Jayne Zirkle Reflects on Charlie Kirk's Faith, Family, and Political Legacy Hours After His Death

[00:00] Jane, you knew Charlie personally. Can

[00:03] you reflect on your relationship with

[00:04] him and how you've been grappling with

[00:06] this devastating tragic news today?

[00:11] >> Sure. I I mean, it is just it's just

[00:12] heartbreaking. Uh absolutely absolutely

[00:16] devastating. I first met Charlie back in

[00:18] 2017 at his first ever high school

[00:22] leadership summit at George Washington

[00:24] University in Washington DC. And this

[00:26] was when Turning Point USA was just a

[00:29] baby organization that not many people

[00:31] had heard of. And there were only around

[00:33] 80 to 100 students in attendance at this

[00:36] conference. And he sat with the students

[00:38] and had breakout students and had

[00:40] breakout sessions with the students and

[00:43] you know just talked with us one- on-

[00:45] one. And then to come back the next

[00:47] summer and see how the organization had

[00:49] grown and the summer after that and now

[00:51] of course his events today they they

[00:54] garner tens of thousands of

[00:56] participants. I mean even the event

[00:58] today you saw the the ginormous crowd

[01:01] that came out to see him speak. He he

[01:04] truly was a revolutionary in the

[01:08] political world and when he spoke people

[01:11] listen people listened. He he had his

[01:13] show, the Charlie Kirk show every day on

[01:16] top of Turning Point USA. And he truly

[01:18] was just one of a kind and such a

[01:20] powerful force.

[01:23] He also became close to many senior

[01:25] figures in the Trump administration and

[01:28] many credit him with helping Trump win,

[01:30] particularly states like Arizona. Can

[01:33] you talk a bit to that about his

[01:35] influence within the administration and

[01:37] how he helped President Trump's

[01:39] campaign?

[01:41] >> Big time. Charlie Kirk has led one of

[01:43] the largest grassroots campaign

[01:45] initiatives uh ever ever. He he deployed

[01:50] thousands of ballot chasers and

[01:52] canvasers. He's employed, you know,

[01:55] hundreds and thousands of people to to

[01:57] fill these positions and given young

[01:59] people opportunities to get involved

[02:01] with politics. And he really focused

[02:04] this past election on the key state of

[02:06] Arizona, like you were saying. And I I

[02:09] truly believe it's because of Charlie's

[02:11] efforts that, you know, Arizona um turns

[02:14] the way it did. And I think that, you

[02:17] know,

[02:18] it's just uh he he leaves behind such a

[02:21] an amazing legacy that's unparalleled.

[02:25] >> Yeah. And Jane, he leaves behind such a

[02:27] beautiful family as well.

[02:32] >> Yes. He leaves behind two young

[02:34] children, a beautiful wife. He he was

[02:37] such a strong man of faith and his faith

[02:40] is what always guided him. He was a a

[02:42] man of God and I I think that's what

[02:45] he'd really want us to remember him for

[02:47] is his faith.

[02:50] So Jane Charlie Kirk advocated free

[02:53] speech, conversation, dialogue, reaching

[02:55] out to the other side, having polite

[02:57] discourse. He argued this was all

[03:00] fundamental to avoid violence. And yet

[03:03] this is the horrendous action that has

[03:06] ended his life. A bullet.

[03:10] >> I I think that Charlie Kirk, you know,

[03:12] he he was a uniter and unfortunately

[03:15] there is definitely an evil hatred that

[03:18] exists in our country that we need to

[03:20] overcome and we have to overcome it

[03:23] together. We have to unify as one. And I

[03:26] think especially going in tomorrow to

[03:28] the 24th anniversary of 9/11, it's it's

[03:32] more relevant than ever that we focus on

[03:35] the theme of unification and coming

[03:37] together and making sure that something

[03:40] like this never happens again. You know,

[03:42] we said never again, of course, when we

[03:44] saw the assassination attempt against

[03:46] President Trump's life. And clearly that

[03:49] theme did not resonate with enough

[03:51] people. And so I do think there is a

[03:53] very very serious sickness within our

[03:55] country right now and it it's

[03:58] devastating to see the impact that it's

[04:00] had. But I know Charlie is somebody that

[04:02] has always worked towards being a a

[04:05] uniter and that's something that we need

[04:07] to continue continue on as we honor his

[04:10] legacy.

[04:12] >> Jane, thank you very much for your time.

[04:14] We really appreciate you joining us.

[04:16] >> Thank you so much.