Yesterday, a beacon for American values was assassinated for what he believed.
Charlie Kirk was somebody that was brave and unapologetically stood up for the same values that we all fight for each day. I had the privilege of knowing him, and he was someone I respected. We are around the same age, had our first kids around the same time, believe the same things, and are both leaders of right-leaning organizations.
His niche in this “movement” was to educate young voters on the virtues of conservatism. He started doing this on college campuses, and in recent years his online presence was hard to avoid. One of our own employees told me that they wouldn’t be a conservative if it wasn’t for Charlie Kirk. Charlie was the best at what he did.
Charlie and Turning Point have the same vision for America as we do. Our strategies for getting there are different. He was changing public opinion amongst young voters, and we are defunding the Left. There are dozens of other complimentary strategies that other groups do that move the needle and will ultimately make us successful as a “movement.”
We are in a war of ideas that yesterday made its way from words on a screen and on debate stages, to a bullet piercing the neck of a young husband and father.
I’m sure that to a lot of people, what the shooter did yesterday was justified and a means to an end.
The message that I heard yesterday was that when we are effective at beating the Left, they’ll stop at nothing to stop us.
They want us to be scared, they want us to be silenced, and they want us eliminated.
My message to you today is the same as Charlie’s. Be bold and unapologetically stand up for the values that matter and that make America the most free and prosperous country there is.
Lastly, the thought occurred to me last night that I got to kiss my daughter before bed as I do each night when I’m home. Charlie’s children will never get to do that again.
Aubree and I have been praying for Charlie’s family, and, if you’re so inclined, I encourage you to do the same.
