Senator Markwayne Mullin on How Charlie Kirk Changed Gen Z and Transformed Republican Politics Forever

[00:00] probably in both of them uh in the

[00:02] country certainly for young people. With

[00:03] us now, Senator Mark Wayne Mullen of

[00:06] Oklahoma, very dear friend of Charlie

[00:07] Kirks. Um with us, Senator,

[00:11] we've talked a lot about the faith

[00:13] component of this. I want to talk about

[00:14] the politics for just a minute here. How

[00:17] is it that someone in their 20s, he

[00:19] started Turning Point USA when he was

[00:20] 18, got to the point where

[00:24] dozens of senators, members of Congress,

[00:28] and cabinet secretaries all credit their

[00:31] political careers to him.

[00:34] Well, you have you have a a guy that my

[00:37] mom said sent me a text message because

[00:38] she knew I was hurting because after

[00:40] losing friends, she says, "Marwin, I I I

[00:42] just want to share something with you."

[00:44] She said his spirit must have known he

[00:46] had a short time in life because he only

[00:49] had 31 years. And the impact he made,

[00:51] the impact he made is because he he

[00:53] combined his Christian faith,

[00:55] traditional values, and in his political

[00:58] views and took it to campuses where

[01:01] politicians weren't going. He changed

[01:03] the mindset. He let people think about,

[01:05] hey, it's okay to be a Christian. It's

[01:06] okay to support those values. It's okay

[01:08] to speak about it. It's okay to have

[01:10] differences. And it's okay to have open

[01:13] debate. and even the people's backyard

[01:16] where you're usually not welcome. He

[01:18] changed the way we viewed politics which

[01:21] is why today you have

[01:24] this is like the state of the union. I

[01:26] mean really you have cabinet members. I

[01:27] mean I know this but I'm talking about

[01:28] you never had this many political

[01:30] officials. You have the vice president.

[01:32] You have the president. You have no

[01:34] telling how many members of Congress.

[01:36] You have the entire cabinet here.

[01:39] And yet we're having praise and worship

[01:41] going on. I mean, seeing how

[01:42] the Republican the Republican party and

[01:44] and now the evangelical Christian

[01:46] community are now fully intertwined.

[01:48] Fully intertwined.

[01:49] So, we we've got that. But,

[01:50] and Charlie's the one that brought it

[01:51] together. I truly do believe that.

[01:53] Charlie's the one that actually started

[01:54] talking openly about it.

[01:56] 25 26 years old.

[01:57] Yeah. He started doing it at 18. What is

[01:59] the Republican party, what do members of

[02:03] Congress specifically and and vocal

[02:05] thought leaders in the Republican party

[02:07] take from Charlie Kirk's legacy of being

[02:09] willing to go and have respectful,

[02:12] thoughtful, aggressive debate and

[02:14] conversation, but without being

[02:17] disagreeable. You know, I think the

[02:20] Republican party has changed not because

[02:22] of that necessarily current elected

[02:25] politicians have changed. It's because

[02:26] the future politicians have changed. Gen

[02:30] Z

[02:31] has changed because of of of Charlie

[02:34] Kirk. Gen X has changed because of

[02:36] Charlie Kirk. Campuses, school campuses,

[02:39] college campuses have changed. London is

[02:42] starting to change. So Korea is starting

[02:44] to change because Charlie Kirk brought

[02:47] conversation, not violence, not hatred

[02:50] speech, not trying to stir the pot and

[02:52] use catchy phrases to to get people's

[02:54] attention and get them riled up. He just

[02:56] spoke with knowledge and he spoke with

[02:58] belief. He spoke with compassion. He

[03:00] spoke about it. He spoke about things he

[03:02] he deeply believed in and could

[03:04] articulate them better than anybody. And

[03:07] he won over the hearts and the minds of

[03:10] future generations. And it is it's

[03:12] amazing what's happening.

[03:14] Look, there's been a a lot that's

[03:16] happened. You time gets compressed and

[03:18] history gets flattened in moments like

[03:19] this. There's been a lot that's happened

[03:21] in the past 10 days.

[03:23] This has been compared to a lot of

[03:24] different moments in American history.

[03:26] It's been compared to the assassination

[03:29] of Martin Luther King. It's been

[03:30] compared to the murder of George Floyd.

[03:32] It's been compared to the Me Too

[03:33] movement. How do Republicans make sure

[03:37] that they harness and take this energy

[03:39] and it continues and it doesn't come

[03:41] around to eat itself?

[03:44] Well, we support the movement. This is

[03:47] this isn't just a legacy. This is a mind

[03:50] change for those that are financial.

[03:52] The mind change is going to

[03:55] our Christian values are something we

[03:57] should be proud of. Traditional values

[03:59] are something we should be proud of.

[04:00] Differences we can embrace. Let's have

[04:03] openspirited debates, but do it with a

[04:05] sense of compassion, not violence. But

[04:07] Charlie was silenced. He was

[04:09] assassinated because of he spoke the

[04:12] truth. He spoke the biblical truth. He

[04:14] spoke about the love. He spoke about

[04:16] compassion. He spoke about the history

[04:18] of our founding fathers. He spoke about

[04:19] the federalist papers and he could

[04:21] debate you about the constitution, what

[04:22] it was meant. He talked about the

[04:24] Christian faith of our founding fathers.

[04:26] And and too many people we have

[04:28] I think it's important to just know I

[04:29] can't hear anything. There's a sign

[04:30] right there that was being held up that

[04:32] said we are all Charlie.

[04:34] Yeah.

[04:34] And there I think that's why so many

[04:36] people are here because they feel like

[04:38] that he gave them a voice. He was their

[04:40] champion. What do we need to hear from

[04:43] President Trump today?

[04:44] You know, I I think President Trump is

[04:46] going to talk about his friend Charlie

[04:48] Kirk and what he meant to his political

[04:50] uh career, honestly. what he meant to

[04:53] his election, both of them. What he

[04:55] meant um what he meant to to the

[04:57] Republican party and what he meant to

[04:59] the people around the world. This is

[05:01] beautiful. I mean, this should be in in

[05:04] my my church right now. And we're having

[05:06] this at Cardinal Stadium. And by the

[05:08] way, Leland, there's twice as many

[05:10] people outside. I had to walk about 3/4

[05:13] of a mile to get into the stadium

[05:14] because we were stuck in traffic. It

[05:16] It says something that US senators are

[05:18] walking. Okay. I was walking I was

[05:20] walking a mile. Okay. But I'm just a

[05:21] reporter.

[05:22] But you have you have good shoes on. I

[05:23] got my boots on.

[05:24] Well, you know, see, you you thought you

[05:26] were going to be able to drive in. Uh

[05:29] you say we're going to hear from the

[05:30] president about his friend Charlie Kirk.

[05:33] What is How do Republicans seize on this

[05:36] moment to reach across the aisle? Do

[05:39] they need to? And if so, what do they

[05:41] say?

[05:42] I don't listen. That's up to the the

[05:44] other side. They spoke volume what

[05:46] happened Friday. When you have a

[05:49] resolution that all Republicans

[05:50] supported, the exact same resolution,

[05:52] different name, all Republicans

[05:54] supported on the the the lady that was

[05:56] unfortunately assassinated the state

[05:58] rep. And then it just Yeah. Just so we

[06:01] can Melissa Hortman, who was the

[06:04] Minnesota state rep who was assassinated

[06:06] back in the summer, every Republican

[06:09] voted resolution condemning that. And

[06:11] then you all put forth a resolution.

[06:13] Same resolution, different name, Charlie

[06:14] Kirk. You had 58 Democrats vote no. You

[06:17] had 38 vote president and 22 refuse to

[06:20] vote. That means you basically had 118

[06:22] Democrats vote no. I'm sorry. They got a

[06:25] problem. We don't. And I mean that

[06:28] sincerely. They've got a problem when

[06:29] they still can't recognize it. We're

[06:31] we're we're not the ones that spreading

[06:33] that they are.

[06:34] I hear you. Let me get one more question

[06:36] in though.

[06:37] The whole thing we're remembering here

[06:39] and what made him amazing was that he

[06:41] was willing to go on to college

[06:43] campuses. He was willing to have that

[06:44] debate. How do Republicans carry on that

[06:46] leg?

[06:47] It has to be willingness when this is

[06:48] what I'm trying to say and I agree with

[06:50] what you're saying. He was willing to go

[06:51] have that debate. You had an 118 that

[06:54] still aren't willing to talk.

[06:55] Fair enough.

[06:56] And that's that's a that's a real

[06:58] problem. You've seen you've seen leftist

[07:00] media now. They've changed their mindset

[07:02] a little bit. They changed their tune a

[07:03] little bit, but when it first happened,

[07:05] you s heard the most ridiculous comments

[07:07] that immediately started coming out.

[07:09] When their mindsets changed, we've

[07:10] always been here. Let's talk. Let's have

[07:12] a conversation. I'm okay. Look, I I can

[07:15] agree to disagree with anybody. I I

[07:17] we've had some pretty spirited debates

[07:19] on it. I don't take it personal. I I

[07:21] have I have been in very s interesting

[07:23] situations that when the fight's over,

[07:25] we can still be friends. That's why I

[07:26] have friends on both sides of the aisle,

[07:28] but they have to be willing to come to

[07:29] the table. And when you have 118 not

[07:32] willing even to condemn what happened to

[07:34] Charlie Kirk,

[07:35] that's a problem.

[07:36] Says something. Um it also says

[07:37] something, I think, about where the

[07:40] feeling is in America. Um, I would

[07:43] suspect today, um, that we're not going

[07:45] to hear a lot of anger. We're going to

[07:46] hear a lot of love. Congressman,

[07:47] Senator, used to be a congressman. I

[07:49] knew him back then. It's good to see

[07:50] you, sir. Thank you very much. Senator

[07:52] Mark Mer Mullen of Oklahoma with us. I