Remembering Charlie Kirk: Legacy, Grief, and Moving Forward

[00:00] Charlie loved this country and he loved

[00:02] partnering with organizations that truly

[00:03] stand for what makes America great. One

[00:05] of our most trusted partners, AAC, the

[00:07] Association of Mature American Citizens,

[00:10] is doing something special in Charlie's

[00:11] honor. AAC is offering free memberships

[00:14] to all ages. No credit card, no strings

[00:16] attached. Just a chance to stand for

[00:18] faith, family, and freedom. Join this

[00:20] movement. Go to amac. us/charlie today.

[00:24] That is amac

[00:26] uscharie

[00:28] today.

[00:33] All right, welcome back to the Charlie

[00:35] Kirk Show. I am so excited about our

[00:38] next guest. And of course, I'm not even

[00:40] going to I'm not going to tease it out.

[00:41] This is the vice president of the United

[00:42] States, folks. Um, and I just want to

[00:44] start by saying

[00:46] this whole story, this whole tragedy

[00:48] that we've been living through, a

[00:50] nightmare really. Uh, you and Usha have

[00:54] been just tremendous. We and people, you

[00:56] know, need to know we haven't asked for

[00:59] some of the things that you guys have

[01:01] done for Erica, for us. You've been out

[01:04] front. You've been offering. You've been

[01:06] your team has been getting a hold of us.

[01:07] You've been calling. And uh I think that

[01:10] speaks volumes about who you are, the

[01:12] man you are, and your character. And I

[01:13] just I really want the audience to know

[01:15] that of that you're a human being, that

[01:17] you have like a big heart and you care

[01:20] about people. And uh as somebody that's

[01:23] been a beneficiary of that in some of

[01:24] the darkest days that any of us can

[01:26] imagine, I just want to say thank you,

[01:28] Mr. Vice President.

[01:29] >> I appreciate that. It's good to see you

[01:30] guys and obviously wish it was under

[01:33] slightly different circumstances, but

[01:34] yesterday was quite a celebration at the

[01:35] White House, Charlie's 32nd birthday.

[01:38] You know, I'm sure it's true for you

[01:39] guys, too. It still feels not real in

[01:41] some some cases. I still occasionally

[01:43] will pick up the phone and think to

[01:44] myself like, "Ah, I wonder what Charlie

[01:45] thinks about this, or I wonder if

[01:47] Charlie could help me with this." Uh but

[01:49] but we're just gonna keep on trucking

[01:50] on, man. I appreciate you saying that. I

[01:52] mean that tell you a little backstory

[01:54] about just sort of this this dignified

[01:56] transfer where us and I go out and pick

[01:58] up Charlie's body, pick up Erica, pick

[02:00] up some of you guys and then take him

[02:02] back to Arizona. I mean the background

[02:04] on that was I was sitting at the White

[02:05] House with then communications director.

[02:07] He has since you know taken a job in the

[02:09] private sector making a lot of money I'm

[02:10] sure Taylor Budawich who is another dear

[02:12] friend of Charlie's. And you know Mikey

[02:14] was actually communicating with Taylor

[02:16] directly. And so, you know, it's a

[02:18] little gruesome, but right after Charlie

[02:20] gets shot, Mikey's like, you know, we're

[02:21] at the hospital. Charlie's got a pulse.

[02:23] I'm sure you guys were getting the same

[02:24] messages. I was talking with Taylor a

[02:26] little bit.

[02:27] >> There was this sort of point of like

[02:28] optimism where it's like, oh my god,

[02:29] because you see the video, you think

[02:30] there's no way Charlie's going to make

[02:32] it, but you say, oh, you know, could

[02:33] this be a miraculous thing? And then, of

[02:35] course, Marky Mikey was the one who had

[02:37] to make the call to Taylor. And to me, I

[02:39] was actually in Steven Miller's office

[02:40] with Taylor and Mikey said, you know,

[02:43] Charlie didn't make it. The doctors just

[02:44] called it. And that was obviously an

[02:47] incredibly hard moment. But then I was

[02:49] sitting with Taylor and I was

[02:50] like,"Well, you know what? What's what's

[02:52] what's you know what do we do now? And

[02:54] Taylor actually had the idea of we

[02:58] should go out there." And I was like,

[02:59] "That's a incredible idea." Like I'd

[03:01] love to go out there, see Erica, but you

[03:03] also wonder like, you know, the vice

[03:05] president of the United States, the

[03:06] Secret Service detail, the media does it

[03:08] become too much of a spectacle. So I was

[03:10] like, "Reach out to Erica and like let

[03:11] her know. I'm not pushing, but if she

[03:13] wants me to come out there, uh, we'd

[03:15] love to be out there and be supportive.

[03:17] And so, he did that, and she of course

[03:18] was receptive. And then I actually had

[03:21] the idea. I texted my chief of staff. I

[03:22] was like, "Well, wait a second. If we're

[03:24] going to be out there, you know, moving

[03:25] a a dead body from one place to another

[03:28] is not necessarily like easy

[03:29] logistically. We have a big airplane and

[03:32] if we're going to fly from uh from Utah

[03:33] to Phoenix anyway, we should offer." And

[03:36] he was like, "Yeah, I'll offer. I I I

[03:38] remember I'll never forget my chief of

[03:39] staff saying, "I doubt they'll accept.

[03:41] I'm sure they already have another plan,

[03:42] but we can offer. And then of course,

[03:44] you know, you guys accepted and that led

[03:46] to that that day, which despite the

[03:49] grieving was very special to be able to

[03:50] be part of that grieving process with

[03:52] the family and with all you guys. So,

[03:54] um, it it was it was a, you know, this

[03:56] whole month has been so surreal for so

[03:58] many of us in so many ways. But, but

[04:00] that day really did set the tone for us

[04:02] in a lot of ways. is I mean one it's

[04:04] it's um you er so so Usha had met um she

[04:09] had met um Charlie before actually the

[04:11] Claremont speech that I gave that

[04:12] Charlie was really to I mean he I

[04:14] remember he texted me afterwards he's

[04:15] like that's that's your best speech I'

[04:16] ever given it

[04:17] >> was an amazing speech

[04:18] >> and uh you know I kept on looking the

[04:20] audience and there's Charlie sitting

[04:21] next to Usha they were like in the front

[04:23] table and that may have been the first

[04:24] time that Usha had spent like more than

[04:27] five or 10 minutes with Charlie and uh

[04:29] but I don't think she had ever met Erica

[04:31] but that of course was the point at Usha

[04:33] was able to be there for Erica and that

[04:35] that that cemented their bond that

[04:37] created their bond. So it was despite

[04:40] the sadness and the tragedy, it was it

[04:42] was a special day in a lot of ways and I

[04:44] think set the tone for the next month.

[04:46] Uh which which which has been us

[04:47] mourning Charlie of course thinking

[04:49] about Charlie, trying to keep Charlie's

[04:51] memory alive and all of that I think

[04:53] really really at least for us started on

[04:55] that day.

[04:56] >> Well, you have done an amazing job and

[04:59] you've been an incredible friend. I

[05:00] think you know what I've realized in

[05:02] this process is that it's not just me

[05:04] grieving. It's not just Blake grieving

[05:06] or the team or Erica. The whole nation

[05:08] is grieving. Yeah. And so as you've come

[05:10] alongside us, you've almost I think

[05:13] symbolically come alongside the entire

[05:16] nation. and knowing that your steady

[05:18] leadership and your your carrying hand

[05:20] is alongside Erica and us and the whole

[05:22] team has been

[05:23] >> I think a lift for the entire nation

[05:25] genuinely and the world really because

[05:27] Charlie's message has we've seen has

[05:28] spread across the entire world

[05:30] >> and you know on that note of you coming

[05:32] alongside us uh we do have a little bit

[05:35] of news to break

[05:36] >> big announcement.

[05:36] >> Yeah, big announcement. Do you want me

[05:38] or you?

[05:38] >> No, go ahead.

[05:39] >> All right. Well, so you are actually

[05:41] going to be joining Erica Kirk on our

[05:44] campus tour. This is gonna be a big one.

[05:47] Big one at Old Miss. If you could throw

[05:50] the graphic up there, guys. 179. Throw

[05:53] the graphic up. There it is. So, Erica

[05:55] Kirk and JD Vance and uh at Old Miss.

[05:58] And correct me if I'm wrong. Will's

[05:59] going to get mad at me here. Uh that's

[06:01] October 29th, I believe, at Old Miss,

[06:04] Oxford, Mississippi. And uh we also the

[06:06] other pictures you see on that graphic

[06:09] are going to be Benny Johnson, Laura

[06:11] Trump, Eric Trump. Uh that and we're

[06:13] they're going to be at Auburn. uh the on

[06:16] November 5th, so the one-year

[06:17] anniversary of the big win, but you guys

[06:19] are going to be in Miss together,

[06:21] >> and it's going to be Erica's only

[06:23] appearance on the tour. I mean, we we

[06:25] really, you know, we thought about

[06:27] suggesting to her to do more, and it's

[06:29] just she needs time. She still needs

[06:31] time,

[06:32] >> but she wanted to make it a priority to

[06:33] be at this one. Um, and you're making it

[06:36] a priority to be at this one where

[06:37] there's going to be like nine or 10,000

[06:38] people in the arena there.

[06:40] >> So, it's it's a huge deal. Please tell

[06:42] us uh tell us your perspective on this.

[06:45] >> Yeah, I'm excited about it. And one of

[06:46] the things I said to you and others as

[06:48] you know privately is I was like, well,

[06:50] you know, part of keeping Charlie's

[06:51] memory alive is keeping the mission

[06:52] alive. And nobody can replace Charlie,

[06:56] but if we all sort of take little

[06:57] pieces, we can do as much as we can to

[06:59] ensure that Charlie's mission continues

[07:02] to survive long after he's gone. And

[07:04] part of that is these college campus

[07:06] tours, right? And I'm going to do

[07:07] exactly what Charlie did. I'm gonna my

[07:09] my plan is to, you know, give a little

[07:11] speech, talk a little bit about the

[07:12] issues of the day, but turn most of it

[07:15] over to just do Q&A with the audience. I

[07:17] actually want to I want to hear from

[07:18] these kids. I want to answer questions

[07:20] from them. I want to do what what

[07:21] Charlie did because I think that

[07:22] engagement is something that was such a

[07:24] big part of Charlie's legacy. It's not

[07:26] just that he went and talked to people

[07:28] or talked about issues that he cared

[07:29] about. It's that he actually interacted

[07:31] with people and he answered questions.

[07:32] Sometimes, as you know, he answered

[07:34] tough questions. He would answer tough

[07:35] questions from the left and from the

[07:37] right. And so I want to do that too. And

[07:38] of course having Erica there is very

[07:40] special. I I am glad that she's not

[07:42] doing all of them because she's

[07:43] obviously got a lot to deal with. She's

[07:45] she's grieving more than any of us are.

[07:47] She's taking care of two beautiful kids.

[07:49] But it'll be very special to have her

[07:51] there. And you know I actually it's

[07:53] interesting. I mean any of you who have

[07:55] known somebody who's grieving very

[07:57] somebody that they love very much know

[07:59] that it comes in hills and valleys,

[08:01] right? Some days it's like the worst day

[08:03] imaginable. Some days you actually feel

[08:06] like you're doing okay. And um I you

[08:08] know Erica's been staying with us the

[08:09] last few days at the Naval Observatory

[08:11] actually and you sort of see it all

[08:13] right. There are days where you think

[08:15] she's doing pretty well. There are days

[08:16] where you think she's doing terribly and

[08:18] that's just the process. And I hope that

[08:20] she continues to kind of yes keep

[08:22] Charlie's mission alive and yes, you

[08:24] know, do everything that you guys are

[08:25] doing at Turning Points USA, but I also

[08:27] hope that she continues to grieve a

[08:29] little bit and to carve out some time

[08:30] for her and her her family. Um, you

[08:32] know, a buddy of mine, I didn't mean to

[08:35] talk about this, but I'm gonna I'm gonna

[08:36] say it, but a buddy of mine, this this

[08:38] is what drives home how angry I get at

[08:40] the people celebrating Charlie's death,

[08:43] and how really one-sided it is that you

[08:45] have people actually celebrating the

[08:46] murder of a dear friend of a guy who was

[08:48] a leader to so many people. But I I was

[08:50] talking to another mutual friend

[08:52] actually. Uh, he was the guy sitting to

[08:54] my left at dinner a couple of nights ago

[08:56] at the vice president's residence. So, I

[08:57] I won't I won't reveal who it was

[08:59] publicly, but he told me that he had

[09:01] called Erica about a week or so after

[09:03] Charlie died. And he could hear

[09:06] Charlie's daughter say, "Where's Daddy?"

[09:08] like six times during this very brief

[09:10] phone call.

[09:11] >> And I think all of us have had these

[09:14] moments where yes, we love Charlie and

[09:16] we loved his ideas and we loved what an

[09:18] important voice he was. You know, he's a

[09:20] necessary part. It says the White House

[09:21] right behind you guys, right? We're

[09:22] right here at the White House complex.

[09:24] We wouldn't be here without Charlie. But

[09:26] but most tragically, they took a very

[09:29] loving husband away from a wife and they

[09:31] took a very loving father away from two

[09:33] kids. And that is to me the the great

[09:36] tragedy of this moment. We can't forget

[09:37] that.

[09:39] >> Yeah. I mean uh what Erica said in her

[09:42] speech yesterday where you know about

[09:46] uh the birthday uh wish for, you know,

[09:48] that she had.

[09:49] >> That was the one point where I lost it.

[09:50] Yeah.

[09:50] >> Yeah, I did too. And I think I looked

[09:52] around and gosh, I mean, people have

[09:54] seen some of the images of who was in

[09:55] that crowd. I looked around at the most

[09:57] powerful people in the country, which

[09:59] means they're probably some of the most

[10:00] powerful people in the world. And we all

[10:03] kind of just lost it. And you know, it

[10:06] was a really powerful and moving speech

[10:08] by Erica. I think, you know, Dana Pino,

[10:11] I think we have the clip. We don't need

[10:12] to play it, but Dana Pino from Fox said

[10:14] she's one of the greatest ortors of a

[10:16] generation. And I I I she's given three

[10:19] speeches now.

[10:20] >> Yeah. And each one is is in my top 10 of

[10:23] speeches uh the the whole way through

[10:25] Blake kind of

[10:26] >> they're all they're all pretty different

[10:27] too. They hit on different themes. Uh

[10:29] this was I think arguably the most

[10:31] personal one in terms of talking about

[10:34] >> uh you talking about his birthday habits

[10:36] and stuff.

[10:37] >> It was very philosophical like the

[10:38] meaning of freedom. I thought that was

[10:39] very interesting.

[10:40] >> Really dwelled on it and you know and

[10:42] it's all her you know I I helped her

[10:44] prepare for it but she everything that

[10:46] was in that speech was what she wanted

[10:47] to say how she said it

[10:49] >> and just tremendous how how well

[10:52] delivered it was uh how well it

[10:55] communicated

[10:55] >> and people

[10:56] >> people what he meant to her and also

[10:57] what what Charlie meant to America

[10:59] >> people want to know how Erica is doing

[11:01] and you've touched on it because you've

[11:02] been she's been staying with you at your

[11:04] guys's the Naval Observatory but she's

[11:06] she is so strong and cleareyed

[11:10] Charlie when President Trump was talking

[11:12] about that

[11:12] >> uh story about oh you're gonna you're

[11:14] going to love it uh Erica Mr. president.

[11:16] She's so smart and she really is very

[11:18] smart and she's so human and caring. But

[11:21] you touched on something else uh Mr.

[11:22] Vice President about the

[11:25] this rise in sort of like the the celebr

[11:28] celebration of Charlie's murder and

[11:30] assassination and this rise of left-wing

[11:32] violence and you said it on the show the

[11:33] Monday after he was assassinated. You

[11:35] hosted this show and you said I want we

[11:38] want unity but we also want truth. Maybe

[11:40] just really touch on that uh before we

[11:42] hit this uh first break and what you

[11:45] meant by that. Yeah, I I I just meant

[11:47] that real unity comes from acknowledging

[11:50] the reality of the situation that we're

[11:51] in, right? Unity requires everybody

[11:53] being on the same page, having some

[11:55] common commonality of values and and

[11:58] real unity requires us to acknowledge

[12:00] the fact that while yes, there are

[12:02] crazies on both sides. We have a country

[12:03] of 330 million people. You're going to

[12:05] be able to find crazies on either side.

[12:07] Political violence is just a statistical

[12:10] fact. It's a bigger problem on the left.

[12:12] And if you had, god forbid, somebody on

[12:14] the left who was assassinated, uh, yeah,

[12:16] I I'm sure that you could find one

[12:18] person who would maybe celebrate it or

[12:20] one person who would be offensive. But

[12:22] the fact that main it became mainstream

[12:24] to celebrate Charlie's death, to talk

[12:27] about the fact that he maybe deserved to

[12:29] die because he had said hateful things

[12:31] like, you know, we don't want women

[12:32] playing or we don't want men playing in

[12:34] women's sports. just the the the effort

[12:36] to try to like justify his murder, to

[12:38] lie about things that he had said so so

[12:41] as to justify his killing. It was just

[12:43] really disgusting and really

[12:45] disgraceful. And one of the things that

[12:46] we just have I I want our country to be

[12:48] unified again. I really do. I mean, I'm

[12:50] the vice president of the United States.

[12:52] I really do feel like I represent every

[12:53] single person, even the people who say

[12:55] disgusting things. But if we're going to

[12:57] have real unity in this country, we're

[12:59] all going to have to acknowledge that

[13:01] killing people for what they think and

[13:03] what they believe is wrong. And right

[13:05] now that violent impulse is a bigger

[13:07] problem on the left than the right.

[13:09] >> She said,

[13:12] "Happy birthday, Daddy.

[13:16] I want to give you a stuffed animal. I

[13:18] want you to eat a cupcake with ice

[13:20] cream,

[13:21] and I want you to go have a birthday

[13:23] surprise."

[13:28] Yeah, the team flagged that uh clip that

[13:31] we had it ready to go and it's um it's

[13:33] it really brings it all home and I I

[13:35] know you had such a close personal

[13:37] friendship with Charlie as did we and

[13:39] >> um and I and I think it ties into what

[13:41] you were just saying Mr. Vice President

[13:42] that that we if we cannot get unonyimity

[13:45] around the fact that killing people for

[13:47] their ideas is horrendous and awful and

[13:50] unamerican and bad and has no place here

[13:52] like what are we even doing?

[13:54] >> Yeah, that's exactly right. And the only

[13:56] way to get unonymity about around that

[13:58] fact is to acknowledge that we do have a

[14:01] problem. Like you first sort of

[14:02] acknowledge the problem. That's you know

[14:04] a cliche at this point. You have to

[14:06] acknowledge the problem before you can

[14:07] actually solve it. And right now you

[14:09] have a number of people who actually

[14:10] think words are violence. And if words

[14:12] are violence then one reasonable

[14:14] response to people saying things you

[14:16] don't like is to kill them. And we have

[14:19] to just completely reject that in the

[14:21] United States of America. That's one of

[14:22] the reasons why I wanted to get out

[14:23] there to miss uh to go and do this

[14:25] because I think that engagement really

[14:26] matters. And it's not most people,

[14:29] right? This is the good news. It's not

[14:30] most people who think that Charlie,

[14:33] meaning most people on the left who

[14:34] think that Charlie deserved to die

[14:36] because they said something that, you

[14:37] know, they had disagreed with or that

[14:38] they even found offensive, but it is a

[14:41] large enough and powerful enough

[14:42] minority. Um, you know, it's pretty

[14:45] wellunded. There's a lot of resources

[14:47] behind it. There are a lot of powerful

[14:48] media voices behind it. And it is, I

[14:51] think, the most significant domestic

[14:53] problem we have in the United States of

[14:55] America is this justification of

[14:57] violence, which then of course leads to

[14:59] the real thing.

[15:00] >> Yeah. And you you talked about the

[15:02] funding networks. We had Secretary Scott

[15:04] Bessant uh on the show yesterday.

[15:06] Treasury is taking a leading role in

[15:08] this. He said he he described uh

[15:11] Charlie's assassination as a domestic

[15:12] 9/11 uh of its own right. And the

[15:16] Treasury really got involved after 9/11

[15:17] to find these funding sources. That's

[15:20] right. that led to al-Qaeda being able

[15:21] to pull off that uh that horrendous

[15:23] attack. And so they're using some of

[15:26] those same systems and uh authorizations

[15:29] to go and root out the funding networks.

[15:31] Is there maybe anything maybe just

[15:33] philosophically anything you want to add

[15:34] to kind of what what what you maybe know

[15:36] what's going on there?

[15:38] >> Well, I I wouldn't even say

[15:39] philosophically, just a matter of

[15:41] practice. There there is some muscle

[15:43] memory that we're trying to create

[15:44] within the federal government. And I'll

[15:46] just be blunt with you. There is this

[15:48] idea that exists certainly not at the

[15:50] administration, not at the leadership

[15:51] level of of the political appointees,

[15:54] but there is a group of federal law

[15:56] enforcement, what you what you might

[15:58] call the deep state, where they almost

[16:01] automatically assume that left-wing

[16:03] political violence is protected by the

[16:06] First Amendment and right-wing political

[16:08] violence is a crime. And you you sort of

[16:10] see just that the basic muscle memory,

[16:13] the basic sort of apparatus of

[16:15] government is very very primed at

[16:18] right-wing political violence, but it's

[16:20] the instinct is to almost say, "Well,

[16:21] no, no, that left-wing political

[16:23] violence that's actually protected by

[16:24] the first amendment." Said, "No,

[16:26] political violence, wherever it comes

[16:27] from, is just not protected by the first

[16:29] amendment." And because we have such a

[16:31] big problem with leftwing political viol

[16:33] violence, we have to train the

[16:34] investigatory and law enforcement powers

[16:36] of the government to focus on that

[16:38] particular problem. Now, I think Scott

[16:40] maybe has the most important part of

[16:41] this because a lot of this is financial,

[16:43] right? If a brick gets thrown through a

[16:45] wall in a government building, who

[16:47] bought the brick?

[16:48] >> Uh if somebody shows up and is a paid

[16:50] protester, but then that person goes and

[16:51] riots and commits an act of violence,

[16:53] who paid for it? If you have an

[16:55] application that's helping people hunt

[16:57] down or even avoid law enforcement

[17:00] officers. Yes. Um if you're if you're

[17:03] helping immigrants avoid law illegal

[17:05] immigrants avoid ICE enforcement, but

[17:08] you're helping people actually target

[17:10] the law enforcement officers who are

[17:11] trying to enforce our immigration laws.

[17:13] Well, who's paying for the hosting

[17:14] there? Who's paying for the programming?

[17:16] There's an entire financial element of

[17:18] this, but we really have to ret terrain

[17:20] the entire government to focus on this

[17:21] leftwing violence problem. We're doing

[17:23] it. It's going to go a little bit slow,

[17:25] more slowly than we'd like, but we are

[17:26] doing it. Uh we there's you're making a

[17:29] little bit of news here uh yesterday on

[17:31] uh X, formerly known as Twitter about

[17:33] this Politico story, but I think it ties

[17:36] in because we're talking about this the

[17:37] celebratory nature of some, not many,

[17:40] maybe not most, but uh some and it was

[17:43] disgusting about Charlie's

[17:44] assassination. There is a a story and I

[17:47] believe it's they're the two stories are

[17:48] connected that came out of Politico

[17:50] yesterday. Blake, explain this for our

[17:52] audience for those who don't know. We

[17:53] don't need to wallow in it too much, but

[17:55] so Politico has a story where somehow

[17:58] they got their hands on something like

[18:00] 28,000 messages in some group chat group

[18:03] chat of I think 12 people that nobody's

[18:06] ever heard of, but they decided to just

[18:07] publish every single thing in this chat,

[18:09] whatever they found that they thought

[18:10] was the most salacious. And I think 10

[18:14] years ago, there would have been a very

[18:15] different response to it. But people are

[18:18] starting to learn from this. And the

[18:20] vice president is one of the reasons

[18:21] why. So you uh tweeted this. This is far

[18:25] worse uh than so what you did is instead

[18:28] of reacting to the story itself, you

[18:30] just posted what uh Jay Jones, our

[18:32] friend in Virginia who's running for AG

[18:34] as the Democrat had said where he wanted

[18:36] his political opponents to die and then

[18:38] when someone thought he might be

[18:39] kidding, he called to you know make it

[18:41] clear it wasn't a joke. I was serious.

[18:43] That's how people change their mind. And

[18:45] you just pointed out quote this is far

[18:47] worse than anything said in any college

[18:49] group chat. and the guy who said it

[18:51] could become the AG of Virginia. I

[18:54] refuse to join the pearl clutching when

[18:56] powerful people call for political

[18:58] violence. And we have 14 million views

[19:00] on that. And

[19:01] >> just a little viral, Mr. Vice President.

[19:03] Yeah. I mean, look, I I I'll let the

[19:05] tweet speak for itself. I'll say a

[19:06] couple of additional things. First of

[19:07] all, a person who is very politically

[19:10] powerful, who is about to become one of

[19:12] the most powerful law enforcement

[19:13] officers in the country, that person

[19:16] seriously wishing for political violence

[19:18] and political assassination is 1,000

[19:21] times worse than what a bunch of young

[19:24] people, a bunch of kids say in a group

[19:26] chat, however offensive it might be.

[19:28] That's just the reality. And if you

[19:30] allow yourself to be distracted by this

[19:32] person's incredible endorsement,

[19:35] disgusting endorsement of political

[19:37] assassination by focusing on what kids

[19:40] are saying in group chat, grow up. I'm

[19:42] sorry. Focus on the real issues. Don't

[19:44] focus what on what kids say in group

[19:46] chats. But there's another angle to this

[19:48] that I I just have to be honest about. I

[19:50] mean, I'm like an old guy at this point.

[19:51] I'm 41 years old. I have three kids. uh

[19:53] you know we we I I I grew up in a

[19:56] different world, right? Where not most

[19:57] of what I the stupid things that I did

[19:59] when I was a teenager and a young adult,

[20:01] they're they're not on the internet.

[20:03] Like I'm going to tell my kids,

[20:04] especially my boys, don't put things on

[20:07] the internet. Like be careful with what

[20:09] you post. If you put something in a

[20:11] group chat, assume that some scumbag is

[20:13] going to leak it in an effort to try to

[20:14] cause you harm or cause your family

[20:16] harm. But the reality is that kids do

[20:19] stupid things, especially young boys.

[20:22] They tell edgy, offensive jokes. Like

[20:24] that's what kids do. And I really don't

[20:26] want us to grow up in a country where a

[20:28] kid telling a stupid joke, telling a

[20:31] very offensive stupid joke is caused to

[20:34] ruin their lives. And at some point,

[20:35] we're all all going to have to say

[20:37] enough of this BS. We're not going to

[20:40] allow the worst moment in a

[20:42] 21-year-old's group chat to ruin a kid's

[20:45] life for the rest of time. That's just

[20:47] not okay. Like, we live in a digital

[20:49] world. this stuff is now etched in stone

[20:51] online. We're all gonna have to say, you

[20:53] know what? No, no, no. We're not doing

[20:55] this. We're not canceling kids because

[20:57] they do something stupid in a group

[20:59] chat. And uh if if I have to be the

[21:01] person who carries that message forward,

[21:02] I'm fine with it. And by the way, if

[21:04] they were left-wing kids telling stupid

[21:06] left-wing jokes, I would also not want

[21:08] the their lives to be ruined because

[21:10] they're saying something stupid in a

[21:11] private group chat.

[21:12] >> Well, you you and Charlie shared that,

[21:14] by the way. He he became I mean because

[21:16] he had so many young people at turning

[21:18] point that were working for him that did

[21:20] stupid things from time to time and he

[21:22] would refuse to to start you know

[21:24] engaging in the pearl clutching and

[21:26] especially in this moment where we have

[21:28] seen you know people celebrating

[21:30] Charlie's murder and there has been zero

[21:32] outrage as far as I can tell from

[21:34] Politico or others about something so

[21:37] vile as that. I'm still so disgusted

[21:38] that this is like something that we've

[21:40] put up with as a country. Uh Mr. Vice

[21:42] President. Uh, final minute to you.

[21:44] Whatever, whatever you want to expound

[21:46] upon.

[21:48] >> Say something interesting. That's always

[21:49] dangerous. Give a politician a free

[21:51] microphone for a minute. But I I I guess

[21:53] one, I mean, look, I I'm so proud of you

[21:55] guys. I think you're doing a great job.

[21:56] I know it's very hard uh to grieve for a

[21:58] friend, but also to try to carry on an

[22:00] impossibly large legacy. I'm here to

[22:03] support you guys while you're doing it.

[22:04] Yeah. I I I will just say that for for

[22:07] all of the the negativity and the hate

[22:10] and the people celebrating Charlie's

[22:12] assassination, for every one negative

[22:15] moment, I've had a thousand positive

[22:17] moments in the past month. I've had

[22:19] people who've come up to me who said, "I

[22:20] went back to church because Charlie got

[22:22] shot."

[22:23] >> I've had people come up and say that

[22:25] they they they they listen to his clips

[22:27] for the first time. They didn't even

[22:28] know who he was. especially like older

[22:29] people who didn't know who he was before

[22:31] he was killed, but now they're consuming

[22:33] his video content and learning from it,

[22:35] getting back to their faith. I I just

[22:37] remember there there's a lot of love out

[22:39] there, and we should remember that for

[22:41] all of the hate out there, there's 10

[22:43] times as much love. So, I think that's

[22:45] that's has to be our charge as we move

[22:47] forward and carry on Charlie's legacy.