‘What advice do you have for me, as I move into adulthood, in order to become a more involved and informed citizen?’
That was the question asked of Charlie Kirk by a thirteen-year-old girl at one of his rallies.
‘Learn something new every single day and focus on what it means to be a good person and a person of strong character.’
You could tell how impressed, and proud he was that this young girl looked to him for advice. That’s what he loved most, to inspire people; to encourage them to be individuals and free-thinkers; to have their own views and be unafraid to express them. He was someone, I’m ashamed to say, I had not heard of until Becca messaged me, last Wednesday evening, to tell me that he’d been shot at one of his rallies – in Utah, of all places. Tuned in, now, I watched the tragic news unfold and, bit by bit, learned about this incredible young man who was beloved by so many. Thirty-one. He was only thirty-one years old! Younger than Manny, for goodness sake, but, worse, he was married with two children, only three and one. I didn’t know of Charlie Kirk, let alone know him, but I have been able to think of little else since. Something changed that night. I feel the world changed. Seriously. This was no ordinary guy and his shocking, violent, senseless death is, surely, pivotal in the fight against a growing evil. A wake-up call for those drowning in a sea of apathy. A call for courage in the name of someone who embodied it.
‘Aristotle said that courage is the ultimate virtue. Without it, there are no other virtues. If people aren’t courageous, you don’t have honesty, you don’t have justice. You don’t have beauty; you don’t have wonder. So, at age thirteen, I want you to commit yourself to a life of courage. Courage is doing the right thing when you don’t know how it’s going to work out. Courage is committing yourself to the course of action regardless of the cost associated to it.’
Charlie Kirk
I’ve been trying to make sense of it all, collate my thoughts. It’s a huge topic in a world very much divided; that division being the catalyst for Charlie’s cruel demise. A political assassination. The use of the term was met with surprise, at first, but what more could it be? Charlie Kirk, a Right-wing activist who believed in – and, courageously, promoted – free speech, was killed by a Left-leaning twenty-two-year-old who took umbrage at his opinions. The assassin, Tyler Robinson’s motives are being kept deliberately murky – down-played, even – but, suffice to say, his Republican mother referenced her son’s more recent move toward the political Left and that, in a relationship with his room-mate – a male, transitioning to a female – he had become more pro-gay and trans-rights orientated. Yet another messed-up kid! Republican parents, though? Does that put paid to my belief that one’s upbringing dictates one’s politics; that it’s in one’s DNA and one doesn’t change? A generalization open to exception, perhaps, but it seems that Tyler Robinson was nothing if not disturbed – and in this cesspit of a digital world, there is no end to the evils of online corruption, manipulation … brainwashing. The irony is not lost and, one to which I, once, devoted an entire post: Eve sacrificed Paradise for the bite of the apple and in the end, technology – Apple? – will prove the catalyst of man’s demise. By his own sword. To be honest, how long have we left? Robots in human form – think Frankenstein but with a different ending – and generations – present and future – whose brains are coddled, trapped in a sinister world which doesn’t exist, isolated and alone.
Charlie Kirk was not about Right and Left, per se. Neither did he wish to be remembered that way. He wasn’t, principally, a political activist; he was more interested in the grass roots.
‘He didn’t just want to change how people voted; he wanted to change how they thought.’
Isaac Stanley-Becker, The Atlantic.
Charlie was no ordinary guy. Devoted to God, family and country, he was steadfast in his beliefs and nobody’s fool. Fiercely intelligent, he was passionate in his focus; a passion which spawned great confidence matched only by his valour. For Charlie Kirk was nothing if not courageous. Well aware of the dangers he faced, daily, from extremists who opposed his views, he never faltered in his quest to reach the adults of the future; those lost, confused, questioning … He believed in the individual and, moreover, in freedom of speech. Freedom. He died wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with that very word, the irony glaring. For his life was extinguished by someone who did not agree with him; someone who succumbed to pent-up anger and violence, stripped of the power of speech and the ability to debate by an underworld of online forums and gaming. Tyler Robinson embodied the very person Charlie Kirk was trying to reach …
‘You see, all I need’s a whisper in a world that only shouts.’
Passenger, Whispers.
Charlie Kirk was that whisper.
Now, remember, I was someone who hadn’t heard of Charlie Kirk, prior to his death, but his voice has become ever louder since. Why? Of course, it was a heinous act, a senseless murder and tragic that a young husband and father of two little children should be robbed of his life in this way but … it’s more than that. This feels pivotal.
I’m a believer in fate; that there is a plan for every man. I think most would agree that there was something different about Charlie Kirk. He seemed so at peace with himself and his path in life. He attributed that to his faith in God; a faith which rendered him fearless. He had a mission for good; to reach out to those prepared to listen. He believed in words and debate and, first and foremost, in free speech. He had no time for Left and Right. Good and bad was all that mattered; being a good person. He seemed eternally upbeat, convinced that he was making a difference – and he was! Credited, in no small part, with Trump’s re-election, the President, apparently, tried hard to persuade him to join his administration but Charlie declined. His job lay in educating America’s youth; in that which he was born to do.
It is no co-incidence that Turning Point USA was the name of his organization. Charlie Kirk was making a huge impact for good. Labelled as a Right-wing political activist, he was so much more than that but his shock assassination … well, fittingly, I think history will recognise the 10th September, 2025 as pivotal; a turning point. A huge subject – and, clearly, open to so many interpretations – but Charlie was all for the individual and his opinions, devoid of judgement. Thus, my own …
I am almost grateful for the opportunity to talk about George Floyd once again: the convicted felon who was all but deified in death; the same guy who, among his list of crimes, held a knife to the stomach of a pregnant woman during an armed robbery; the same guy who was high on drugs and already struggling to breathe at the time of his arrest … That George Floyd. Nothing mattered/matters, however, beyond the colour of his skin.
25th May, 2020. The day the world changed. Taken hostage by the Far-Left, Black Lives Matter spawned the poison that is woke. Free speech was silenced and merit debased. Victimhood became the currency while any form of criticism or opposition was dismissed as racism. Racism. Never has this country been more racist – against its own. To be white is to be privileged; to be guilty! To be black? The victim, regardless. Guilty of nothing; deserving of it all. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion? A breeding ground for grudge and grievance; for bullying. The Tyranny of Tolerance. Black, gay, trans … join the club of victimhood and waive all personal responsibility. For in the world according to Black Lives Matter, minority means a free pass.
George Floyd. Dare to speak ill of him! He was black and died at the knee of a white policeman. Victimhood was assured, sweeping aside all ‘sins’. Apparently, his only crime was trying to use a counterfeit note … Seriously?! In the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s murder – unlike the ‘innocent’ George Floyd, apparently, he deserved it – I listened to an astute guy on GB News who voiced exactly what I was thinking: a symbolic flare went up on 25th May, 2020 when George Floyd died. The whole world shifted as the Tyranny of Tolerance was born. The Far-Left seized control, daring anyone to oppose as merit was replaced by quotas; common sense with corruption. Racism became the language with only the Black permitted a voice … George Floyd’s death was the catalyst which brought us to this! Spiralling into the abyss, never was it more urgent to stem the poison.
Charlie Kirk was the antidote. Fighting back, courageously, his voice was his only ‘weapon’. Fiercely religious, his faith was his foundation as he reached out to the youth of America and beyond, a symbol for free speech, family and a purposeful life. He promoted old-school values in his bid to counter the damage of woke and his huge and growing following was testament to the need – and desire for – such a redress. He was making a difference and, in doing so, posed a real threat to The Left … ironically, even more so in death. For his assassination on the 10th September, 2025 marked the release of yet another symbolic flare and, this time, one for good; a call to arms, as such, in a quest to put right the wrongs enabled in the aftermath of George Floyd.
Charlie’s death did not spark violence; in fact, the very opposite. Amidst great sadness, there were prayers and vigils but, of more significance has been the promise to continue his work. He did not die in vain. The organization of which he was so proud, Turning Point USA, is growing rapidly with his widow, Erika, now at the helm and, going forward – in life – there is no mistaking exactly where one stands … Right or Left, right or wrong, good or bad? Charlie valued honesty and, in the wake of his death, the lines are drawn. For the most part, the Left – to whom George Floyd is a martyr – were loathsome in their reaction, many saying he deserved it. Humanity cast aside, there was no thought for his wife or children; no compassion for the man. Sadly, predictable. After all, Charlie Kirk was Right-wing. Charlie Kirk was white! Imagine, for a second, the uproar had he been Left-wing and/or Black …
Is this it? We live in a cesspit of a world; one in which the values of old count for nothing. Where, once, there was right and wrong, now there is Right and Left. Where, once, there was good and bad, now there is Black and White. The divisions are deep-rooted, devoid of common ground. Gone are family, community and compassion. In their stead, loneliness, isolation, frustration and hatred. The death of George Floyd in 2020 fuelled that hatred. Five years on, Charlie Kirk was on a mission to dispel it in the only way he knew how – with words. Ever louder, now, his voice will continue to be heard. His death, the turning point. How will he be remembered? As a Far-Right activist? If, by that, one means a man who stood for faith, family and free speech then, yes, that was Charlie Kirk. One of the good guys who was both courageous and compassionate. Far-Right? Semantics. For the benefit of the Far-Left, that comes under ‘S’ in the dictionary – Oh, and that’s a book filled with words!
This has taken forever to write; my time, sparing, my train of thought, broken. As I said at the outset, however, it is a huge subject and one which, I believe, is of great significance. The assassination of Charlie Kirk – and subsequent public reaction – inevitably invites comparison with the death of George Floyd. Like two separate bookends, one spawned violence, division and moral disarray; the other, through courage, compassion and commitment, strived/continues to strive for peace. Right or Left? Right or wrong? You choose. Just remember, though …
‘Everytime you make a decision, it puts a mark on your soul.’
Charlie Kirk
This is Trish, signing off.
