Scott Jennings on Defending Western Civilization and Carrying Forward Charlie Kirk's Legacy at Hillsdale College

We now face the most radical anti-American political opposition that any of us could imagine. It's scary really how much the liberal movement has been hijacked by the enemies of the West. Our [music] politics now more than ever is a fight for the future of the West. [music] Is to say that we are standing up for the values that built the free world. faith, reason, liberty, and the inherent worth of every human being. We are heirs to a legacy purchased by the courage of those who came before us. Men and women who believe that truth was worth dying for. It's really a quite an honor to be here tonight among all of you and to have dinner with Dr. Ar and this great table here. can assure you this is better than what I would normally be doing this time of the night, [laughter] which is taking quite a beating u on [snorts] behalf of our values. If any of you have seen my debates on CNN, I guess I should ask, do we have any CNN viewers here? It's a closed press event. You can admit it. [laughter] A hand or two. There's one over there. Three hands. Thank you for tripling our audience. We're very appreciative. >> [cheering] >> I'm trying to make it safe again. I promise you I am. If you've seen any of these debates that I'm involved in, you know that I am unaccustomed to speaking for more than six or seven seconds at a time without being interrupted. So, I'm going to do my best tonight to make it through a long speech under unusual circumstances. [snorts] I spend a lot of time at CNN. I'm in the office a lot. I'm on set a lot. I see some of you calculating whether I need prayer or therapy. Um, sometimes people ask me, "Scott, why do you willingly check yourself into an insane asylum on a nightly basis? I want to see if I can escape." You know, that's the the British tabloid media has taken to calling me the black sheep of CNN. That has its perks. When you're the black sheep, no one expects you to graze quietly. And I don't. I've made the calculation for as long as the good Lord wishes to dispatch me to be a pilgrim in an unholy land, I am going to make the most of it. So that is my mission here. [applause] [applause] It's a great honor to be invited to a national leadership seminar. I want to also take a moment and thank you all for this new learn like Charlie initiative that's going on here at the college. Um [applause] I wanted to say a word about my friend. I had gotten to know him a little bit in the last year. He was on Salem radio as well. while he had the two hours uh before me and then I would come on and we had started to do some things together and in just a few days before he was assassinated I was with him at an event in Colorado and we had this conversation in front of an audience like this about the future of Western civilization and then I was back on the air a few days later and literally broadcasting my radio show the moment he was shot and killed. So, I had to tell our audience what had happened to Charlie. And then I had to get in a car and drive across the bridge in Washington and go over to CNN. And by the time I had gotten there and got on the air, he had passed away. And so I lived through that traumatic day with our audience. And I've spent a lot of time reflecting on Charlie's life and the lessons of Charlie and what he meant to us and so many people. I have four boys. He was a ubiquitous presence in their lives. And Charlie was doing the thing that they always say that we should do. Talk to each other. Just as Dr. Arn said, talking is better than the alternative. And he died talking to someone, listening to someone who simply disagreed with him. That was his great sin. going into places where you don't normally find conservatives, college campuses, and listening and talking and debating. And so when I saw that Hillsdale was doing the Learn Like Charlie initiative, and I played the video that that was produced the other day on my radio show, I made a note to myself that when I came here tonight, I wanted to say on behalf of Salem and on behalf of everybody who knew and loved Charlie, thank you for being part of keeping his legacy alive. [applause] It was fun to see the president on the video calling the Declaration of Independence a real beauty. You know, I I spent a little time with him over the last year. I wrote a book that came out in November. It's called A Revolution of Common Sense, which is a phrase the president used in his inaugural address last January. said, "We're going to have a revolution of common sense." I was sitting on the set at CNN next to Van Jones. We were listening to the speech. The president said that phrase and I said, "Van, that would make a great title for a book." He said, "Please don't." So, I did. Um, I went over to the White House. I didn't really know the president that well. I went over to the White House in early February to uh pitch him on the idea of writing a book. And I hadn't been in the Oval Office in some time. I wasn't really welcome there during the Biden and Obama years. Uh but I came to the Oval Office and opened the door and expected to see the president, but inside was the entire cabinet, most of the White House senior staff. And you know, I had to remember the president really only knows me from television. So I opened the door and I stepped inside and he looked up from the Resolute desk and he said, "You look terrific. I mean, you look good on TV, but you actually look terrific. have a seat next to the other Scott Bessant, the Treasury Secretary, [cheering] who's the other Scott in Washington now. So, I plop down on the couch and uh he's talking. He's got them all in there. He's conducting like six or seven meetings at the same time. He says, "Does everybody here know Scott? He's like our best guy. HE KNOWS HOW TO DEFEND me without getting fired, which is no small thing. [applause and cheering] Well, before you clap, listen to the end. To be honest, Scott used to be a little bit average, but then I came along and now he's terrific. >> [applause and cheering] >> All true, Mr. President. So, I sat there for two hours waiting to pitch him on this book and he's got Lutnik and Bessant talking about tariffs and he's got Rubio and Witoff in there talking about Hamas. And in the middle of the whole thing, some kid comes running in the door and says, "Mr. president. They are still using paper straws in the White House mess. They must have not gotten the order. I guess they bought a bunch during the last administration. I'm watching this whole thing unfold and I thought to myself, I have no idea who was running the country the last four years, but I sure as heck know who's running it right now. [applause] [cheering] >> [applause] >> About halfway through writing the book, I didn't know what to put on the cover. So, I had the publisher mock up three ideas. I sent them over to the White House. About 10 minutes later, I get an email from Caroline Levit that says three words, he hates it. So, uh I texted him and I said, "What's your favorite picture of yourself from the first 100 days?" And I got back one photo. And if you've seen the book, somebody had one here tonight. uh that is his favorite picture of himself from the first 100 days in office which the book largely covers. So in November when the book was published the night before I went to the Oval Office and I took the book in and I said Mr. President as promised I am delivering this book to you before Christmas. And he looked at the book and he said this IS THE GREATEST COVER of a book I've ever seen. SCOTT, NO one will read your book. They'll only want it for the cover. which pierced my heart somewhat since I had written 85,000 words after all. But it was a great honor to write the book. Made the New York Times bestseller list, which is not easy for a conservative book. Um, [applause] and it's not easy for a conservative author on CNN because I don't think I sold too many books talking about it on CNN. But we had a great uh experience traveling around and uh and talking about it. And so for those of you who've read it, I talked to a few of you this evening. I I sincerely appreciate it. The book's really about, you know, I think when you're a Republican president, there are four colluding interests that seek to destroy you. Democrats, bureaucrats, the media, and increasingly the federal judiciary. These four pillars collude to destroy you. And it happened somewhat to President Trump in the first term. But the story of the book, if you haven't read it, is this time around the decision was made. They are not going to overwhelm us. We are going to overwhelm them. And that is exactly what he has done. [applause] [applause] So I hope you get a chance to buy it. It's somewhat discounted on Amazon these days, so you're getting it at a quite a steal right now. Upon being invited to this event this evening, I knew two things. I knew this was going to be a serious room, and I knew that I'd better be prepared to bring serious arguments. This is not a crowd that is impressed by vibes. It's a crowd that reads the footnotes. And in 2026 in America, that makes you a countercultural force. So, I'll just say it plainly. Supporting Hillsdale right now is not a casual hobby. It is a statement. It says that you believe education is about formation, not indoctrination. It says that you believe that truth exists and can be known. And it says that you believe young Americans deserve to inherit a country that they understand before they try to fundamentally transform it. >> [applause] >> We're living in an era when many elite institutions have decided their job is not to teach students how to think, but what to think. And often what they're being taught to think is antithetical to the founding principles of our country, to the concept of American exceptionalism. We have universities out there with enormous endowments and very fragile constitutions. We have administrators who talk endlessly about diversity but panic at the sight of a conservative coming within 500 ft of their campus. Somewhere along the way, excellence became suspect. Merit became controversial. Western civilization became something to apologize for or worse tear down. And then there's Hillsdale. No federal money, no strings, no ideological fashion chasing, no bending the knee to the spirit of the age. Just a steady, stubborn insistence that ordered liberty is worth understanding and preserving. >> Absolutely. [applause] >> [applause] >> There's great liberation and independence as we found out 250 years ago. This kind of independence doesn't happen by accident. It happens because of the people in this room. And I think sometimes supporters of great causes underestimate their role. You're not just helping fund a college. You're underwriting an alternative to American decline. You are strengthening an institution that refuses to outsource its convictions. You're saying that courage and higher education is still possible. And I have to tell you from where I sit, this matters enormously because I spend a lot of time in studios and in rooms where America is described as irredeemably broken. Where founders, our founding fathers are treated as villains, where patriotism is dismissed as simplistic. where the loudest and most uninformed voices often win the debates. Well, when I'm not on, regardless of whether they're right. It's refreshing to be with people who believe in the American experiment and that it is profoundly a force for good in this world. Who believe that liberty requires virtue. Who believe that self-government requires self-discipline. who believe rights are not invented by government but recognized by it. These are not partisan ideas. They are foundational and they are fragile if not taught and reinforced. And that is what I think makes Hillsdale different. It isn't loud. It isn't trendy. It isn't chasing headlines. It isn't doing the things that are destroying from the inside other universities in this country. This university is building citizens. And right now the word citizen means more than it ever has quietly, deliberately, confidently. And I think confidence is contagious. Right now across this country, parents are looking for something solid. Students are looking for clarity. Communities are looking for institutions that don't wobble with every cultural gust of wind. What you represent to me is steadiness. And steadiness is attractive in unstable times. So tonight, as we gather, I hope you'll take a moment to appreciate what you're part of. This is not nostalgia. This is not reaction, but rather this is construction. You're helping build the next generation of Americans who understand first principles. And first principles, I think, right now are having a moment because when systems strain, when politics gets loud and obnoxious, when institutions falter, people rediscover that freedom only works when it is rooted in something deeper. So I want to say thank you for your generosity, for your conviction, for believing that excellence is still worth demanding. Thank you for standing with an institution that stands firm in its mission. In a noisy age, clarity is rare. In a drifting age, anchors matter. And tonight, I am grateful to be with a group of people that understands both. Thank you all very much. [applause] >> [applause] [applause] [applause] [applause] >> I hope you're not standing because you want me to be finished. I have a whole uh [laughter] program here to give you. I do want to speak to you all this evening about what I believe our mutual calling to be. It is my sincerest belief that everyone in this room is fighting for the future of Western civilization. I've been involved in politics now for a long time, 26 years. Over half my life spent in service to the conservative cause. Candidates have come and gone. The issues of the day have evolved over the years. Goodness knows our opponents have changed. We now face the most radical anti-American political opposition that any of us could imagine. It's scary really how much the liberal movement has been hijacked by the enemies of the west by those who believe the American founding to be rotten at its core and that it should be ripped out root and branch and because of that our politics now more than ever is a fight for the future of the west and there is one thing that I know in this fight we can seed no ground not in politics, not in business, not in education, not in culture, and certainly not in my arena, which is the media. We are all on the front lines of a fight that will determine whether our children and grandchildren grow up in a world where the values of the West persevere or whether they will grow up in a world shrouded in darkness under ideologies and belief systems that are the very enemies of human liberty. To say that we are defending the west is to say that we are standing up for the values that built the free world. Faith, reason, liberty, and the inherent worth of every human being. The west is not just a place on a map. It is a set of ideas born in Jerusalem, Athens and Rome and carried forward by generations who believed in truth, individual responsibility and the rule of law. It is the civilization that produced the Bible, the university, and our constitution. And it taught us that freedom is sacred because it comes from God and not from government. [applause] >> [applause] >> To defend the West, as we all do, is to defend the right to speak freely, to worship freely, to raise our families in peace, and to live by moral conviction rather than mob coercion. our movement, our voices, all of you in this room. We make up a community, one of the last remaining in America that is still unapologetically dedicated to preserving and passing down the moral and spiritual inheritance of the West. It is my view that we are simply no longer just arguing about the politics of the day, the politics as usual. We're not just disagreeing about tax rates and health care plans anymore. We are doing nothing less than fighting for the soul of this nation, the survival of this nation, and of the civilization that produced it. This is what keeps me up at night. That we are watching the basics of our society come under constant attack. The radical left, the enemies of the west are going after anyone who builds anything, who believes anything, or who stands for anything. As we speak, there are radicals on the streets of America in places like Minneapolis and Los Angeles who are making clear that nothing short of violent confrontation and mayhem will satisfy them because they wish to exist in a state of secession from our union and I think more broadly in a state of secession from Western civilization. Tim Walls, the governor of Minnesota, the biggest buffoon in American politics. [applause and cheering] Governor Walls himself has referred to what is happening in Minneapolis as the new Fort Sumpter, openly fantasizing about a new American Civil War. I suppose Democrats haven't changed that much since the 1850s. >> [laughter] >> People like Tim Walls and many others in his party, he's hardly alone, do not believe in national borders or national laws or in any sort of legal order. And to enforce this anti-American, anti-Western worldview, they are unleashing a legion of political vigilantes backed up by news media and cultural celebrities who I believe have blood on their hands. They do not care how many brainwashed people get hurt or die. They are bloodthirsty because they can no longer contain their disdain for the moral contours of Western civilization and American democracy. Let us stop pretending that this is about legitimate protest. This is about nothing less than tearing down the United States of America. >> [applause] >> What we are seeing today in the form of this anti-ICE movement has worn many costumes in recent years. Black Lives Matter, Free Palestine, and now an allout assault on federal law enforcement and more broadly on federal laws themselves. different costumes, but the same anti-American, anti-Western actors performing in the same sick play. The theme of this tragedy is simple. America is bad. Destroy America. We have, I think, a nullification crisis on our hands. Democrats who wish to nullify federal laws. judges who wish to nullify the authority of the president of the United States. Juries who wish to nullify the rights of victims to seek justice from the destruction wrought by these anti-Western actors. When you look at the pantheon of violent attacks that have been going on for months against our Jewish brothers and sisters, against private companies like Tesla, against federal law enforcement, against our friend Charlie, against anyone who poses a threat to the march toward the destruction of the West. The message they are sending us is pretty clear. shut up or we'll shut you up. But when they tell you to shut up, when they begin to talk over you, it's because they know they are losing the argument. When they try to silence you, it's because they cannot beat our ideas with their own. When they resort to violence, it's because they've already lost the debate. People often ask me, "What does the Republican party or the conservative movement stand for these days? Hasn't it changed a lot since you came along 25, 26 years ago?" Sure, there have been changes. Leaders have come and gone. They've all left their imprint on our platform and on our movement. But to me, the answers today are fairly simple. I'll start here. We're the people who can tell the difference between men and women. >> [applause] >> We're the people fighting for true civil rights because we believe in truth. God-given immutable truth when it comes to gender. If you can erase someone's gender, you can erase them from the law. And we will not permit that to happen to the women of this country. [applause] Look what happened at the Supreme Court recently and in the halls of Congress. The smartest people on the American left, the smartest lawyers and the smartest doctors were dispatched. Some to the court, some to the hearing room. They could not answer simple questions. What is a woman? Can a man get pregnant? And increasingly there are other questions they cannot answer. Should only American citizens participate in American elections? Should we throw our elections open to people who can't show a simple ID at the polls? They cannot answer. This is the state of the intellectual foundation of the American left. What else are we? We're the people that think American citizens should come before illegal aliens. We're the people that believes you should keep more of what you earn. We're the people who believe in protecting life, born and unborn. We're the people who believe in free speech. We're the only people fighting for the future of the West. And as our president has told the world, we are the people running the revolution of common sense. [applause] I also get asked from time to time whether or not I get along with my co-workers at CNN. I'll tell you the truth. The answer is a few of us, yes, we do get along. For a few of us, we open our hearts and our ears to each other before we open our mouths, which is a good rule for punditry, but it's also a good rule for life. I think I tend to gravitate to the people who argue in good faith and with good humor. They do exist. But increasingly I am encountering people who are extremely angry, rageful. They use the language of hate. You've heard it. They call you racist, fascists, Nazis. You hear this on a daily basis. As we build the coalition of common sense, I sometimes think about what is happening to the other side. Why are they so angry? Why are they headed in the exact opposite direction? Why, if we are building the coalition of common sense, have they decided to embrace becoming the party of uncommon nonsense? So, [snorts] I'll just say out loud what I think most everyone in this room knows to be true. These people have completely lost their minds. [snorts] And I will sum it up for you. They care more about pronouns than paychecks. They still are trying to put boys in girls locker rooms. They are working harder for criminals than they have ever worked for victims. Their number one constituency today, illegal aliens and not American citizens. and they are hostile to those of us who believe in the Judeo-Christian underpinnings that anchor our laws and our culture. They have become the party of weirdos and scolds of people who think your 5-year-old needs to know more about gender fluidity than phonics. They want to control everything. They want government making decisions that you should be making for yourself. And if you disagree, if you speak up as a matter of politics or even as a matter of faith, well, we saw what happened to Charlie. [snorts] We saw what nearly happened to our president in Butler, Pennsylvania. And today we see many on the American left promising retribution against anyone who supports law and order, who supports the president or even the American Union itself. Something crucial to understand about the left. They hate success. They hate it when people make it on their own. They hate it when you don't need them. Think about what they teach our kids in schools and universities across this country. That America was founded on racism. That our country is rotten at its core. That capitalism is evil. That hard work is for suckers. That merit is a dirty word. That the nuclear family is oppressive, especially to women. that faith is for idiots and rubes from places like Dawson Springs, Kentucky. Is it any wonder that Charlie spent his life trying to reach young people on college campuses? He saw what was happening. I think when the shooter pulled the trigger in Utah, he thought he was ending a movement. He thought if he could kill someone like Charlie Kirk, he could kill what Charlie stood for. that the rest of us would get the message that we would heed the warning. Silence yourselves or we will do it for you. That's what they thought. But in trying to silence one voice, I believe they've created thousands. And in trying to end one conversation, they have started millions. [applause] Ultimately, what Charlie stood for was faith and freedom. And here's the thing about those two items. You can't kill them. You can try to suppress it. And throughout our history, people have tried to silence it, but they always find a way. Like water finding cracks in a dam. [snorts] I have four boys back home in Kentucky. 16, 12, 10, and 8. It's a little bit of chaos. We have four boys and we have 35 laying hens in the backyard. Anybody in here raised chickens? Few hands. Never get a rooster. [laughter] I'm warning you. They crow all day and they constantly sexually harass their co-workers. We named our rooster Governor Cuomo. That's what we did. [applause] Oh, you should have been there the day we impeached the governor. It was quite a scene. [snorts] But we love the chickens and we love our boys. And when I think about their future, I don't want them to grow up in just a rich country. I want them to grow up in a good country >> that believes in truth, that protects their free speech, that celebrates family and the blessings and societal stability that flows from it. A country where common sense is a virtue and not a vice. A country that can tell the difference between right and wrong, that chooses good over evil, and that sides with civilization over barbarism. And make no mistake, we have seen with our own eyes barbarism of the worst kind in this world over the last couple of years perpetrated against the people of Israel. And look what happened in the West. People who know better, media people, politicians, heads of state of supposed western nations sided with the barbarians. Was absolutely disgusting. But this is what we're all fighting for. not for an abstract political theory, but for real life, for the future of this nation and the survival of our civilization. I'll tell you what else I want for my boys and for all of yours. I want them to grow up in a country that understands where our rights come from. They do not come from government. They do not come from the Constitution. They don't come from the founding fathers as much as we love them all. They come from God. [applause] This used to be obvious to everyone, Dr. Arn, but now it's controversial. The left wants you to believe that your rights are whatever they decide to give you. That's so they can take them away. so easily. If government gives you the right to do something, well, government can change its mind next week. But if your rights come from God, that is something different altogether. No politician can vote them away. No judge can rule them out of order. And no angry mob can shout them down. We answer to a higher power when it comes to our rights as human beings, as God's children. This is why the left is so hostile to faith. It's not really about church service or prayer in school. It is about power. They need you to believe that they are the highest authority in your life. But people of faith know better. We know there is something above the state, something more important than politics, something that judges the judges. When you understand that your rights are God-given, you cannot be intimidated. When you know that you'll answer to a higher authority than some government bureaucrat. You cannot be bullied into silence. When you realize that truth isn't determined by polling or politics, but rather by something eternal, you can stand firm even when it seems like the rest of the world is going insane or that everyone else in the TV studio has lost their mind. This is the foundation of American freedom. That's what makes our nation different. And that is what they are trying to destroy. We have to be real and honest about what we're facing. Many on the left have gone from disagreeing with us to trying to destroy us. At a minimum, they want to shut you down and shut you up forever. They'll throw you in jail in Europe right now if you post the wrong thing on social media. Think it can't happen here. Here, they censored you. They tried to lock up your president. They manipulated information that you could see on the doorstep of an election. And now Charlie is gone. [snorts] Why? For politics, for power, for this uncommon ideological nonsense. It is not politics as usual. It is something darker, very dark. So what are we going to do? We're all going to wake up every day prepared to tell hard truths over comfortable lies. That's essentially my job on CNN, to tell the truth amid a bunch of howling lunatics who've created an alternate reality built on lies and desperation to destroy Western civilization. We have to teach our children to think for themselves, which is what you do at Hillsdale. We have to show them in our lives every day that America is worth fighting for with our words, with our votes, and with our courage. We have to teach them to love their country because they are being bombarded every day by people who are teaching them to hate it. A nation of young people learning to love their country terrifies the enemies of the West because they need compliance and not questions. They prefer sheep to lions. But I think Americans are hungry for the truth. And I think when you give them a choice between being victims or being victors, they will choose victory. When you give them a choice between dependence and dignity, they will choose dignity. And when you give them a choice between loving America or hating it, they will choose love. Because we are a nation of patriots. And all we need are people like you, the people in this room, strong enough, committed enough to reclaim and proclaim the freedom on which this country was founded. So, as I close this evening, I'd like us all to remember that defending Western civilization is not an act of nostalgia. It is an act of stewardship. We are heirs to a legacy purchased by the courage of those who came before us. Men and women who believed that truth was worth dying for and that freedom was worth defending. To paraphrase the lion of the west, Winston Churchill, the flame of Christian civilization cannot be extinguished. It may flicker, but it will never go out. Our mission, your mission, is to spread light and truth in a confused world that desperately needs clarity, into a divided culture that needs your courage, and into a dark age that very much longs for the light. I firmly believe that if we remain faithful to God and to the truths that built this great civilization, then our best days and the worlds are still ahead. Ladies and gentlemen, when it comes to defending the West, failure is not an option. Thank you. God bless Hillsdale. God bless the United States of America. Thank you all. [applause]