Remembering Charlie Kirk | 9.11.25

Benton, Utah.

Charlie was the best of America, and the monster who attacked him was attacking our whole country.

What do we know so far about the tragic incident and the suspect?

I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire executive editor John Bickley.

It's Thursday, September 11th, and this is Morningwire.

One of the reasons we're living through a constitutional crisis is that we no longer have a Christian nation, but we have a Christian form of government, and they're incompatible.

Kirk was a generational voice who many credit with putting Donald Trump back in the White House in 2024.

We discuss his remarkable legacy.

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Charlie Kirk, a massively influential political activist and conservative media star, was assassinated Wednesday afternoon during a campus event in Utah.

Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips has the latest on this story that has really stunned the nation.

Hey, Cabot, so a difficult day here at the Daily Wire.

A lot of people praying for Charlie and his family.

A lot of people know him very well.

First, walk us through what happened yesterday.

Yeah, just a devastating day for millions of Americans, including us here at the Daily Wire.

Charlie Kirk was the president and founder of Turning Point USA and Turning Point Action, two of the largest and most influential conservative organizations in the country.

He also hosted a massively popular radio show and podcast as well.

Put simply, John, he was just an icon icon for many in the conservative movement, and he played an immense role in the election and re-election of Donald Trump.

But he's perhaps best known for his speaking events on college campuses around the country, which typically kick off with open mic debate style events called Prove Me Wrong.

Charlie would sit under a tent in the middle of campus and then thousands of students would gather around as he fielded their questions.

He appeared at Utah Valley University yesterday for one of those events.

About 20 minutes in, he was going back and forth with a student talking about mass shootings committed by transgenders when a single shot ran out.

It struck him in the neck.

Footage from the scene shows security guards immediately rushing in and taking him to the hospital, but ultimately, he was pronounced dead soon after.

He leaves behind a wife and two children, aged one and three.

Just a heartbreaking, really unspeakable tragedy here.

As to how this was carried out, what do we know so far for sure?

Yeah, authorities say the alleged shooter took their shot from atop a building about 200 yards away.

Horrifying video captured just before the shooting appears to show a figure lying prone on the roof.

Another angle from just after the shot was fired appears to show that same figure then running back across the roof in the other direction.

So some obvious and eerie similarities to the Butler shooting that nearly took Donald Trump's life.

In the chaos afterwards, authorities arrested a man whom they believed to be the alleged shooter, only to announce hours later that the suspect was still on the run and that they had the wrong guy.

From there, authorities began to scour the campus, warning students to remain indoors, not go anywhere unless they had a police escort.

But at the time of this recording, the suspect remains at large.

No weapon has been found either.

So obviously an enormous manhunt underway with both local, state, and federal officials.

The FBI has also set up a special digital tip line for anyone who might have information about the alleged shooter's whereabouts.

I wanted to ask you about the response to this tragic shooting.

There was really just this incredible outpouring of support for the family of Charlie.

What did we see from the political spectrum and from other conservative corners?

Well, shortly after the event, President Trump ordered all flags across the country flown at half mast for the next five days.

He also issued a statement online saying, quote, the great and even legendary Charlie Kirk is dead.

No one understood or had the heart of the youth in the United States of America better than Charlie.

Melania and my sympathies go out to his beautiful wife, Erica, and family.

Charlie, we love you.

Last night, President Trump addressed the nation from the Oval Office.

Here's some of what he had to say.

Tonight, I ask all Americans to commit themselves to the American values for which Charlie Kirk lived and died.

The values of free speech, citizenship, the rule of law, and the patriotic devotion and love of God.

An assassin tried to silence him with a bullet, but he failed because together, we will ensure that his voice, his message, and his legacy will live on for countless generations to come.

Today, Today, because of this heinous act, Charlie's voice has become bigger and grander than ever before.

And it's not even close.

We saw similar statements from every living former president and a litany of other elected officials.

And even the New York Yankees held a moment of silence before their game kicked off last night.

Speaking at a press conference Wednesday evening, Utah Governor Spencer Cox had this to say.

I want to be very clear that this is a political assassination.

Charlie believed in the power of free speech and debate to shape ideas and to persuade people.

When someone takes the life of a person

because of their ideas or their ideals, then that very constitutional foundation is threatened.

And I just want to remind people that we still have the death penalty here in the state of Utah.

Elsewhere, we heard from Utah Congressman Mike Kennedy.

Violence will not silence the people of the United States of America.

Charlie Kirk,

he spoke his mind and under threats, he continued to speak his mind.

And I find that to be admirable.

And as you mentioned, there was also a flood of responses and outpouring of support from just about everybody in the conservative world in general, including many folks here at the Daily Wire who've worked with Charlie for over a decade, including Ben Shapiro, Michael Knowles, Matt Walsh, Andrew Clavin.

There's a few of those responses.

Charlie will dwell in the house of the Lord.

Charlie belongs to history now.

The president of the United States has announced that all flags will be blown at half staff throughout the country.

Charlie Kirk would have been president.

His friends knew it.

His many, many admirers knew it.

And his enemies, to whom he was always so gracious, they knew it too.

Everybody knew it.

I remember from actually, I think even before I first met Charlie, so now we're talking many, many years ago, people would joke, they'd say, well, we're all going going to be working for Charlie Kirk someday.

I know there is a lot to be said about this tragedy,

but I cannot get through this report without saying I've known Charlie Kirk for a decade now as a colleague and also a friend.

He was a good man who sacrificed his time and his energy and ultimately his life to engage in civil dialogue with anybody who wanted to talk to him.

He was a good, devoted father and husband and Christian.

To that point, I want to read one of his fitled tweets from earlier this week.

It reads, Jesus defeated death so you can live.

And I believe that's true.

Charlie believed that was true.

And I think Charlie is more alive now than he has ever been.

Indeed.

Amen.

Kevin, thanks for reporting.

Of course.

Charlie Kirk founded TPUSA in 2012 and grew it into a political powerhouse with over 3,500 high school and college campuses across all 50 states.

Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham, who's spoken at a number of TPUSA events, joins us now to discuss their impact.

So, Megan, looking back at Charlie's legacy, it doesn't go too far to say he actually transformed the political landscape.

Tell us a little bit about how he accomplished that.

Yeah, it's really quite amazing to look back on his legacy, Georgia.

You look at someone who, at just 18 years old, he left college and with an investment of only $10,000, launched TPUSA.

And you flash forward to today and it's now an organization whose revenues exceed $92 million.

And he poured all of that back into the organization, back into making those powerful, persuasive arguments that were his hallmark.

And if you've ever been to one of those events, you know the energy, the enthusiasm, really the quality of the arguments that were presented at those events.

And I think that's what was drawing so many millions upon millions of young people to him.

If you look at the 2024 election, for instance, young men are typically a demographic who are very apathetic.

They don't typically get out the vote, and yet they were very energized this cycle.

And I think a key part of that can be put down to Charlie Kirk and the tireless work of TPUSA.

You know, I was at one event where I'm wandering the halls and I pass by Tom Brady and Rob Grankowski.

And these are not the kind of sports celebrities that you expect to see at a conservative event.

And I think that really goes to how Charlie was able to, you know, draw these stars who might otherwise be a little leery of being seen as political into his circle.

And I think that also really goes to show how he was able to move the Overton window in our political discourse.

You know you are part of something bigger than yourself.

You know that you are part of the most exciting,

diverse, powerful movement in the history of this country.

And this movement,

this movement is not about Republican or Democrat.

This movement is not about conservative or liberal.

And I think you're going to see that on display in a little bit.

Just maybe.

This movement

is about the citizens versus the oligarchs.

This movement is about we the people versus the ruling class.

This movement is about America versus the globalists.

This movement is about all of us against them.

So as we look at American politics over the last few years, I don't think it goes too far to speculate that without a Charlie Kirk, we may very well not have had a President Donald Trump.

Now, you were particularly connected to a newer venture of Charlie's, which was TPUSA Faith.

Can you tell us a little bit about that?

Yeah, I spoke at a number of TPUSA events, and that's really really where I got to know Charlie on a somewhat personal level.

I think that launching TPUSA Faith really showed his evolution as not just a political figure, a political pundit, but as a leading moral voice of his generation.

His Christian faith became increasingly important to him as he grew older and as he got married and had kids and as he then turned and encouraged other young men to follow his example in that.

And he was always clear that he did not believe that we would see a political transformation without a spiritual transformation in this country.

And so that's why he launched these events to expose so many young people and older people too, to great pastoral teaching and to encourage them to live out their biblical values in their own lives, but also to bring them into the public square that we did not need to keep them hidden and keep them at home.

You might think you do not bring a worldview to the table, but everybody brings a processing matrix of how you input information and what you process it through.

We believe scripture and God's word is how we process the information that we are consuming.

We then hold it to God's perfect and pleasing will, all of it.

And then if I can just add one more note, Georgia, Charlie's co-chair of TPUSA and his pastor, Rob McCoy, is a friend of mine.

And he sent me a text when we heard the news that Charlie was indeed gone.

And I'd just like to read it to our audience.

My friend Charlie Kirk was murdered today by a coward.

Charlie's life will be remembered for many wonderful things.

He built it all with the power of the spoken word.

He never used violence, but was threatened every day with violence by those who couldn't contend with logic and truth.

Charlie did not die, however, but instead he has begun to truly live.

His life was secured eternally by his Savior Jesus Christ.

This truth allowed Charlie to face every threat with courage because he didn't fear death.

All evil knows is death, and they derive power from death.

Charlie lived for life and will be remembered for this.

Evil has not prevailed and it will not win.

Charlie called me his pastor, but I prefer to be known as his friend and greatest fan.

Well, of course, yeah, we're not all pastors, but I think we can all echo Pastor Rob McCoy's sentiments there about our friend Charlie.

Yes, indeed.

Megan, thank you so much for sharing that and thank you for reporting.

Yes, anytime.

Thank you so much for waking up with us.

We appreciate all of you for tuning into us for the news you can trust, even when that news is hard to hear and heartbreaking to report.

But we also believe, like Charlie, that there is always hope in a new day.