JD Vance and Erika Kirk Honor Charlie Kirk's Legacy at Old Miss Campus Event

Hi folks, you may be hearing a lot about Y refi these days. >> Student loans are now sitting at 1.8 trillion. >> You need to talk to Y refi and they don't care what your credit score is. >> My partner and I created this company with the intention of taking it to help borrowers get out of debt. Why refi is the only company in the country that does what we do. >> I think very highly why Refi. We're all in with them. >> We invited God into our homes. We invite him into our company. We want to make it an incentive for you to want to work with Yi. >> We give these folks the dignity to pay back their debt. >> Please welcome the chief investment officer and managing partner of Yi Laneburg. [Music] >> Thank you. Thank you. Is this thing on? >> There it is. Okay. Thank you very much. It's a real pleasure to be here. You know, I didn't hear any chanting when I I came out. Usually I hear something like Charlie, Charlie, can I hear it please gives me chills every time. It just it just oh it gets to me. I love it. Thank you. My name is Lane Shamburgger. I'm the chief investment officer and founding partner of Y Refi. And before I get started, I'd like to say thank you very much to Turning Point, my friends there, to Charlie, to Erica, to everyone at Turning Point, frankly, for allowing us the opportunity to sponsor this amazing tour. It's been an incredible tour. And what a historic time to be a part of this. So, I'd like to take a moment and honor, you see the chair over here, my friend Charlie. We are all here. tonight because this is a turning point and I'm going to go as far as saying it is the turning point. Okay? It's time for us to take back this country and do things differently. So, as I stand before you tonight, I'm going to talk about what we do at Y Rei and what it is I'm talking about. Okay? You saw in the video 1.8 trillion dollars. That is how much debt our students in this country have. Okay? It's it's out of control. Most of that's government loans. 1.6 trillion of that is federal loans. The other portion of that is private loans. It's just too much. You came to school with a dream, with a desire to do something better for yourself, to better your life, to better your family. And what you got was an education, or at least what you're trying to get is an education. And at the end, those dreams, because you're dreaming big, right? You should be dreaming big. And if you're not, I encourage you to start. But those dreams come with a price tag. Sometimes those price tags are very large and they can follow you for decades. Okay, that debt does not define you. Do not let it define you. It is not here forever. When you get out of school and all of a sudden you're handed that little coupon book and it's time to start paying back your student loans, some of you may have a problem. The payment might be too high. Well, what Refi does is we work with folks like that who have a student loan. They're in trouble. They get behind in their payments and now they're looking for a solution. Until Y refi, there was no solution. The solution was very simple. You go into collections, get those collection calls, and they ruin your credit, and they chase you around for the rest of your life. That's not fun. What we're here to do is to fix it. We have heard the stories. We have heard the cries for help. And I got to tell you, talking to our borrowers, I've had the pleasure luxury of talking to some of our borrowers and hearing what they have to say. And the stories, some of them are horrific. First time I heard a student talk about suicide, I thought, "No, this is not the way it's supposed to be." That's why I say do not let it be you. Do not let it define you. So, when a borrower calls in, I'm going to tell you something really cool about Y refi. When you call in, what you're going to get is a live person, not a phone tree. I make people call places right now and beg for a phone tree. Yeah. No hands. Okay. And then the next thing you're going to get is some dignity. What does that mean? Well, that means we're going to listen to your story. We want to understand who you are, what you are, what you're going through, and how you're doing it. So, we can help you create a customtailored plan built around your ability to pay and get you out of debt quickly, get that debt paid back so you can move on with your life and gain some financial security. That's who Yrefi is. So, I encourage you if you're if you're in that situation, you need some help, please take a moment, look us up. It's yi.com. Now the other side of the story, capitalism, innovation, entrepreneurship. I think we can all agree that that's a good thing in this country. Anyway, the only way we're going to get out of this problem, by the way, is by getting the government out of the lending business. Anybody agree with that? If we get the government out of the lending business and put it back into the capital markets where entrepreneurs and people who believe in that in innovation and so forth have the ability to fix the problem. If history's taught us anything, the problem will get solved. That's why refi, that's my partner and I. That's why we did what we did. Now, what that means is in order to do this, we did not want to take on any institutional capital. No Wall Street capital, no big dark money garbage, none of that. We raise all of our capital through independent individual investors, accredited investors, people looking to do well by doing good. What does that mean? Well, that means on the investment side, we pay a fixed interest rate from six and a half to 10.25 depending on how long you want to be invested. Give you an opportunity to make some real returns while investing in a mission you can believe in. That is why refi So, we invite you to take a moment, check us out at yrefi.com. If you're a borrower, if you are a potential investor and you'd like to learn more about the yrefi mission, who we are, what we do, and all the fun stuff, look us up over there at investyrei.com. Now, in closing, I'm going to say a couple of quick things here. Tonight, you guys have a great speaker lineup. I'm sure that's why you're here, not to see me. You're here to see these amazing speakers. So, I'd just like to honor those folks. In a minute, I'm going to have uh you're going to have Alexis come out. She's going to sing you the national anthem like you've never heard before, which is amazing. So, I'm going to end with by saying this. May God bless America. May God bless you. May God bless Wy. And at the end of the day, God bless Charlie Kirk. [Applause] I'd like to thank you for your time this evening. I'm going to step down and uh hand the microphone over to a dear friend, Alexis. So, get ready. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the national anthem and join me in welcoming Alexis Wil to the stage. Oh, say [Music] by the dawn early light. What so proudly we held at the twilight last gleaming whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight or the ramparts we watched were so streaming and the rockets red glare. The bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that star spangled b [Music] or the land of the free [Music] and the home of Brave. Thank y'all so much. Well, I'm Alexis Wilkins. I'm so happy to be here with y'all. Truly, what an honor. I know that a lot of y'all had to wait out in the rain. had to work really hard to get in here. So, I'm so happy to be here with you. I have a long history with Turning Point and I want to tell you kind of how I got here and my story because it's really full circle for me. I mean, I always got emotional at Turning Point events. I always have. And then now, of course, there's this new layer that makes us all very emotional at Turning Point events. But for me, my story with Turning Point started when I was 17. So, I was in college at Belmont University um in Nashville, which is a private Christian college. And I was really going through it politically. I was in um business and political science. And I was already in the country music industry, which you would think would be a little bit friendlier patriotically. It's not. um it's a little better but um it still has that kind of Hollywood entertainment industry thing. So I was going through that dealing with college um in the political sense. It was 2016 you know height of that election and I was in a comparative politics class um and the professor I could tell just you know did not like me politically. I wasn't really jousting with him a lot but he knew that he wasn't indoctrinating me. So, he ended up giving me an F in that class. And I love school. I got A's. It was never an issue. And that professor decided that he would essentially ignore all of the work that I had turned in, pretend that he didn't get it, and then give me an F. And I said, you know what? I'm not going to take that just because I love America. That's not fair. We're not going to do that. So, I went to the dean of the department, dean of the school, ended up all the way to the president of the school. And though him and I actually didn't agree politically, he completely agreed that this was discrimination from this professor based on a political merit. And so we ended up getting the grade changed into a passing grade because I fought it, sent a lot of emails, had a lot of meetings, and went through the process and ended up coming out the other side with a decent result. Another example is I was in religion 101 um and the professor decided that it was a good idea to tell us that Genesis was just a bedtime story. That's not really how God created the universe. It was just, you know, this is a Bible class. If that's what we're learning in Bible class, oh my goodness. And so he also said we had to go to this assembly. one of the complications mandatory mandatory in order to pass the class. We had to go to a class called religion on the left and I said, you know what, I love school. I try to respect authority, but I'm just not going to go. And I didn't go. And this mandatory convocation that was completely partisan, you know, not good for anyone's virtues, and I talked to people who did go, it in fact was awful, didn't end up hurting me or my grade at all. And I tried to have good conversation about it. I tried to do the right thing. I went to the head of the religion department. I talked about it. I said, "Hey, you know, this is what your professor is doing. I get I'm just wanting to tell you because this didn't feel really in line with what I think that you want to accomplish here." And he was more concerned about who I was and the fact that I was complaining than this professor and what he was teaching students in their classes. So, I had a lot of experiences like this. My experience in college was very storied with things like this. I wrote papers that I watermarked and said, "I do not agree with this." And then wrote additional addendums onto those papers just to restate my opinion. And the funny part is is a lot of the times that happened, it was something tangible that I could prove or disprove. Um, one of them, for instance, was on the steel tariffs that uh, President Trump enacted in his last administration. Our econ professors said that they were going to ruin the economy, ruin the steel industry. I said, "I don't think they are." And that was one of the addendums I wrote. And she ended up saying, "You know what, Alexis, you were right." So through that whole process, I ended up coming to the conclusion that, you know, I'm not the only one. I know that there are other students that are going through exactly what I'm going through. And you know, I have the support and I, you know, won't really take no for an answer, but I I know colleagues of mine or or fellow students of mine that may not be sticking up for themselves or maybe forcing themselves to write papers that they don't agree with in order to get a certain grade. And so I was looking for a community. I felt like I, you know, couldn't solve this problem by myself. And I go home and of course I'm talking to my mom and she says, "You know, honey, I saw this organization that was starting that was really just coming up called Turning Point. You you should you should talk to them." Like, "Okay, I'll talk to this organization. How do I get in touch with this organization?" We figure it out. And we end up just calling. And this wonderful man named Bill Montgomery answers the phone and he says, "Yeah, I've got this awesome guy, this this kid. He's he's fantastic. He's He debates like a champion. He has He's so virtuous. He's incredible. And you know what? I just He's going to change the world. Do you guys know who that was? He was talking about Charlie Kirk. And you know what? Charlie did change the world. And so following that conversation, I felt like, okay, maybe I do have a community. Maybe maybe there are people who will understand what I'm going through and and help me to combat it. And so I was invited to the first meeting that they had. I think it was West Palm. I was on tour with country music. So I could not go. But that led to my involvement with Turning Point USA and becoming an ambassador, going to events, representing um social media, all the things that that you see us do. That was the whole genesis. I found Turning Point USA because I needed Turning Point USA. I was sitting in your exact seats watching people speak, thinking, man, what can I do more? What can I be doing to to make this world a better place? And even when it wasn't tied to a specific election, when it wasn't tied to a specific candidate, it's just you look around and and I can empathize with how you feel because you look around and you go, do I not fit in with kind of how this world is or what I see on social media? You know, I'm so happy that I feel like in the last year, it's become cool to be virtuous. Do you guys notice that? That it's starting to we're kind of starting to see the revolution. And I credit a lot of that to Turning Point, the work they've done, with the faith divisions, with the young women leadership summit with the groups that they find to speak to and the students that they inspire. I think that that's a huge part of it. And so for me to be here speaking to you all, I'm just I'm so honored. And that's why it's so full circle for me. And so I guess that I just wanted to tell you all that if you ever feel me sitting in your when I was sitting in your seat, I remember thinking, man, I'm just one person. I I felt, you know, small like what what can I do as one person? And I think my answer for you guys and everything that the army that Turning Point tells you is that you are not just one person. You are a huge pivotal piece of the culture of change that we are trying to enact. You can go into your community. You can inspire other people to live differently, to stand up differently, to speak differently. You know, courage is contagious. It really is. And the fact that you can go into your spaces, you know, you might say, "Hey, I'm it sounds as simple, but you might say, "Yeah, I'm going to the, you know, the Turning Point chapter meeting tonight." And someone comes with you. people are just nervous to take this first step and I think that if they have someone to guide them it helps so much and you really you know we talk about I love the conversation that's going on about uh that's starting about faith right now and you really do need to go into your communities and become the salt and become the light and change the environment around you because you are fully capable of doing that just by being exactly who you are and telling people the things that you believe in. So, I am so honored to be with you here. Turning Point USA is fantastic. I am so happy to have been on this whole tour um with them. Truly, one of the honors of my life and I'm honored to be here with you today. So, thank you so much. Go forth. We are We have a We have so much to do. We have a mission to carry out. There is so much work to do and we need everyone in here to do it. So, let me hear you guys. It really takes all of us. And as I've traveled between these campuses, just the outpouring of support and the people that have shown up, I look out and like I said, you know, Turning Point events have always made me emotional, but this is just next level. So, thank you guys for showing up. Now, I was wondering y'all, and I promise you know it. Will you sing one more song with me? >> Yeah. Don't be scared. You know it. I promise. If tomorrow all the things were gone, I'd work for all my life. And I had to start again with just my children and my wife. I thank my lucky stars to be living here stands for freedom and they can't take that away [Laughter] [Applause] and I'm proud to be an America [Music] [Music] from the lakes of Minnesota to the hills of Tennessee across the plains of Texas to shining sea from Detroit down to Houston and New York to LA. There's pride in every American heart. It's time we stand and say that I'm proud to be an Americave [Music] [Applause] right and I gladly stand up next to you and defend her still. God bless the USA. [Music] Thank y'all so much. God bless y'all. God bless America. God bless Charlie Kirk. Thank you guys for showing up. Please welcome to the stage Miss Turning Point USA chapter president Leslie Lachman. Good evening Miss I am Leslie Lackman, president of your miss chapter of Turning Point USA. It is with mixed emotions that I'm standing here at this moment, yet profoundly proud of the event that is happening. Thank you for coming this evening and we're moved and motivated by the response from the Miss students and community. In support of this event, the outpouring of kindness and encouragement has been fueled the planning of tonight. Let's also take a moment to express gratitude to the security and law enforcement, not only not only for their extraordinary assistance today, working to help keep us safe, but for the diligent and hard work every day putting their lives on the line. A big thank you also goes out to our Turning Point USA field representative Jacob Lawrence and and our regional manager Noah Durham Dickinson Davidson the Turning Point team plus the entire Declaration of Independence Center here on campus by Dr. Skull Teddy. It is their support of this chapter that has helped us grow and develop ambitious goals. Most of all, thank you for Turning Point USA for supporting our chapter and giving us the resources and training to pull off an event of this size. If you are at another university and are interested in starting a chapter, please go to turningpointusa.com/getinvolved today. We will quickly quickly help you get plugged in to find a chapter. Finally, attend our biggest event of the year, America Fest, this December in Phoenix, Arizona. It is an event you won't want to miss. In July, fellow student at Turning Point treasurer Stephanie Greer and I traveled to Dallas for the Turning Point Women's Conference where we were moved by many speakers like Riley Gaines, Erica Kirk, and Charlie Kirk. It was there from that stage that Charlie called out to Miss as an example in response to a question. In the following weeks, I did everything I could to get our university to invite him as a speaker, figure out how to fund it, and make Oxford, Mississippi a stop on his tour. And guys, we're here. I was so excited when it came to fruition. And our first pro promotional poster was printed with today's date on it. It has felt the opposite every day since the tragedy of September 10th, 2025. Let's share this moment to appreciate all of the many coincidences in our lives that bring us together, good and terrible. Charlie Kirk was hope for me, young people who want to find America to evolve a positive path. If you share these values, come to our next turning point meeting. Be a part of this group November 11th, 5:00 p. p.m. in the Union Ballroom. Stand up for your beliefs and remember elections matter. Finally, [Applause] elections matter. Finally, to my sisters at Pi Beta Fi, Chancellor Voice of this elite University of Old Miss, my family, thank you for providing an environment that enriches and supports me to unbashfully and passionately represent the principles of freedom, free market, limited government, and conservative values to the swaps to the most important college students in the United States of America. Now on three, please join me in honoring Charlie Kirk by holding up a rally sign that is on your chair. For a quick photo moment, if you reach underneath, it's on your seat. If you don't have a sign, cheer loudly. Whenever you guys are ready, you look ready. Okay, are we ready? Ready. Three, two, one. [Applause] Thank you guys. There you go. Hotty totty. Very old Miss Tradition style. Now, join me in welcoming the 50th vice president of our great country, the United States of America, Jatie Vance. And up next, Turning Point CEO and Charlie's wife, Erica Kirk. [Applause] When you make that covenant with the Lord on that altar, don't let that fire burn out from the altar. That love is so special and so powerful. You married your soulmate. You married the person who God made for you. He was the perfect father. He was the perfect husband. Charlie always believed that God's design for marriage in the family was absolutely amazing. And it is. And over and over he would tell all these young people to come and find their future spouse, become wives and husbands and parents. And the reason why is because he wanted you all to experience what he had. He wanted everyone to bring heaven into this earth through love and joy that comes from raising a family. It's beautiful. And to the Turning Point USA chapters that are watching all across America right now, you are the heartbeat of this future and of this movement. Everything that Charlie build You guys are the legacy holders of that. You're living proof that his mission did not die with him. It lives through you. And Charlie always said, "The next generation will decide whether freedom endures. And because of you, I know that freedom will endure." >> The next speaker is a very, very special speaker. And she has had a heroic last year. And I believe she's the best mom in the world. truly the best mom in the world. She is my hero and the love of my life. Join me in welcoming Erica Kirk. [Music] [Music] [Applause] Good evening, old miss. Love you guys, too. It's hard not to cry after watching that. I haven't seen that portion of him saying that video since that day happened. Um, but Charlie when he came onto campus, he loved to immerse himself in the culture of the campus that he was in. And so from word on the street, you guys have a chant out there. I hear it's a good one. It's hotty totty. [Applause] I love it. I love it. But it's a tremendous honor and and blessing to be on stage today. And this is this is what Turning Point USA is all about. This is what the future of our country is all about. And I I want to thank you all also on a personal level for all of your prayers and all of your support, not only for our family, but for the Turning Point USA family, which includes all of you, especially those that are students a part of the Turning Point USA chapter at Miss. So, I love you guys truly. this this whole you guys have no idea how helpful it is to have all of you in my life because you help me feel even more deeply connected to my husband and I thank you for that. I thank all of you for And I say that also because you guys are the heartbeat of Turning Point USA. You're the heartbeat of this organization. And every time we were at an event, especially one that Charlie was speaking at, he would always ask beforehand, he would always ask Mikey or the team. He'd say, "Who in the audience is a Turning Point USA chapter leader, or chapter member, and whenever there was a student there, he would stop everything before the event and he would sit down with them. He would ask you what your name is, what you're studying, what is the issues that are going on on campus. He would take the time to make sure that you guys knew he was investing into you, into your chapter, into your school because that was a pulse point for him. And being on campus right now for me is is a spiritual reclaiming of territory. And let me explain that because there is a lot of symbolism in today. It's Wednesday, seven weeks. And the more that I'm coming to grips with the permanency of this nightmare, um, the more that I'm starting to realize and witness that the enemy, he doesn't want you. He wants your territory. He wants your influence. And when our team asked my dear friend, Vice President JB Vance to speak today, I really prayed on it because obviously it's a very emotional emotional day. But I could just hear Charlie in my heart. I could just hear him say, "Go reclaim that territory, babe. Go. The battle's already won. God's love conquers. And and that's why I'm here today. I'm here because this moment it it can either be your breaking point or your your wakeup call. Essentially essentially your turning point, if you will. And and at this moment, every single one of us has a choice to make whether we stand for freedom or we're just going to fall for everything else. But I want to encourage you, especially the students here, find your voice. You are the courageous generation. That's what you are. All of you, Gen Z. You are the courageous generation. Hear me when I say that. My husband believed that to his core. That's why he went on campuses. That's why he was trying to reach you. You are the courageous generation. Own it. Make him proud. And students beyond Old Miss, if you are pursuing a chapter on your campus, harness this this amazing opportunity to advocate for something that you truly believe in and express it in the most articulate way of what exactly you're advocating for. You're advocating for America. you're advocating for freedom of speech because our chapters on high school campuses, I love it. Charlie was so excited when he named the programs for high schools. He said, "We're going to name it Club America." Because he goes, "Who could hate that name? It's the perfect name, Club America." And he loved it. Who could be against it? And I want you to know that if you are trying to start a chapter, I'm with you. We're with you. Charlie's with you. You have an arsenal of Turning Point USA staff members that are with you. But I also what I've been able to sit back and witness is the leaders that have stepped up to ensure that chapters can happen. For example, I don't know if you guys saw what happened earlier this week with Governor Ronda Santz, which is amazing. I I want to give him a massive shout out because he said, "We're announcing a partnership with Turning Point USA. We want to make sure that all high schools in Florida, anybody in a high school that wants to start a Club America chapter will be able to do that. There will be no impediments to that and certainly no discrimination. That's amazing. [Applause] And then also, Governor Yncan, I want to thank him as well. He he donated generously to Turning Point USA to support new Turning Point USA chapters all over the Commonwealth of Virginia. How powerful is that? It's amazing. I'm so So when I when I heard that, I just looked up. I was like, "All right, Charlie. Two down, 48 to go. I see you." But Club America and Turning Point USA chapters. If you're wondering what those values are, it's life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And that's what our country was founded on. And when you succeed in establishing that chapter, I want to commend you because that experience will leave a mark on you that will influence every choice that you make for the rest of your life and generations to come. Earn your voice. Charlie loved the word earn. Earn your voice. This is about your legacy. Each one of you in this room, everyone watching. When you earn your voice and you stand up for what is right, that is a part of your legacy, your family's legacy, just as much as it is part of Charlie's legacy. Don't forget that. Don't ever forget that. Because if there's one thing I've learned, especially being with Charlie for the past seven years, it's that the hope we're looking for is not found in Washington. It's not found in media. It's right here. All of you, this is this is the hope. And he saw that. He saw that. It's in stadiums like this. Charlie had a visual in his head. He loved the onampus events, but for the night events, he had he would send Tyler pictures and the team pictures of I want our chapter events to look like this. And he sent a a picture of one of the largest football college football stadiums in the country packed. That was his vision. And and that's what makes all of this so powerful because your generation is living at a crossroads and you are living in one of the most defining moments in American history. And we are all witnessing in real time the battle that is raging for the soul of your generation. Again, your generation, this is far more than political and you will hear the world and the culture for that matter pressure you and say, "Go with the flow. Don't ruffle feathers. Don't say that you might offend someone. You might lose some friends if you wear a red hat if you go to a Turning Point USA chapter event. But when I hear that, I just I need to be so blunt and honest with you now because before when I heard it, I said, "Okay, now when I hear that, if you're worried about losing a friend, you might I lost my friend. I lost my best friend. And if you're nervous about standing up for the truth, the assassination of my husband puts into perspective all those fears. It really does because my husband never went with the flow. He swam in the streams of significance. And Charlie knew so deeply to his core that comfort doesn't change the world. And you cannot influence the world when you look like it. The enemy of truth doesn't need to destroy a nation overnight. He just needs to convince people that truth no longer matters. And the enemy thrives when Christians don't speak up, when citizens don't vote, when students don't think for themselves. But in Ephesians 5:1, it says, "Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them." That's what it means to live as salt and light. to bring flavor to a world gone bland in clarity, to a world that lost its way and it's lost in confusion. Because Christians are called to go into the public space to correct air with truth and that's what my husband did when he would sit there with his microphone. I got to watch this evolve over the years. At first, he would hold the microphone the whole time. He would listen. Then his ears went on. He would put the microphone down. And he wasn't listening. He was hearing. He was absorbing what the students were saying and what they were asking. He was engaging. He was calm. He wasn't combative. He never insulted. He just wanted you to think. Again, like I said, he never told you what to say. He just wanted to challenge you so that what your convictions were, you actually understood why you had them rather than they being talking points because your professor told you so or your friend told you so. He wanted the best of you because he demanded the best of himself. And Charlie would say this all the time. Your rights don't come from the government. They come from God. And he knew what every founding father knew and almost nearly almost every university has forgotten that you cannot have freedom without virtue and you cannot have virtue without God. And that's what makes this nation so different. That's what makes it worth defending as a courageous generation. And another thing that Charlie used to say all the time is that it does not take skill to be courageous. It takes a choice to be courageous. And now is the time to make that choice. Either you sit on the sidelines. I mean, I don't know what else can wake you up. I I really don't know what else could stir that fire within you to get involved or to use your voice or to make a difference. If if you're looking for another sign, I have I have no idea what to tell you. I just I just want to encourage you though that yes, this is about America and yes, my husband would say saving Western civil civil, excuse me, civilization. That's true on both fronts. But deeper than that, this is about your soul. Because the fight for freedom starts within inside of each and every one of you. So again, please stand firm against the wickedness of the devil and the schemes of man. Be alert because his tactics are so clever. What he'll do is he will find one thing. He will find fear. He'll find disappointment. He will find one thing and he will wedge it in between you and the Lord and he will make it grow. He will make it grow so much that you lose sight. It becomes this almost like an eclipse where the truth is hidden behind it. And yes, the light's still there, but you can't see it anymore. That's the enemy's tactic. And the bottom line is that the enemy doesn't need to change your theology. He just needs to change your vision. And if he can get in your head and blur your vision and distort your vision, he'll do it. He'll do whatever he can. But what the enemy forgets though is that the presence of a shadow is proof that there is light. He forgets that. And Charlie's murder might seem like we're standing in a shadow as if death was the victory meant for the enemy. But looking around in this arena, you are proof that this light of truth burns so brightly. So brightly. The Lord is calling you to rise. Please hear me when I say that courageously. He is. Do not be afraid. It is so easy to be afraid. But we are commanded to not be afraid. And when you take that stand, it will encourage and inspire someone else to do the same. Whether that is someone in your circle, whether that's a family member, whether that's someone you never even met before because they saw you posting something on social media. You can't change a nation if you're enslaved to fear. And you can't call out corruption if you're still chained to comfort. And you can't stand for truth if you first do not kneel before the Lord. And I know I keep saying it, but I'm trying to drive home a point with you all being labeled as the courageous generation. Because this generation will decide if America remembers who she is or if she'll forget. And I believe with all my heart that God placed you here now at Old Miss, not by accident, but by assignment. There is no mistake that you are here in this stadium and arena today. No mistake. God doesn't make mistakes. Doesn't make mistakes. And when being on this campus, I think of 18-year-old Charlie, who would always say, you know, when I started this, I had I had no money, no connections, and I had no idea what I was doing. But what he did know what he was doing is that he was obeying the Lord. He was obeying what the Lord had placed inside of his heart to fight for. [Applause] And he persevered. He persevered. And look what he left us. Look what he left us with. He didn't leave us empty-handed. He built a machine. And all of you are a part of that. Again, the heartbeat of Turning Point USA. That's what happens when you obey the Lord. A movement like this, it becomes unstoppable. It becomes the revival that it is. And I just want this to be the generation that says we will not apologize for loving our country first. We will not be silent about our faith. We will not back down when the world tells us to kneel because we bow only to the King of Kings. [Applause] And it's from him that we rise. I I I personally still believe in America. I still believe in her founding. I still believe in her future. I don't care if people thinks it sounds crazy, but I still believe that our nation can heal. But we can't save a country that we're too afraid to defend. We can on a more personal note. Uh inside of our when we first moved into our home inside of our bedroom, I had on the side wall when you walk in, it was above the bookshelves, it says and two framed pieces of paper. It says, "They will be known by the boldness of their faith." And when I hung that, as many women can attest to this, when you hang things, you see them all the time. You just kind of go about your life. And so, being in the position that I am now, it took me a while to even just make it back into our bedroom. I used to sprint from the opening door into the bathroom and sprint out. I was not ready to walk into our bedroom yet. And when I was finally able to sleep in our bed for the first time, I slept on his side of the bed. And I noticed because he had to sleep a certain way on his side facing the outside of the bed because he his he had a bad back. I'm sure most of you didn't know that, but he had a really bad back. Anyways, so it's also why he wore compression stocks socks, too. I know a lot of people are like, "Why do you wear compression socks?" Um, circulation. Anyways, so he he would sleep that direction. And so I found myself sleeping that direction as well. And when I woke up for the past several nights that I've been able to be in there, I saw that the first thing I'd see is that on the wall, they will be known by the boldness of their faith. And I thought to myself, he saw that every single morning he woke up. I didn't because I'm on the other side of the bed, so I'm facing the window, but he saw that every single morning. And then I I thought to myself, because when I go to the office, I I I will never sit in his office chair. So I sit there's like a couch on the side when you walk in and I sit on the couch and on his desk flanked between the Bible verse of Micah 6:3. It all kind of came together for me. So he sees us on the wall and then he sees on his desk these three questions that he would ask himself every single day. And it would be what is something I can do for someone today? The second one was what is something I can do to add value to the world today? And the third was, how can I honor God today? Those were the three questions combined with the words he saw every single morning. So to me, seeing that, seeing on his desk, that was him suited up with the armor of the Lord every day. That was his combination. And what I'm realizing with that is those were the action points of how to have courage. Because you can ask me, well, how do I get how do I become courageous? Ask yourself those three questions every single day. And I promise you, you will get courage. You will because what death amplifies even more is that you only get one life. Just one. That's it. It's It's an eternal life. So that's why you have to live like it matters. But I want to remind you that God has created you for greatness, not for something that's lifeless, just greatness. And the question isn't how long you're going to live. It's what are you going to do with your life and the time that the Lord has blessed you with? What are you going to do with that? That's the question. And when you get to the end of your life, will the Lord be proud of what you stood for? Will you be able to say that you ran the race, that you fought the good fight? Or will you realize that you wasted your time that the Lord has blessed you with chasing after things that didn't even matter? Hold that into perspective. And remember, being the courageous generation that you are, stand up for the truth. Defend life. Love your family fearlessly. Love your spouse fearlessly. Love this country. Defend her. Defend her. And serve our God. And don't think that it's someone else's role to do it. You do it. You do it. Do it for Charlie. Do it for Charlie. [Applause] And I am tremendously blessed and honored tonight to be able to introduce to you, a very, very dear friend and his wife. They are incredible. And I see no one will ever replace my husband. No, but I do see some similarities of my husband in JD and Vice President JD. I do. And that's why I am so blessed to be able to introduce him tonight because he understands the fight that we're up against and he can articulate that in a way that transcends race, that transcends demographic backgrounds. He's an amazing man. So, please help me welcome to the stage Vice President JD Vance. >> I am honored to introduce a friend of mine, somebody that I have just been so thrilled to see ascend American politics. His story is uniquely American. growing up in poverty, difficult, serving his country honorably and heroically in the United States Marine Corps, being an America first champion in Congress, and somebody who I know will bring this vision to make America great again. Join me in welcoming JD Vance. Everybody [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] USA, USA. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] and Senator Cindy Hyde Smith. Thank you guys for being here. We have the governor of Mississippi with us. We got an all-star crowd here. Governor, thank you for being here. And most importantly, we have got over 10,000 students from across Mississippi. We are proud to have you and we know that you are the future of Charlie Kirk's legacy. So, thank you for being here. You know, I got I got this whole this whole speech written and I'm not going to deliver any of what I had written. I'm just going to speak from the heart because that's what Charlie would so often do. And I, you know, when I think about what we lost six weeks ago, it feels like forever ago when I was in a meeting in the West Wing and one of my staff members came in and said that Charlie had been shot. And then I looked at my phone and I saw all the text messages and realized that my dear friend had been very seriously injured. Now, in the West Wing at at that time, we actually thought that Charlie had a chance. We didn't know that he was eventually going to pass away. There were initial reports from the medical team that maybe things were going okay. And of course, eventually Charlie took his last breath and went home to be with his Lord and Savior. I remember thinking at that moment, first of course, about Erica and the children. They've got their oldest, their daughter is very similar in age to our youngest child. And I remember thinking, what a terrible tragedy for that family. And the second thing that I thought was what a terrible tragedy for the United States of America. Because Charlie wasn't just a political figure. He wasn't just a guy who went around campus and said very interesting things and hosted all of these debates. He was a person who particularly to the young people of this country, to all of you, he had the very best advice. And I think that's the most important way for me to honor Charlie, which is to repeat that advice. Something I found true in my own life. Charlie wanted all of you. Whatever life path you chose, whatever career you chose, whatever you ultimately did for a living, Charlie wanted you more than anything to invest in the things that were worth having to build a life that was worth building. And that started the most important advice he ever gave you was fall in love, get married, and start a family. And I can't honor Charlie without repeating that most important advice. Now, now most of you are probably too young to have found the person you're going to spend the rest of your life with. Some of you are lucky enough to have found that person already. But I will tell you, if you're as lucky and blessed as I have been, it hits you like a ton of bricks. And I found that person and my lovely wife Usha, our second lady, who is here with us today. She's sitting in the audience somewhere. I don't know where, but I love you, honey. And have children. That's something Charlie also always told. I I I grew up in a generation. I'm 41 years old. I'm a millennial. And if you're being uncharitable, you would call me a geriatric millennial, which I really hate. I really hate being called a geriatric millennial. But here I am at 41 talking to all of you like I've got great wisdom. Here's the thing. The one regret, the only regret that I really have in my entire life, and I've made plenty of mistakes, but the one regret that I have is that frankly I wish we had start having kids sooner because when you're a young father, you realize what an incredible blessing they are, but they're also very exhausting. And I know here at Old Miss, we like to party a lot. And I know at Old Miss occasionally some of you will have a few drinks on a Friday or Saturday or hopefully not a Tuesday night, but I'm sure that happens from time to time here in SEC country. But here's the thing. When you go out until 3 in the morning and wake up at 6:00 a.m. for class, the thing that I have learned in my old age is that incredible energy, God actually meant it for another purpose. And that purpose was to help take care of a family. So, while you're young, have those babies if you're able to. That's something Charlie said all the time. But, but if you think of that advice, if you think of that advice, Charlie wanted you to get married. He wanted you to fall in love. He wanted you to build a family. He wanted you to find a vocation. That was the advice that he gave on campuses. But that's not just about you. That's also about our country and about our government. Because while you have the freedom to live life as you so choose, I have got a responsibility as your vice president to make the American dream as accessible as possible. And this is why, my friends, this is why we care about all the things that we care about. Why do I care so much about having a secure border in the United States of America? It's because I believe that when you let in a flood of illegal immigration, what it does is it drives down the wages of young people and makes housing unaffordable for the entire American population. That's why we close down the border. The left will say our immigration policy is about hating immigration, hating immigrants. We don't hate anybody. We love our fellow citizens and because we want them to have the American dream, we shut that border down the very first day that Donald J. Trump was the president of the United States. I care about you being able to afford a home, which is why we fought so hard to fix the broken policies of the Biden administration. I want a lot of you, I'm sure there are military veterans in this room right now. I'm sure there are a lot of people who will join the military in the future and we're proud of you. But part of America First is ensuring that we never ask you to go and do the American people's business unless it is in the interest of the United States of America. And that's how we honor the sacrifice of our troops. And that's why, my friends, that's why we care so much about free speech as Charlie lived and died for the basic principle that we ought to be able to talk about our differences. We ought to be able to debate them and we ought to have faith that the best way to make sure that the best idea wins is to actually just have a discussion. And that is what this event is all about. That is what Turning Points USA is all about. And I am so proud and most of all I'm so grateful to each and every person whether you're a Republican or a Democrat for coming out and honoring one of the most important parts of Charlie's legacy because we're going to have a discussion tonight and that's what Charlie would want us to do. Now, I want to get to questions and I want to leave plenty of time for questions, but I want to make just a couple of final points about Charlie's legacy in politics. The most important thing about Charlie is that he was a great husband and a great father. Erica told me probably 12 hours after Charlie had been pronounced dead. She was just absolutely devastated. She was unable, you know, if you've ever known anybody who's grieving, sometimes it's unable, they're they're unable to even hold a single thought for more than a few seconds. And what Erica told me, and I'm going to get a little emotional, is that she said that Charlie never yelled at her. He never cussed at her. And that to me is a great legacy to leave as a husband and a father. For your wife to be able to say that my husband was always good to me. And Charlie was a good man. But he also but he also had the legacy of believing in political debate and he was the most effective person in politics that I have ever seen. And by the way, that's not because Charlie always agreed with me in the president's policies. I remember one time in particular where Charlie Kirk called me and guys, he was mad. It was one, you know, I wouldn't say the last conversation that I had with him, but it was in the last few months of his life. and he called me and he said, "J, I'm really worried. I'm really worried that what's going on in the Middle East right now is going to lead the United States into a protracted military conflict." I've never told anybody that, that Charlie was really worried about that in the final months of his life. Now, here's the thing. Charlie was so effective and he was so so trusted by both me and the president of the United States that when Charlie made that phone call, I didn't say screw you. You don't know what you talk about you're talking about. I listen to him and I really believe that one of the reasons why the president of the United States knocked out the Iranian nuclear facilities but never got the United States into a protracted military conflict and never lost a single American in a Middle Eastern conflict is because we had the wisdom and the good sense to recognize that the American people are done with American troops dying in unnecessary foreign conflicts. But Charlie Kirk reminded me of that. Charlie Kirk. So that was a great moment for our country. It was a great moment for my friendship with Charlie Kirk because friendship is not just about telling everybody what they want to hear. It's not just about agreeing with everybody all the time. It's about having the trust in another human being that you can tell them they're wrong and actually encourage them to change their mind or in that case not necessarily even tell us that we were wrong but make sure that we were thinking about all the options and of course under the president's leadership we were doing exactly that but Charlie was so good at that and I think that's one of the ways in which I want all of you to honor your legacy. Obviously you care about our great nation or you wouldn't be here. A lot of you will go on to become future leaders in business or in politics. A lot of you will run campaigns. A lot of you will work on campaigns. A lot of you will be future leaders. There might even be a lowly future vice president of the United States in this very room. But here's but here's here's the thing that I want all of you to remember. Charlie wasn't effective just because he had opinions. A lot of people have opinions. Charlie was effective because he was courageous, because he worked very hard, and because he made his vision a reality. And so, if you care about this country, as I know all of you do, don't just complain about social media. Get up and get involved in a campaign. If you want a better policy outcome, even from an administration that you voted for, then get out and get involved and making your voice heard. If you care about this country, love it enough to get involved in the process and how we govern it. That is the only way we are going to save the United States of America. And that is perhaps the greatest contribution that you can make to Charlie Kirk's legacy is getting involved in saving this country. I'm in the fight and I know every single one of you are with me. God bless you and thank you for having me. [Applause] Thank you. Thank you. But like, hey, please, I I I appreciate that. But we're not we're not even halfway done. So, here's here's I don't know what you're saying, but it sounds awesome. Let's uh let's let's let's not get ahead of ourselves, ladies and gentlemen. What we're going to do next is actually take some questions. And I remember one of my favorite things about Charlie. Not that there aren't going to be some questioners who agree with me, but if you disagree with me, I would ask that you come to the front of the line because we want to talk to people we agree with. We also want to hear from people we disagree with. It is hard for me to see because the spotlights are very bright, but whoever's in line, go ahead and ask your question. Oh, there we go. Okay, now I can see you. How you doing? >> Hi, Mr. Vice President. Thank you so much for being here. My name is Lucy >> and I'm Ellie and we're with the Turning Point um chapter for this question. >> Thank you guys. >> Can Yes. Can you tell us how your faith helps you in your role as vice president? >> Well, I appreciate that. That is a a very good question and you know this is another way in which Charlie has affected my life. I I I would say that I grew up again in a generation where even if people had very deep personal faith, they didn't talk about their faith a whole lot. And I I grew up in a country where you just didn't hear political leaders talk about their faith. But the reason why I try to be the best husband I can be, the best father I can be, the reason why I care so much about all the issues that we're going to talk about is because I believe that I have been placed in this position for a brief period of time to do the most amount of good for God and for the country that I love so much. That's that's the most important way that my faith my my faith influences me is we all get a limited opportunity to make a difference. And if you believe as we believe, you believe that God you believe that Jesus Christ has a plan. And sometimes we don't understand that plan. By the way, one way I don't understand that plan is why my friend lost his life six weeks ago. Sometimes I get pissed off about that. But what I remind myself is that there is a deeper rhythm that Jesus Christ is the author of the fate of human history. And we are charged to do everything that we can to effectuate that vision to make our country a more virtuous place, a more prosperous place where people can raise a family and not be persecuted for their faith but teach their children their faith. that recognition that all of us have a duty and I have two very important duties as vice president of the United States to the American people and to God and that's the most important influence my faith has on me. Thank you. I understand your view on illegal immigration is it should be a top priority strengthening our southern borders and fighting the m the massive drug trafficking that's taken place while securing jobs for the workingclass Americans also deporting every single person who's invaded our c our country illegally which I 100% agree on my question to you is what is your view on legal immigration personally I have a girlfriend who's studying in America off a visa. Our hope is eventually getting a green card. So, what is your view on legal immigration? Should we reduce it? Also, what is your plan for a merit-based system? >> Yes, sir. Well, I I appreciate the question and look, my my honest view is that right now America, thanks in part to the Biden border invasion, but also thanks in part to a lot of bad immigration policy. Right now, we have let in too many immigrants into the United States of America. That is just a fundamental reality. Now, now look, legal immigration is complicated because we let in about a million legal immigrants into the United States of America every single year. And I think the evidence is pretty clear that a lot of those immigrants are actually undercutting the wages of American workers. It's one of the reasons why the president of the United States It's one of the reasons why the president of the United States and a lot of us in the administration have encouraged H1B reform because if you look at the H1B visa, what it's supposed to be what it's supposed to be is that you have a super genius who's studying at an American university who's working at a great company. You want that super genius to stay in the United States of America and not go somewhere else. What it's actually used to do is hire an accountant at a 50% discount to an American citizen. I don't think that we should be hiring accountants from foreign countries when we've got accountants right here in the United States that would love to work for a good wage. Now you asked about I think your girlfriend you said and I obviously don't know the the full details about your your your your situation but my view is look there are people who want to come to the United States of America and there and some of them I'm sure can enrich the United States of America by coming here but we have got to get our overall numbers way way down. Too many people have come into the United States of America. I I am I am married to the daughter of immigrants who came to the United States in the 1980s. I do believe that some immigrants, many immigrants do in fact enrich the United States of America. But here's the problem. We have got we don't even know how many illegal aliens we have. We don't even know. The best guess is probably 25 30 million people. I've heard estimates as high as 50 million. When something like that happens, you've got to allow your own society to cohhere a little bit to build a sense of common identity for all the newcomers to assimilate, the ones who are going to stay to assimilate into American culture. Until you do that, you've got to be careful about any additional immigration in my view. >> Thank you, sir. >> Hello. Um, I have a question about Israel uh and Trump's policy towards it. Um, do you think it's a conflict of interest for Miriam add an Israeli donor uh to give millions of dollars to his campaign and then Trump have pro-Israeli policies? >> Well, if you're asking, do I think the president of United States has a conflict of interest? No, I do not. Because I know how the president of United States makes his decisions and I see it behind the scenes. Now, as the president himself has said, Mary Mson, who by the way, I know and I have a very good relationship with her. She is very clear about the fact she doesn't hide the fact that she really loves Israel and that is part of what motivates her political giving. That is a reality. At the same time, the president of the United States is America first through and through. And let let me give you just a couple of examples of this. Number one, we have heard from some pro-Israel voices, some people who really love the state of Israel that they don't want us to have a relationship with certain Middle Eastern countries. Well, the president, his attitude is we need to build relationships with any country where we have shared interests and he's going to do it if it's in the interest of the American people and he's done exactly that. Number two, there were people and I remember this criticism in the president of the United States. I just raised it in the context of of of a conversation I had with Charlie. I remember when people said that the president of the United States was going to get us into a multiund,000 troop regime change war for Israel, this was four months ago. This was six months ago. Now, the people who accused the president of the United States of wanting to get us into a regime change war for Israel, I wonder if they've stepped back and said, "You know what? We were wrong about that." Because the president of the United States did not want to get us into a regime change war for any other country. He wanted to knock out a nuclear facility and get everybody back home. And that's exactly what he did. So, I understand there's some frustrations out there, but I think the president of the United States, more than any president of my lifetime, is willing to stand up to anybody if he thinks it puts the interests of the American people first. Thank you. >> Hello, Vice President Vance. How you doing? >> Good. I have a question. Do you condone large private corporations such as Palunteer hoarding data caches on US citizens? >> No, I don't condone it. And here's the thing. So, I get asked about Palunteer a lot because there's this internet meme out there that somehow I am super in bed with Palunteer. And here's the thing that I'd say about this. Palunteer is a private company. They sometimes do a useful service and sometimes they're going to do things that we don't like. You should be demanding that your representatives do two things when it comes to Palunteer or when it comes to any other technology company. Number one, protecting your data. What's going on with artificial intelligence is going to mean that there are massive inducements to steal your data, to harvest it, and to use it against you to sell digital advertisements. That is not what I believe in. And I've been fighting against it, whether it's Palunteer or any other technology company, literally before I ran for office. When I ran for office, I was criticized by Republicans in my Republican Senate primary because I was talking then about Google and Facebook harvesting our data. It's unacceptable. I don't care who does it. I don't want them to do it. Number two, and this is also very important, what's going on with artificial intelligence? We got to be worried about largecale surveillance. Okay? Everything you asked about Palunteer. Do you know that every time you make a credit card transaction, the credit card companies are collecting data on how you spend your money? Do you know that every time you linger over a link on the internet for more than a half second, the search engines are collecting data on you so that they can sell you advertisements. One of the biggest questions for American policy over the next 10 years is how to ensure that you are a sovereign citizen. And you cannot be a sovereign citizen if any private corporation or any government can steal something from you that belongs to you. Yes, >> sir. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, >> Vice President JD Vance. Good evening. >> Thank you. >> My question is the Republican party, they stand for the right to bear arms. A lot of things the founding fathers really made a priority. >> Sure. And I feel as if requiring Christianity in public schools goes against the founding father's wish of freedom of religion. What do you think about that? >> Well, I guess what's a who who is saying that we require Christianity in public schools? Just from what I've seen on the media and the news, it seems like the Trump administration had wanted to make praying in schools and Christian values incorporated. >> Well, look, I think Christian values are a good thing and I'll talk to you about why I think that's a good thing. But that's separate from forcing people to pray, which I don't think that anybody, certainly no Christian that I know would ever support or or ever endorse. And let me just say something generally about all the people. I see there's a big line and I hope I can get to everybody's question. I I remember when I was a sophomore in high school, I went to an event at my church, which was a book signing with Oliver North and Sean Hannity, the Fox News host. And this was back before, I mean, this was, I guess, 25 years ago. And so neither of these guys was maybe as big as they are today. And I remember standing in line and I'm about to say hello to Oliver North and Sean Hannity. And I remember thinking to myself, I was so nervous. All I need to do is shake my hand or shake their hand, give them a firm handshake and tell them my name. That's what I'm thinking. Firm handshake, tell them my name. Firm handshake, tell them my name. And I get to the front of the line and Sean Hannity looks at me and he says, "How are you doing?" And I totally panic and I go, "Uh, JD." Because I had rehearsed shaking and saying my name. My point is, I admire your guys' courage and please don't be nervous. If you need to work through a question, think about it, speak it. We're all here to have a nice conversation and we're all supportive of it. Here's the thing. When you talk about forcing I'm going to answer your question of forcing Christianity, forcing people to pray. There's a real there's a liberal idea out there that I think is wrong, and that's that liberalism is the source of freedom of religion. And actually, If you go back to the original founding documents of the United States of America, if you go back to the Anglo legal tradition well before there was ever a United States of America, what you find is that freedom of religion is actually a Christian concept. And the reason and the reason it's a Christian concept is very simple because Christianity imo day the idea that we are all made in the image of our creator means that we must respect the free will of every single person. Now part of that is you have a conversation with people. Having free will doesn't mean that you're not allowed to encourage somebody, that you're not allowed to talk to somebody about your faith, that you're not allowed to talk about certain values in school. When our founders talked about freedom of religion, they didn't mean you weren't allowed to say a Christian prayer in a public sc