There was no one quite like Charlie Kirk. Whether it was through debating college kids, hosting his national radio show, or working to get out the conservative vote through his organizations, Charlie was one of the hardest working men in the conservative movement. He served as a mentor to countless young professionals coming up in politics, as someone who spoke what millions of Americans were thinking, and as someone who introduced the goodness of our Lord into the lives of everyone he interacted with.
I never had the opportunity to meet Charlie, but I had to go back through my photo gallery and X feed to make sure I hadn’t. I’ve watched so many of his debate videos, and listened to his daily radio show on 98.9 in Columbus, that it felt like he was a friend. He was someone that was not just known in political figures. In the era of Instagram Reels and TikTokes, he capitalized on those platforms and effectively spread his message to the point that everyone knew him. Some colleagues and friends that I have never spoken to about politics reached out and asked if I knew Charlie. They were followers. He was winning the culture war.
There is only one way to describe what Charlie Kirk was able to accomplish in his short thirty-one years on Earth, and that is cultural domination. Ask any college Republican who their biggest inspiration was and I’m sure you would get the same answer.
It’s important to point out that the bullets only seem to fly one way. The Republicans that champion the second amendment aren’t the ones that shoot their political opponents. When there was a shooting at the Congressional Baseball Game practice that threatened the life of Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), it wasn’t a far-right actor that fired. It was a left-wing Sen. Bernie Sanders (I/D-Vermont) supporter that hit the Congressman. When God protected President Donald Trump and saved his life during that fateful Butler, PA rally, it wasn’t a Trump supporter that pulled the trigger. Although they have not yet found the assassin’s motives, I would almost guarantee that it isn’t a lifelong Republican behind the rifle.
A bad actor may have believed he could silence Charlie Kirk by taking his life, but in doing so they only ensured that his voice will echo louder than ever. Charlie’s fight is now our fight. His mission is now everyone’s mission. Charlie carried the banner with courage, faith, and unshakable conviction, but now it is in our hands. Let us honor him not with fear or silence, but with action, truth, and boldness. Those are the characteristics that have defined his thirty-one short years on this earth. He may not be in his body, but he is now with the Lord, and his legacy will never be extinguished.