Two of the most famous in the world honored their close friend Charlie Kirk at his memorial Sunday. Vice President JD Vance cried, “For Charlie, we will rebuild this United States to greatness. ... We will never falter even when staring down the barrel of a gun.” And Donald Trump Jr. exclaimed, “His legacy must be that when they took his life, a million more Charlies stepped up to fill the void. We are all Charlie!”
Vance and Don Jr. both spoke with the passion and admiration of close friends. The vice president in particular had eyes reddened from crying, as he said, “They tried to silence my dear friend Charlie Kirk…and tonight we speak with Charlie and for Charlie louder than ever.”
From the desert of Arizona, Vance said, “Charlie Kirk built a movement. He changed the face of conservatism in our time and in doing so he changed the course of history.” He knew that debate “was the vehicle for bringing the light of truth to dark places….He brought the truth that life was precious and we must fight to protect it at all stages and in all times.”
Vance declared that Charlie inspired him to be more vocal about faith. And most importantly, Vance stated, “Charlie understood that the best evangelization is not what you said but in how you lived your life. He showed us all how to carry on after his death.” Like the great saints of old, Vance said about his friend, Charlie was “the city of God and the city of man in one person.…He loved this country with a contagious intensity.”
Charlie in fact “knew that America wouldn’t be saved just by pulling together seminars,” but rather “it demanded courage, it demanded hard work, it demanded leaders…[in] Charlie Kirk we found a great American leader.”
Charlie’s own Turning Point USA “turned the balance of our politics,” Vance emphasized, “but even as Charlie built on a great scale, his greatness was never just in his ambitions.” Indeed, “Charlie treated staffers as well as he treated the president.”
Charlie Kirk, at only 31 years old, “was slain doing what he loved, telling the truth…He was taken from us by those who despise the virtues that actually made our civilization great to begin with,” Vance stated.
In these recent days after the assassination, “we have seen some of the very worst parts of humanity,” Vance said. He noted that he found himself "wishing that I could pick up the phone and ask my friend…how to deal with such hate.” But the tragic part is that “I can’t call my friend because he was murdered for speaking the truth.” Vance hazarded a guess at Charlie’s advice would be, though. Kirk would tell us “evil still walks among us,” and we need “to address it as the sickness that it is,” but “he would encourage us that for every hateful voice celebrating his murder there are a thousand [honoring him].”
Finally, Vance said that “he would tell me to put on the full armor of God.” And while Charlie Kirk “suffered a terrible fate,” it was still “better to face a gunman than live your life afraid to speak the truth…It is better to die a young man in this world than to sell your soul for an easy life.” The vice president ended, “For Charlie, we will speak the truth every single day. For Charlie, we will rebuild this United States to greatness.” We the People “will never falter even when staring down the barrel of a gun,” because “it is better to stand on our feet defending the United States of America than to die on our knees.”
Don Jr., likewise, said that Kirk “was like a little brother to me.” But, he continued, he has now “joined a long line of courageous men and women martyred” for their faith. Describing how St. Stephan saw Christ standing ready to welcome him home before his martyrdom in the Bible, Don Jr. said, “11 days ago, as a cowardly assassin crawled on his stomach…I’m betting Charlie saw Christ standing tall to welcome him home.”
No matter what, he promised, “we won’t be intimidated,” and “our message of faith, family, and country will not be silenced. Charlie had one of the largest microphones in the conservative movement,” yet “day after day he gave it to those who disagreed with him.”
Charlie Kirk was no extremist. Rather, “the true extremists are those who celebrate the taking of an innocent life over nothing more than a disagreement,” Don. Jr. insisted. But Charlie’s “legacy must be that when they took his life, a million more Charlies stepped up to fill the void. We are all Charlie!” And “no matter your past no matter how you voted this movement is your home,” if you love family, faith and freedom, and “if you believe our best days are ahead…welcome.”
We are all Charlie.
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