ever did. Kind of thrust into a spotlight a little bit in the last few weeks uh in particular in the wake of all of this. What has that experience been like? >> Uh I actually wouldn't even characterize it as necessarily fun or or anything that I would ever actually even want. Um, I used to I people used to ask me like all the time, you know, what's your 5 10 year plan with Charlie? How long are you going to work with him? What are you planning to do? Uh, and I never truly like knew how to answer that cuz it was more of like a spiritual calling as to why I was there. Um, I used to say, I'm called to serve Charlie and until the Lord calls me to do otherwise, like I'm I'm going to be here in whatever literally whatever capacity that is. Like in the same way that I see my wife at the dinner table and I'll ask her, "How can I serve you better?" And she'll ask me the same question. Something we do in our marriage, something Charlie and Erica have done in their marriage. My my parents taught me. And I I took that same mindset with Charlie, like how can I serve you better? And this has been specifically these past like 3 months the hardest to kind of cope with is I feel like I feel like I kind of lost like I was Jonathan and he was David and I kind of lost that armor bearer mentality that I had. >> But I do feel a little lost. But I also at the same time feel called to get Charlie the same Erica Kirk the same footholding that Charlie had. and especially as she gets set at this as this next CEO, but I it's really interesting. Um, early on it was it was Yeah, I it's it's hard to articulate really, but I we're all trying to just do the best we can and we we don't even know what specifically that is at this time, >> but we we have the blueprint like we have exactly what Charlie wanted us to do like America Fest and YWLS and all these things. And so we're continuing to do it. And Erica says this all the time. She's like, Charlie poured his heart, soul, life, mission, everything he had, he poured into Turning Point USA. So like the more we work here, the more we're invested in this, the closer we feel to him, if that makes sense. You know, because we've done this with him for so long, and so we're still with him by doing this. >> You're still serving him different way in a different capacity. with that blueprint. Can you share with us a little bit about what Charlie's vision for post 2025 America looked like? >> Yeah. Well, I I mean, we talked earlier about how in 2022 he did this three-year plan. And as he like grew in stature and grew in accountability and grew in the man he was, it actually graduated beyond 3 years. It was like a more of like a 5 10 year plan. But literally, he had all these special projects he was setting up, especially these past 12 months, um, where everything was geared specifically towards 2028. It's like, especially in the midterms, too. Like Charlie on on election night, there's that moment where he kind of cries and like pulls his hat down. Erica comes around and holds him and hugs him. And as soon as it was announced that President Trump had won, he grabs his phone and he texts his data guy. It was like 10 or 11 minutes to the dot right after and goes, "Let's start talking about midterm plan in 2020." Like everything. >> And so like we still do have these blueprints, but he was like this visionary that set these these crazy goals that we never thought we could attain. And we still feel that pressure from him. We we feel it all the time. We feel it here at America Fest. We felt it when we were planning his memorial. Like we said, where should we do this? And originally we were going to do it at the Desert Diamond Arena. It was Erica who was like, "No, we need to do it at the Cardinal Stadium." And trust me, we're like, "No, we don't. Is that many are that many people going to show up?" And she's like, "No, we're going to need both arenas." And so she's really stepped into that visionary role >> in in many aspects, but also the the notebooks that Charlie left behind. She calls it her blueprints. He literally he always had a notebook with him and he was always writing in it on long flights wherever he was. Like if he was here right now and you said something he liked you'd open his notebook and write a little note and star it. Um and she still has all of those. >> Wow. >> And she shared a couple weeks ago he had this checklist. It was a 13-point checklist and it was like win the youth vote in a majority of states like all these things. and he had checked off each box, but the 13th point it said America's turning point and the box was left unchecked. >> And Erica was like, "This is crazy." And we're like, >> it's almost like he left that box unchecked because he couldn't check it because he was America's turning point. Like in his death, you've seen astronomical numbers of revival, of people getting involved, of people coming to America Fest for the first time. Like it's it's insane the amount of high school chapters we've started, college chapters we've started, student inquiries to start a chapter. Like we're starting 50 new chapters a day. >> That's insane. >> Like we were on pace. We would never be on pace to do that. And it's it's almost like Charlie from heaven is just like keeps pushing all these, you know, keep he's keeping the pressure on, you know, that leadership pressure we talked about. >> You have gotten to spend a very very significant amount of time up close with Turning Point USA's new CEO and the love of Charlie's life, Erica. What does the world not know about Erica Kirk? And what do you love the most about her? >> Yeah, she's um she's really detailed and and dedicated like you know Charlie. Okay. So, Charlie would do like if he had a meeting, he'd keep it like six minutes, you know, 10 minutes tops, and then he'd be like, "All right, all right, let's move on. Let's move." And he was always fast-paced. His his schedule was like down to the minute. It would end at like 5:24 p.m. on the dot, and then his next thing was >> People don't know this, but you can corroborate this. I've said this story a few times. Charlie a few years ago did a sleep study to figure out the best optimal times that he could sleep to like maximize rest for the least amount of hours and it was at like 200 p.m. This man was working 24 hours a day. I mean five >> No, he and then he had this conversation with Elon about these like nap pods that he has that like have this ambient noise and everything that perfects your sleep so that you get the max amount of REM hours. Like he just he wanted to maximize everything. And that's why I say like at 31 years of age, like Charlie lived literally more life than people do at 100 cuz he wasted no time. Like Gen Z, we're we're set to spend 15% of our life doom scrolling on social media and Instagram and Tik Tok. And he didn't even he refused to have it on his phone. He was like, "No, every waking hour I will spend dedica