Marco Rubio Honors Charlie Kirk's Legacy and Impact on Young Americans at Memorial Service

[00:00] [Applause]

[00:09] [Music]

[00:14] About uh

[00:16] maybe 10 or 12 years ago, a person I

[00:18] knew very well, had been very helpful to

[00:20] me in my campaigns when I was in the

[00:21] Senate, came to me and said she had met

[00:24] this very impressive young man and he

[00:26] was going to start this group to go on

[00:28] college campuses.

[00:30] and try to convince young Americans

[00:33] that ours is the greatest country in the

[00:35] history of the world and that Marxism

[00:39] was bad.

[00:41] And I remember thinking back then, I was

[00:43] I'm going to admit to you guys, I was a

[00:44] little skeptical. I said, "College

[00:45] campuses, you're going to do that? Why

[00:47] don't you start somewhere easier?" Like,

[00:48] for example, communist Cuba, you know?

[00:54] But my skepticism was proven wrong.

[00:58] and place after place over the last 12,

[01:00] 14, 16 years, we've seen this

[01:02] renaissance. Understand where we were at

[01:04] that time in our history.

[01:07] Understand where we are still today in

[01:08] many places where young Americans are

[01:11] actively told that everything that they

[01:13] were taught that all the foundations

[01:15] that made our society and our

[01:17] civilization so grand, they were all

[01:19] wrong, they were all evil, that marriage

[01:20] is oppressive, that children are a

[01:22] burden, that America is a source of

[01:24] evil, not of good in the world.

[01:26] And here was this voice that inspired a

[01:28] movement in which young Americans were

[01:30] told that is not true. The highest

[01:33] calling we are called to is to be in a

[01:36] successful marriage and to raise

[01:37] productive children.

[01:44] And a movement that taught them that

[01:47] ours was not a great country, but the

[01:50] greatest, most exceptional nation that

[01:52] has ever existed in the history of all

[01:54] of mankind. and that it's worth fighting

[01:56] for. It's worth defending. It's worth

[01:58] preserving. And it's worth passing on to

[02:01] the next generation.

[02:08] This was the mission and the work of

[02:09] Charlie Kirk.

[02:11] And a couple things that stand out about

[02:13] him. He led this movement, but he did so

[02:16] with incredible knowledge. It's

[02:18] unbelievable how much he knew.

[02:21] He came to me very recently. He said

[02:23] some quote. He said, I said, "Who said

[02:24] that?" He said, "Marcus Aurelius." I

[02:26] said, "What district does he represent?"

[02:32] I kind of knew who it was, but uh he

[02:34] said back, "No, it's a Roman, you know,

[02:36] philosopher, king or emperor." His

[02:39] incredible knowledge. Let me tell you

[02:40] that one of the last messages I had with

[02:42] him was just a few days before his

[02:44] passing where he wrote me from overseas.

[02:47] I'm in South Korea. I have many concerns

[02:49] I want to share with you when I get

[02:51] back. He was constantly expanding his

[02:53] horizons, but he just didn't have

[02:55] knowledge. He had wisdom, an uncanny

[02:58] amount of wisdom for a man as young as

[03:00] he was. Wisdom that sometimes it takes a

[03:03] lifetime to accumulate. He had it in

[03:05] just 31 years.

[03:09] He was also bold.

[03:11] It is so easy. And listen, I've been

[03:14] guilty of it. I think many of us have

[03:15] been guilty of this. You hide behind the

[03:18] walls and you surround yourself with

[03:19] people that agree with you.

[03:21] We do it as a society all the time.

[03:24] Increasingly, people are moving into

[03:25] neighborhoods with other people that

[03:26] agree with them politically and isolate

[03:29] themselves from people that do not agree

[03:31] with them. But Charlie Kirk was bold. He

[03:34] actively sought out to engage

[03:36] peacefully, respectfully those who he

[03:39] disagreed with. As recently as two days

[03:41] ago, we learned of one of the hosts on

[03:43] CNN who said that one of the messages he

[03:46] had gotten just a few days before

[03:47] Charlie's passing was from him inviting

[03:49] him to dialogue. And he did this on

[03:52] campuses. He did this on podcasts. He

[03:54] did this on radio shows. He did this on

[03:56] television shows. Time and again, he

[03:58] sought to engage those he disagreed with

[04:00] because he understood that we were not

[04:02] created to isolate ourselves from one

[04:04] another, but to engage. The irony in all

[04:06] this is that what our nation needs, one

[04:09] of the many things it needs is the

[04:10] ability to discuss our differences

[04:12] openly, honestly, peacefully,

[04:15] respectfully. And Charlie Kirk did that

[04:17] more than anyone alive in America today

[04:19] is doing.

[04:26] And Charlie Kirk was impactful.

[04:30] Impactful because of all the things I've

[04:31] said. But look around this place.

[04:34] There's a hundred something thousand

[04:35] people here. The president of the United

[04:37] States is here. His entire cabinet is

[04:39] here. Television a outlets and media

[04:42] outlets from all over the world are

[04:44] covering this. I just came from overseas

[04:46] and every country I stopped, they gave

[04:47] us their condolences for his passing.

[04:50] Impactful in just 31 years of life. He

[04:53] made a difference.

[04:56] He mattered and he will matter now more

[04:58] than he ever has before.

[05:00] And let me close with this.

[05:03] How do you remember? This is a memorial

[05:05] service. It's to honor him. How do you

[05:07] best remember it? I'll take the liberty

[05:08] of saying what I think we can best do.

[05:12] Look, I think he had an tremendous

[05:14] impact on young Americans in general. I

[05:16] think he had a very special and direct

[05:18] impact on young men in this country.

[05:20] That's one of the greatest developments

[05:22] I've seen. It's been very positive. I

[05:24] think we remember him for that.

[05:32] I think we remember him for constantly

[05:34] saying, "You want to live a productive

[05:36] life, get married, start a family, love

[05:38] your country." These are powerful

[05:39] messages.

[05:41] But I hope many who are watching, I

[05:43] imagine there are people watching here

[05:44] tonight that didn't know much about

[05:46] Charlie Kirk until 11 days ago. Maybe

[05:48] they were disengaged from politics.

[05:50] Maybe they were partially engaged. I

[05:52] hope one of the things they take from

[05:53] this is that the movement Charlie Kirk

[05:55] led and started and gave fuel to was

[05:58] about politics, but not only about

[06:00] politics. It was deeper. It was broader.

[06:04] And I would say that taking the liberty,

[06:06] but I'm confident he would agree. One of

[06:09] the things he wants us to take away from

[06:10] this, from all of this, is the

[06:13] following. his deep belief

[06:17] that we were all created, every single

[06:19] one of us before the beginning of time,

[06:21] by the hands of the God of the universe,

[06:23] an all powerful God who loved us and

[06:26] created us for the purpose of living

[06:28] with him in eternity. But then sin

[06:30] entered the world and separated us from

[06:32] our creator. And so God took on the form

[06:35] of a man and came down and lived among

[06:38] us and he suffered like men and he died

[06:42] like a man. But on the third day, he

[06:44] rose unlike any mortal man.

[06:48] And then,

[06:52] and to prove any doubters wrong, he ate

[06:54] with his disciples so they could see,

[06:56] and they touched his wounds. He didn't

[06:58] rise as a ghost or as a spirit, but his

[07:00] flesh.

[07:02] And then he rose to the heaven, but he

[07:03] promised he would return. And he will.

[07:05] And when he returns, because he took on

[07:08] that death, because he carried that

[07:10] cross, we were freed from the sin that

[07:12] separated us from him. And when he

[07:14] returns, there will be a new heaven and

[07:16] a new earth. And we will all be

[07:18] together. And we are going to have a

[07:20] great reunion there again with Charlie

[07:23] and all the people we love. Thank you,

[07:25] and God bless you.

[07:30] [Music]