Mikey McCoy Honors Charlie Kirk's Faith, Courage, and Legacy One Year After His Death

[00:00] Good evening everybody.

[00:03] I've come to the realization that

[00:04] there's truly no right words on this

[00:07] side of eternity that can relay all that

[00:10] I feel in my heart tonight.

[00:13] I'm also painfully aware that none of

[00:15] the words that we speak on this stage

[00:17] tonight can fill the seat that for the

[00:19] last year Charlie has left empty at home

[00:22] for his beloved family. nor feel the

[00:25] wound that a grieving country and world

[00:28] full of people who loved him feel. I

[00:31] will not pretend otherwise.

[00:34] But on the one-year anniversary of the

[00:36] day that Charlie went home to be with

[00:38] Jesus, I'm reminded that Charlie always

[00:41] found a way to communicate. He

[00:44] constantly strove to find the right

[00:46] words and he took every opportunity to

[00:48] point people toward Christ. So tonight,

[00:53] in honor of his example and in honor of

[00:55] his incredible life, I'm going to try

[01:01] on the one-year anniversary.

[01:07] Sorry guys, you know, when I was asked

[01:10] to share tonight, my first thought was,

[01:12] how has it been a year? Um, and as I

[01:15] processed that came flooding in all the

[01:18] memories.

[01:20] I remember getting ready that morning

[01:22] and Charlie getting ready that morning.

[01:24] I've vividly remember him so excited.

[01:29] The anticipation we all felt for the

[01:31] kickoff of the biggest campus tour yet.

[01:34] His pure joy when he saw the enormous

[01:36] crowd here at UVU.

[01:38] And then the whiplash

[01:41] going from such shared joy and

[01:43] excitement to the most unfathomable

[01:45] heartbreak imaginable.

[01:47] As I thought about that day, God brought

[01:50] countless other moments to mind as I

[01:52] watched Charlie operate with strength

[01:54] that seemed only supernatural.

[01:57] Running on no sleep, accomplishing the

[02:00] seemingly impossible,

[02:02] pushing beyond his own discomfort in

[02:04] pursuit of serving his country and

[02:06] fellow man. loving and living with this

[02:09] inexhaustible desire to see especially

[02:11] the young people of this country find

[02:14] hope and succeed. I had witnessed

[02:17] firsthand those countless hours, days,

[02:20] and years we spent together the answer

[02:22] to the question, where did Charlie's

[02:25] strength come from?

[02:28] Charlie's strength was in and from

[02:31] Christ.

[02:32] 2 Corinthians 12:9

[02:39] 2 Corinthians 12:9 My grace is

[02:42] sufficient for you for my power is made

[02:44] perfect in weakness. This was the

[02:47] gasoline on the fire of Charlie's

[02:50] passion that emboldened him to walk onto

[02:52] campuses across this nation and contend

[02:55] for truth.

[02:57] You know, Charlie understood that while

[02:59] freedom is the ability to make choices,

[03:02] liberty is doing what is right. He would

[03:05] often say that liberty is not man's

[03:07] idea. It's God's idea. Freedom is not

[03:10] merely a possession. It's a

[03:12] responsibility. It has to be kept.

[03:16] Every generation has to reach out and

[03:18] take hold of it for themselves or it

[03:20] slips away. Charlie understood this in

[03:24] his very being. He didn't wait for

[03:26] somebody to hand him a podium. He set up

[03:29] a folding table, picked up a microphone,

[03:31] went campus to campus, and was willing

[03:33] to go toe-to-toe with the biggest and

[03:35] the worst ideas of our age. He would

[03:38] boldly say what he believed to be true,

[03:40] and then invited those who would

[03:42] disagree with him to the front of the

[03:44] line. It was the miracle of this country

[03:47] on display in its purest form. We don't

[03:51] have to fear an argument here. We don't

[03:53] have to silence the other side and call

[03:54] it virtue. We put the microphone in the

[03:57] open air, let the argument be made, and

[04:00] trust that free people engaging honestly

[04:03] can find their way toward truth. Charlie

[04:06] spent his life betting on that trust. He

[04:10] bet on you.

[04:18] There's one story that I remember and

[04:20] it's one of my favorite memories.

[04:23] Charlie was scheduled to speak at the

[04:24] University of North Texas Denton where

[04:27] there had been serious security

[04:29] concerns. A death threat was made on

[04:31] Yikyak and several others on other

[04:33] social media platforms. Security and PD

[04:36] told Charlie, "We're not comfortable

[04:38] with you going out there." Charlie said,

[04:40] "There's thousands of students waiting

[04:42] for me out there. I'm gonna go. I

[04:46] remember sitting there when they also

[04:48] told him, "We strongly advise that you

[04:50] don't go. Just wait a while. We'll make

[04:53] some phone calls." Charlie waited for a

[04:56] couple minutes.

[04:58] And then he stood up and said, "I'm

[04:59] going." And walked straight toward that

[05:01] tent that we all know so well.

[05:04] Because Charlie believed that we must

[05:06] never operate in fear. Evil will always

[05:10] try to scare you. But doing good

[05:13] requires sacrifices.

[05:16] Sometimes that sacrifice is your time.

[05:18] Sometimes it's your comfort. Sometimes

[05:21] it means walking onto a campus when

[05:23] you're afraid of what might happen. And

[05:26] that day, something did happen that I'll

[05:28] never forget.

[05:30] Charlie debated a student who made it

[05:32] clear at the beginning that he had

[05:34] disagreed with him politically. After

[05:36] about 10 minutes of back and forth and

[05:38] Charlie's always brilliant and

[05:39] articulate responses, Charlie asked him,

[05:43] "So, did I change your mind?" And in a

[05:46] very viral moment that I'm sure many of

[05:48] you have seen, the student leaned into

[05:49] the microphone and said, "Can I get one

[05:52] of those hats?

[05:59] >> [applause]

[06:05] >> I'll never forget that and I'll never

[06:07] forget talking with Charlie about it

[06:09] afterwards. Because Charlie chose

[06:11] courage over fear, we know for a fact

[06:15] that one person walked away seeing the

[06:17] world just a little differently that

[06:18] day. How many others in the audience

[06:21] did, too?

[06:22] John 15:13 tells us, "Greater love has

[06:25] no one than this, that someone laid down

[06:27] his life for another." Charlie lived his

[06:30] life radically in the service of young

[06:32] people, believing in a future that had

[06:35] greater hope for them, and he was

[06:38] murdered for doing it.

[06:41] There is something else about Charlie's

[06:43] final moments that I've thought about

[06:44] many times. Charlie was murdered when he

[06:48] was only on his second question. the

[06:50] event had just begun. The last and final

[06:53] question that Charlie was ever able to

[06:56] fully answer was about his faith.

[06:59] Charlie once said that although his day

[07:02] job was politics, politics was only the

[07:04] second most important thing, the first

[07:06] and the most important thing in his

[07:09] words was winning souls for Jesus

[07:12] Christ.

[07:16] His

[07:24] second job made sure politics that we

[07:28] were able to preserve a country where we

[07:30] are free to do that first thing. But you

[07:33] know Charlie cared deeply about

[07:35] conservative ideas, free markets, the

[07:37] future of this country. He cared about

[07:39] young people finding purpose, getting

[07:41] married young, affording homes, having

[07:43] more children than they could afford.

[07:45] But above all of that, I need you to

[07:48] understand this. Charlie cared about

[07:51] your soul. In the last year, I've heard

[07:55] story after story of people walking into

[07:58] churches, returning to their faith,

[08:00] restoring marriages on the brink of

[08:01] collapse, leaving addictions behind,

[08:04] turning to Jesus. What would be an

[08:06] abortion becomes a baby named Charlie.

[08:10] Only God can take the most gruesome,

[08:14] unimaginable pain and somehow use it for

[08:17] his good and for his glory.

[08:21] [applause]

[08:28] The pain of today still remains at times

[08:31] unbearable apart from Christ.

[08:35] I continue to carry such a burden along

[08:37] with the thousands of people who

[08:39] experienced the horror of that day in

[08:41] person, many of which are in this room.

[08:44] And for those of you who saw it unfold

[08:46] from afar, please know that I

[08:50] am praying for you for God's comfort as

[08:53] we ask him that same comfort ourselves.

[08:57] An evil act took Charlie from his

[09:00] beloved family, from his wife, from his

[09:03] precious children, from a movement of

[09:05] young people who looked to him and from

[09:08] the public square that he loved so much.

[09:12] But I want you to hear this today. An

[09:15] assassin's bullet cannot win an

[09:17] argument. It can only prove that the

[09:20] assassin never had one. Violence is the

[09:23] tool of those who have run out of ideas.

[09:27] [applause]

[09:40] Violence is the tool of those who have

[09:42] run out of ideas. And it is the great

[09:45] quiet c strength of this country that we

[09:48] strive to fight back with better ideas.

[09:52] Anyone who believed ending Charlie's

[09:54] life would end what he stood for

[09:55] misunderstands how ideas live. They live

[09:59] in the people who heard them. They live

[10:01] in you.

[10:04] Charlie.

[10:08] Charlie put something holy, good, and

[10:11] beautiful into this world that evil

[10:12] cannot take back out of it. And for the

[10:15] students here today, you are the point

[10:18] of this speech. So, let me speak

[10:20] directly to you. Somewhere here tonight

[10:23] is a young person wondering whether your

[10:26] voice can really make the difference.

[10:28] Whether you should take the risk,

[10:30] whether you should stand up, whether you

[10:32] should set up a folding table, pick up a

[10:35] microphone, and invite the world to

[10:37] agree or disagree. I hope you do it. We

[10:41] must refuse to allow the horrific way

[10:43] that Charlie died to choke out

[10:45] everything that he fought for,

[10:47] accomplished, and so courageously lived

[10:50] for. He believed against the cynicism of

[10:53] this age that young people still had

[10:55] something to say, that they were worth

[10:57] listening to and investing in. So let us

[11:00] honor him not merely in grief, but in

[11:03] resolve. Whatever quarrels divided us,

[11:06] let us settle them in a way that a free

[11:08] people should with words, with votes,

[11:11] with courage, with prayer, and with a

[11:14] willingness to stand publicly for what

[11:16] we believe to be true.

[11:19] It won't take Thank you. It will not be

[11:22] an easy road, but it will be a

[11:25] fulfilling road. It will cost you, but

[11:28] in it, you will find true purpose. Just

[11:31] like Charlie, just like Erica, people

[11:34] may hate you. They will certainly

[11:36] misrepresent you. People will lie about

[11:39] you. Ignore the noise. Just pray for

[11:41] them.

[11:48] Matthew 5:11, "Blessed are you when

[11:51] people mock you and persecute you and

[11:54] lie about you and say all sorts of evil

[11:56] things against you. Do not operate in

[11:59] fear. Look to Christ. Stand firm in

[12:03] something greater than yourselves.

[12:05] Pursue what is eternal." When I look

[12:08] into the eyes of my newborn son, I'm

[12:10] reminded every day that there is life

[12:11] after death. There's beauty through

[12:14] suffering. that death is not the end.

[12:17] There is an eternity.

[12:20] Never underestimate what God can do

[12:22] through one life wholly surrendered to

[12:24] him. God bless Charlie. God bless his

[12:27] beloved family and his beloved wife, his

[12:30] precious children. God bless Turning

[12:31] Point USA. And God bless the brave

[12:34] students standing up across this nation

[12:36] on college campuses to contend for

[12:39] truth. Thank you all.