Riley Gaines Reflects on Charlie Kirk's Legacy, Gender Ideology, and the Pro-Life Movement at Amfest

[00:02] Understand our entire society falls

[00:05] apart if we do not know the difference

[00:07] between men and women [music] and

[00:09] sanction the permanent and irreversible

[00:12] harm and sterilization of children.

[00:15] [music]

[00:15] What they're selling is not compassion,

[00:17] it's fear. We are in a battle for

[00:20] reality itself. And we must fight like

[00:22] it because this war on woke, it has not

[00:25] yet been won. And the good news is that

[00:29] we are winning.

[00:39] [music]

[00:49] [music]

[00:50] Oh my goodness.

[00:53] Oh my goodness. Uh what a blessing it is

[00:56] to be here. Uh man, to see this to see

[00:59] you guys standing. Do you realize who

[01:02] you're giving a standing ovation to? And

[01:05] for what? You're giving a standing

[01:07] ovation to a girl for merely saying

[01:11] that there are two sexes.

[01:14] [cheering]

[01:19] That you can't change your sex. that

[01:22] each sex is deserving of equal

[01:24] opportunity, of privacy, and of safety.

[01:27] What an insane world we live in where

[01:29] that is considered brave or courageous.

[01:33] Uh I look out and I see a lot of people

[01:36] who probably share the same sentiments

[01:39] that I do. I mean, just about three

[01:42] months ago when we watched as our

[01:45] friend, a mentor of mine, technically my

[01:47] boss at Turning Point USA, was shot,

[01:50] murdered, assassinated in cold blood,

[01:53] right? It It's one of those moments

[01:55] where you'll never forget where you

[01:57] were, the disbelief that you feel

[01:59] initially, the total shock, and then you

[02:01] you learn that he had passed away,

[02:04] right? Those feelings of shock and

[02:06] disbelief turn into grief and

[02:08] tearfulness. I'm not proud to say it,

[02:10] but then they turn into anger and rage.

[02:13] How could this happen? How do we live in

[02:15] a world where we're seeing health care

[02:18] workers, uh, government employees,

[02:20] school teachers, people in our

[02:22] generation, maybe some of your peers in

[02:24] your classroom who are celebrating the

[02:26] assassination of of a father of two, of

[02:29] a husband. Uh maybe some of you were at

[02:32] the memorial service which I will say

[02:34] that was one of the most beautiful

[02:35] displays that I have ever seen to see so

[02:38] many people publicly elected officials

[02:40] proclaim the name of Christ where

[02:42] thousands in the stadium were watching

[02:44] and millions online. [applause]

[02:51] But Erica Kirk, it is hard to describe

[02:55] the impact that her speech had on

[02:57] everyone in the room, including myself.

[02:59] When I heard it, something awakened in

[03:03] me. It was a call to be a better to do

[03:06] better, to be better, a better wife, a

[03:08] better friend, a better daughter, a

[03:10] better mother, a better follower of

[03:13] Christ. In the hardest moment of her

[03:16] life, Erica chose forgiveness. She

[03:20] forgave her husband's assassin only 11

[03:22] days after he was murdered in cold blood

[03:24] in front of thousands in person and

[03:26] where it will live on the internet

[03:28] forever.

[03:30] Only through God can a grieving widow

[03:32] have the heart, the serenity, and the

[03:34] strength to do something so

[03:36] extraordinary. So seeing that, seeing

[03:39] you all, those feelings of anger that I

[03:42] once had, of course, there's still grief

[03:46] there, but I feel hopeful and I feel

[03:48] optimistic and I feel inspired

[03:52] uh this morning, which this is like true

[03:54] Riley fashion. I had not planned at all

[03:57] what I was going to say when I got on

[03:58] this stage. Uh there's a unique

[04:01] opportunity. Of course, I recognized

[04:02] that when you're standing on a stage

[04:04] like this, an opportunity for clarity,

[04:06] for for courage, and if we choose it,

[04:09] for real impact. I thought about some of

[04:11] the things that I I could mention, some

[04:13] of the winds that we've seen surrounding

[04:15] gender ideology and parental rights and

[04:17] the safeguarding of children under the

[04:19] 47th president of the United States,

[04:21] President Donald J. Trump. I thought

[04:24] about [applause] I thought about talking

[04:27] about some of the work that we still

[04:28] have left to do because believe me there

[04:30] is still a lot of that. But after

[04:33] talking with so many of you uh and

[04:35] hearing some of the other speakers on

[04:36] this stage I felt compelled to talk

[04:38] about something that I believe is more

[04:40] foundational something deeper uh because

[04:44] there's a demographic of people right

[04:46] now who are desperate not not for

[04:48] slogans but for the truth. That

[04:51] demographic is young people. I think

[04:53] more specifically young women, future

[04:56] families,

[04:57] uh they're being shaped by a culture

[04:59] that has no idea where it's going and no

[05:02] interest in telling them the truth about

[05:04] what actually leads to joy. And and so

[05:07] to just share a few things that I've

[05:09] learned over the past few years that

[05:11] feel especially relevant to young people

[05:13] in this cultural moment. First and

[05:15] foremost, most obviously, Benny Johnson

[05:17] said it. It's that gender ideology is an

[05:20] evil lie from the pit of hell. It is a

[05:23] lie

[05:25] that is built on deception. It is built

[05:28] on discouragement. It is built on

[05:30] destruction. And who does that sound a

[05:33] lot like, by the way? It tells people,

[05:36] it's a lie that tells people that

[05:37] they're correct to feel as if they're

[05:39] born wrong, that our creator made a

[05:43] mistake in creating them. What a

[05:44] horrible message. I I say this with a a

[05:47] saddened heart. It is tragic that the

[05:51] suicide rate amongst this community is

[05:54] so high, but it's no surprise when we're

[05:56] telling people they're correct to feel

[05:59] as if they're born wrong. That's a

[06:00] horrible message. We should be telling

[06:03] people, children or adults for that

[06:05] matter, that they're born intentionally

[06:08] and uniquely in God's perfect image. And

[06:11] how amazing is it that we have a creator

[06:13] who doesn't make mistakes? [applause]

[06:18] It is a lie that leads to children and

[06:22] adults to castrating and sterilizing

[06:25] themselves by cutting off healthy body

[06:27] parts or injecting themselves with some

[06:29] sort of synthetic or unnatural

[06:31] substance. Chasing satis satisfaction

[06:34] that will never last. And I know as a

[06:36] Christian that the only place we will

[06:38] ever find real satisfaction is when we

[06:40] place our identity in Christ. And it

[06:42] won't be long, by the way, before we

[06:43] look back and call this weird blip of

[06:46] time that we're living in, uh,

[06:49] especially the medicalization side of

[06:50] things. We call that accurately what it

[06:52] is, which is the biggest medical scandal

[06:54] this world has ever seen and a very

[06:56] profitable one at that.

[06:59] [applause]

[07:02] The only thing that I believe to be more

[07:05] sinister than cutting off healthy body

[07:08] parts is prematurely ending a life

[07:10] before those body parts ever even get a

[07:13] chance to develop.

[07:17] [applause]

[07:20] If you didn't know, uh my husband and I,

[07:22] we welcomed a beautiful baby girl into

[07:25] this world just a few weeks ago.

[07:27] [cheering]

[07:30] Um, [applause]

[07:31] her name is Margot. Uh, she is the light

[07:35] of my life and the best thing that I

[07:37] have ever done, bar none. Uh, I'll tell

[07:39] you before becoming a mom, I mean, I

[07:42] thought I understood what it meant to be

[07:44] pro-life. I've always had conservative

[07:46] values. More importantly, I always

[07:49] understood that again, we have a creator

[07:51] who breathes life and value and purpose

[07:54] into every child in the womb and beyond

[07:56] it. I understood the arguments that that

[07:59] prolifers made. Of course,

[08:01] intellectually, I I believed it morally,

[08:04] I could argue it politically, but

[08:06] becoming a mother, which it's still

[08:09] surreal to be able to call myself that,

[08:11] it changed everything. Hearing her

[08:15] heartbeat at that first appointment that

[08:17] you go to, the 8-week appointment, then

[08:20] going to the 20we anatomy scan and

[08:22] hearing the words, "It's a girl." uh

[08:25] going through the magical transformative

[08:28] labor and delivery process.

[08:31] Of course, her being here, it it proved

[08:34] to me that that life, it's no longer

[08:38] theoretical. It was no longer a debate.

[08:41] It wasn't about policy or politics

[08:42] anymore. She's a human being. Small,

[08:46] yes. Dependent, yes. Fragile, yes. But

[08:50] infinitely valuable. placed directly in

[08:54] my care. Uh, motherhood has made me

[08:57] radically pro-life. It has made the

[09:00] thought, the idea, the practice of

[09:02] abortion hurt like like deeply and

[09:06] viscerally. And I think it's because

[09:08] when you experience that kind of love, I

[09:10] know the parents in the room know this.

[09:12] When you experience that kind of love,

[09:14] you understand something that our

[09:15] culture works really, really hard to

[09:18] deny.

[09:19] Life is not disposable. Dependence is

[09:23] not a flaw. And vulnerability is not

[09:25] something to be eliminated. It is

[09:27] something to be protected.

[09:30] [applause]

[09:34] Which by the way, women uh you have been

[09:39] lied to uh for decades through

[09:42] propaganda. To be very very clear,

[09:46] transgenderism,

[09:47] sexual liberation, and abortion have

[09:49] nothing to do with women's rights.

[09:52] Calling these movements feminism is not

[09:56] only inaccurate, but it's it's

[09:58] dangerous. It's destructive. Feminism

[10:01] promised empowerment. But you know what

[10:03] it delivered? It delivered emptiness. It

[10:06] sold women the lie that children are

[10:08] burdens, that family is a limitation,

[10:11] and that fulfillment comes from

[10:12] self-centered autonomy rather than

[10:14] self-giving love. Charlie's message, one

[10:18] that he said often on campuses on his

[10:20] show, right? Get married, have babies,

[10:23] have as many as you can and as early in

[10:25] your married life as you can. It was so

[10:28] powerful and it's something that

[10:29] resonated deeply and personally with me,

[10:32] but beyond that, not just because it was

[10:35] what some people would call provocative

[10:37] or outdated or offensive. Um, I believe

[10:41] it was effective because he lived it. It

[10:44] was clear to him that family was the

[10:48] happiest and most meaningful part of his

[10:50] life. And so for clarity, am I saying

[10:52] that every single woman should have

[10:55] children? No. I'm not. I believe it's

[10:58] the most rewarding thing, the most

[10:59] fulfilling thing that we can do as women

[11:02] so long as you're able. But no one is

[11:04] forcing you into it. Although, I will

[11:06] say President Trump is making it easier

[11:09] for families to thrive. He is the most

[11:12] pro-life president in history.

[11:15] [applause]

[11:19] [applause] Under President Trump, we

[11:21] have seen the defunding of Planned

[11:22] Parenthood, which is an organization

[11:24] that for far too long, you and I,

[11:28] taxpayers funded, an organization that

[11:31] receives $792 million annually. And what

[11:34] they did with that money, of course,

[11:36] they performed nearly 400,000 uh 400,000

[11:39] abortions annually. They promoted gender

[11:42] ideology. They administered hormones to

[11:44] minor minors. They supported the

[11:46] Democratic Party politically. So, we

[11:48] thank President Trump through this and

[11:49] and the passage of the big beautiful

[11:51] bill. Uh we've seen President Trump work

[11:53] to to implement economic and tax

[11:55] policies that benefits parents. We've

[11:57] seen the new Trump savings accounts for

[12:00] for children. Uh but he recognized that

[12:04] being pro-life,

[12:06] it means more than protecting life

[12:08] inside the womb. It means building a

[12:11] culture that supports women before,

[12:13] during, and after motherhood. Again,

[12:16] President Trump is doing that. And

[12:17] Charlie Kirk did that. He knew that

[12:21] after Charlie's death, I mean, even

[12:23] before Charlie's death, uh, we've seen

[12:26] online voices who would go on to call

[12:28] him everything under the sun. One of

[12:30] those things being a misogynist.

[12:32] That accusation, of course, it's false.

[12:34] Honestly, it's lazy. If you could get

[12:36] yourself to to watch past the out of

[12:39] context 5-second clip or or the out of

[12:41] context headline, you'd know that. But I

[12:44] want to tell you that Turning Point USA

[12:46] offers six months of paid maternity

[12:49] leave leave for moms because they

[12:52] recognize that families matter.

[12:56] [applause]

[12:59] You would be really hardressed to find

[13:02] that anywhere else. So I'm here to say

[13:04] that Charlie Kirk was the worst

[13:06] misogynist ever. These are the same lies

[13:10] again that are told about President

[13:11] Trump, right? They call him a

[13:13] misogynist. Yet he has done more to

[13:15] protect women's safety first and

[13:17] foremost by shutting the border by the

[13:19] way. Uh to protect women's privacy, to

[13:24] detect protect our rights to equal

[13:26] opportunity. Again, he's done more on

[13:28] that regard than any president certainly

[13:30] in modern history. And he's appointed

[13:33] more women to his cabinet positions than

[13:36] any Republican president in both his

[13:37] first and second terms. So if their goal

[13:40] was to erase women's rights as the left

[13:44] claims, then they've done a pretty

[13:46] horrible job. And so to the young people

[13:50] here, I I really want to send you a

[13:52] message directly.

[13:54] I recognize that you are growing up in a

[13:57] culture that is really loud, that is

[14:01] confusing, that is deeply contradictory.

[14:05] You're told to chase independence, but

[14:08] you're punished for vulnerability.

[14:11] You're encouraged to reject limits, but

[14:14] given no guidance. You're told that you

[14:16] can be anything, women especially,

[14:18] except for faithful, for feminine, or or

[14:22] family oriented, without apology. So my

[14:25] message to you is that you can do those

[14:29] things. You matter. Young people in this

[14:31] room, they can't do this. this this

[14:34] mission that this mission that we're

[14:36] attempting to carry out at Turning Point

[14:37] USA for the conservative movement for

[14:40] the kingdom of Christ, it cannot be done

[14:43] without you all. If we're going to

[14:46] change the culture, if we're going to

[14:47] win the culture, we need you. Actually,

[14:51] we're relying on you. So, I'm here to

[14:54] tell you to be bold, to say the

[14:57] controversial thing, to be courageous.

[15:00] And by the way, courage doesn't always

[15:02] look like this, like applause, standing

[15:05] on a stage with the microphone in your

[15:07] hand behind a camera. That's not always

[15:09] what courage looks like. Sometimes it

[15:11] looks like standing alone. Sometimes it

[15:14] looks like telling the truth when it

[15:16] would be far easier to stay silent.

[15:19] I also want to tell you guys to

[15:22] challenge authority.

[15:24] Do it respectfully, of course, but don't

[15:26] let anyone tell you that you can't do

[15:28] something so long as it's legal because

[15:31] you're too young. Reject that. Look at

[15:34] what Charlie Kirk did at such a young

[15:37] age. What he was able to build over many

[15:39] years and now we're seeing and living

[15:40] and feeling the impact of it. I want to

[15:44] tell you guys to foster unity. Focus on

[15:47] defeating the enemy. And when I say

[15:50] defeating the enemy, I'm not talking

[15:51] about the left indirectly. Maybe I am,

[15:54] but I'm talking about Satan and the

[15:56] power that he has, the real and living

[15:59] power that he has on this earth.

[16:02] [applause]

[16:08] Uh, and I want to encourage you guys to

[16:09] live a life like Charlie did. He was

[16:12] very clear about the things that

[16:15] mattered in life, right? get married,

[16:17] have children, build a legacy, pass down

[16:20] your values, pursue the eternal, and to

[16:22] seek true joy. That was his mission. And

[16:26] that mission has now become his legacy.

[16:28] And it's our responsibility to carry it

[16:31] forward.

[16:32] And so when I look out and I see this

[16:36] against so many young faces, when I hold

[16:38] our daughter, I see a future worth

[16:41] protecting, a world worth fighting for,

[16:44] a reason to stand firm when it's easier

[16:47] to fold. One day, uh, our little baby

[16:51] Margot, she will grow up. Uh, she will

[16:54] learn who her mom is. And if there's one

[16:57] thing that I hope she learns from

[16:59] watching me, the fight that I've been

[17:02] fighting, we've collectively been

[17:04] fighting, I hope she learns this first

[17:07] and foremost, that being a woman is not

[17:10] a weakness. It doesn't make you inferior

[17:14] really. It's a a beautiful thing.

[17:16] [applause]

[17:17] I hope she learns that the truth, both

[17:21] in an objective sense, of course, in a

[17:23] biblical sense, is worth defending. I

[17:26] hope she learns that family is worth

[17:28] building and that faith in our creator

[17:30] calls us everyday Americans, common

[17:34] sense Americans. Our faith is what calls

[17:37] us to rise. Uh I appreciate you guys. I

[17:41] hope you are enjoying Amfest. It It's

[17:44] hard to see some of the different

[17:46] momentos of of Charlie sprinkled

[17:49] throughout uh the the speakers on this

[17:51] stage. uh some of the things that we're

[17:53] seeing in the in the exhibitor halls. Uh

[17:56] but just know what he built, it will

[18:00] live on so long as we do our parts. Uh I

[18:05] appreciate you guys. God bless you. God

[18:07] bless Turning Point USA. [applause]

[18:09] [cheering]

[18:19] [music]