I knew Charlie Kirk, a little. My organization collaborated with his in a number of ways, over a period of years. Charlie and I spoke together at an event in Fargo when we launched American Experiment North Dakota. We have attended a number of Turning Point events through the years, including two in the White House and two at Mar-a-Lago. There was one TPUSA event in Washington when we had dinner at the same table with Charlie’s wife, who introduced herself to us then as his girlfriend. So I have worked with Charlie a number of times.
Charlie always was a prime target of the Left. My youngest daughter led a Turning Point chapter when she was in college, and went to Israel as part of a Turning Point group. So when Charlie spoke at the University of Minnesota in 2017, we attended and spent some time with him. Even then, he was aware of danger.
Threats of violence were made against the event. You couldn’t just show up, you had to register in advance. When we got there, we had to make our way through barriers that had been erected outside the classroom building where Charlie spoke, and there were seven or eight police officers in front of the building, one of whom checked our credentials. And that was in 2017. Charlie must have gotten death threats on more or less a daily basis.
He was an extraordinary force in the conservative movement. He probably did more to bring conservative messages to young people, especially young men, than anyone else. The Left couldn’t forgive him for that.
The thing about Charlie is that he always wanted to talk to people. When he appeared on campuses, as in Utah today, he had an open mike where people of any political stripe could ask him questions, debate with him, or whatever. If you look at the video footage from today’s event, you will see that the pop-up tent where he was speaking said, on the sides, “Prove Me Wrong.”
But whoever murdered Charlie–and liberals in general–have no interest in proving him, or conservatives more broadly, wrong. They don’t want to debate us, they want to shut us up.
This is such a good point. If you actually watch Charlie’s events—as opposed to the fake summaries—they are one of the few places with open and honest dialogue between left and right. He would answer any question and talk to everyone. https://t.co/ZSOFUYZ6aN
— JD Vance (@JDVance) September 10, 2025
Vance’s and Wolfe’s comments get to the heart of the matter. All conservatives that I know of are in favor of free speech. Most liberals, although there are a few honorable exceptions, oppose free speech. If you are opposed to free speech, what, exactly, are you in favor of? Censorship, of course. But as we saw today, the ultimate censor is a bullet.
Charlie Kirk, RIP. Let’s not let your death be in vain.
UPDATE: This is nice–the New York Yankees honor Charlie Kirk:
New York Yankees honors Charlie Kirk
pic.twitter.com/gq4PCA4FMh
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) September 10, 2025
Maybe the world really is changing.
