Latest / Brett Keane and Eve Show / DEAR CHARLIE KIRK, I owe you EVERYTHING
Transcript
- 0:00Dear Charlie, a lot of time has passed since we last talked and
- 0:03there are some last words I wish I had the chance to tell you
- 0:06before you left us. Words of gratitude, words of
- 0:09praise, and even words of regret.
- 0:11Over the past week I've had a lot of time to reflect on your
- 0:14passing and what your work to the world meant to my life in
- 0:17particular. I wish I had done this
- 0:19reflection earlier and I'm so upset with myself that I put it
- 0:22off until now. The first words I want to share
- 0:24with you, Charlie, are thank you.
- 0:27Many here in 2025 don't know it, but I would not be who I am
- 0:30today if it weren't for you. I would not have this platform
- 0:34on Liberty Hang Out, I would not have my passion, and I would not
- 0:37have my family. Most here know me from my
- 0:39YouTube videos and viral encounters with liberals, and
- 0:43some have been here long enough to Remember Me from my
- 0:45graduation photo in 2018. But only you and my classmates
- 0:50can say they Remember Me from my days with Turning Point USA
- 0:53nearly a decade ago when I transferred to Kent State
- 0:56University. In the run up to the 2016
- 0:58election, I was exposed to radical left wing rhetoric for
- 1:02the very first time without even growing up in a political
- 1:05household. Their brainwashing had no effect
- 1:07on me, and I was instead repulsed by what I saw.
- 1:10So much so that a desire to get involved on campus became too
- 1:14strong to ignore. Riding the high from Trump's
- 1:17win, I felt like if he could stand up for what's right, then
- 1:20what's stopping me? Thankfully I wasn't the only one
- 1:22on my extremely left wing campus that felt this way, and that's
- 1:26when I stumbled across a little known club called Turning Point
- 1:29USA. That's when I looked up the name
- 1:31Charlie Kirk for the first time and from that moment on my
- 1:35calling in life was crystal clear.
- 1:37Watching someone just as young as me fearlessly stand up to the
- 1:41SJWS and feminists the way you did help me find my passion and
- 1:46for the first time ever I felt a deep love for something in life.
- 1:51I did not grow up like other Americans and have a love for
- 1:54things like sports, politics, or even religion.
- 1:56Thank you Charlie for being the first person in my life to give
- 1:59me values to live for and something to be passionate
- 2:02about. Little did I know, I know at the
- 2:04time how much of an impact you would have on literally my
- 2:07entire life going forward. Not only did you give me my
- 2:11inspiration, but you were the first to recognize my passion
- 2:14and gave me my very first job in politics as a campus coordinator
- 2:18for Turning Point USA. And just one year, our club at
- 2:21Kent State grew tremendously and the passion you helped bring out
- 2:25of me allowed us to build one of the biggest Turning Point
- 2:28chapters in the country on one of the most liberal campuses in
- 2:31America. You inspired me so much much
- 2:34Charlie, that I would skip classes my senior year just to
- 2:37let everyone on campus know about Turning Point USA to the
- 2:41point I was routinely #1 on your national leadership board for
- 2:45TPUSA signups. The fire that you and Turning
- 2:49Point ignited in me will be something that I will never
- 2:52forget. I truly love Turning Point so
- 2:55much. OK, starting to get emotional.
- 2:57I went from a girl who struggled with public speaking in high
- 3:00school to a confident woman in college who found her passion
- 3:04and her voice. This is the impact that you have
- 3:06always had on young people like me, Charlie.
- 3:09And that was nearly a decade ago when so many of the young people
- 3:13that look up to you today, we're still in diapers, which Speaking
- 3:17of diapers, gets me to the next part of our journey.
- 3:21Charlie. Something else that you helped
- 3:23me discover is that I am a troll.
- 3:26I have always loved holding a mirror up to the left so they
- 3:29can see how ridiculous they look.
- 3:31My friends and I took that a little too literally one day
- 3:35when we held an event on campus mocking safe spaces and yes, one
- 3:39of our members literally dressed in a diaper to make our point.
- 3:43We just wanted to mock the socialist on our campus that
- 3:46would always cry and I never expected that this would get you
- 3:50so much backlash and turn into a meme.
- 3:53I got to meet you for the first time in Cleveland just days
- 3:55later and we got to laugh about the event and he told me to keep
- 3:58up the good work at Kent. Hearing that from you meant the
- 4:01world to me. Not only did I look up to you so
- 4:04much and receive my direction and life from you, but these
- 4:07words were so comforting to me at a time when all of the
- 4:10Internet was mocking us for our anti safe space event.
- 4:13Sadly this would be 1 of only two times I got to meet you and
- 4:17where my time with Turning Point came to an unfortunate end.
- 4:20Somehow my event lost you donors and I am truly so sorry that
- 4:24happened. I loved Turning Point with my
- 4:27whole heart and never wanted to hurt your organization.
- 4:30I truly hope you were able to see how dedicated I was to
- 4:33helping Turning Point grow, but unfortunately, my relationship
- 4:37with you guys was never the same after that.
- 4:39What happened next is what I want to apologize to you for,
- 4:42Charlie. In 2018, we had a public falling
- 4:45out and I ended up writing a pretty scathing resignation
- 4:48letter because I genuinely felt betrayed and let down by my
- 4:51bosses. Maybe you guys only saw me as
- 4:53just another activist, but when you love something as much as I
- 4:56love Turning Point, you can understand why I felt as hurt as
- 4:59I did. I felt like being rejected by
- 5:01someone you loved with all your heart.
- 5:03I loved Turning Point so much that I told everyone I knew that
- 5:07my dream was to work for you guys full time after college.
- 5:11I never had the chance to address my hurt with you
- 5:13directly, and in retrospect, I wish I did.
- 5:16I wasn't very high up on the totem pole, but you always made
- 5:19yourself accessible to everyone in Turning Point, and I did not
- 5:22take advantage of that when I should have.
- 5:24Since your death, I have struggled with feelings of
- 5:27regret and sorrow for what transpired so long ago.
- 5:30Because I held on to because I held on to so much resentment
- 5:35and hurt through the years. My heart was heavy with
- 5:38heartbreak over feeling betrayed.
- 5:40But without that heartbreak, I wouldn't have shifted my focus
- 5:43to Liberty Hangout and my voice in this movement would look very
- 5:46different. By God's grace, even in my
- 5:49ingratitude and fieriness, the Lord still gave me the chance to
- 5:52discover my calling and take the passion You gave me and build my
- 5:57own platform. For the next 7 years.
- 5:59I looked at Turning Point very unfavorably and never had a kind
- 6:03word to say. My pestering earned me the honor
- 6:06of joining Turning Points Blacklist, and even though we
- 6:09share the same audience and the same message, I was never
- 6:13welcome at any of your events, even all the way up to this
- 6:17year. When you came to visit USF for
- 6:19your American Comeback Tour in February, I was told by the
- 6:22school that Turning Point did not want me to even enter the
- 6:24reserve space on campus and attend your event.
- 6:27Unlike my old self, I bit my tongue and kept this private as
- 6:31I should have years earlier, for the good of fighting for a
- 6:33common cause. But despite all of our drama,
- 6:36Charlie, I'm so thankful that our story has a happy ending.
- 6:40Even though I felt unwelcome at Turning Point Events, I couldn't
- 6:43help but come to do interviews outside of the Student Action
- 6:46Summit this summer since it was hosted in my neck of the woods.
- 6:50I was ready to pack up and head home after filming when my close
- 6:54friend, the beautiful Savannah Hernandez insisted I come inside
- 6:58Sass and see Media Row. I insisted, insisted that I was
- 7:02not allowed to be there and I would be getting her in trouble.
- 7:04What you guys did next is something I will cherish for the
- 7:07rest of my life. Savannah went right upstairs to
- 7:10you guys and you told your staff and I quote, I want her here,
- 7:14give her a batch. You were ultimately too busy
- 7:17that day to make it downstairs to see me.
- 7:19But that closure you gave me, it was all my heart needed.
- 7:22You were merciful to me as God is merciful to us.
- 7:26Never in the last seven years did I show you that same
- 7:29kindness. It felt like more than half a
- 7:33decade of tension and wounds had been lifted off my shoulders and
- 7:37I thank God that we had the chance to leave it all behind
- 7:40and make amends before it was too late to do so.
- 7:45That closure has made your death so much harder for me to handle.
- 7:49I've never been so hurt by someone's passing and only now
- 7:53realize how much of my life I owe to you.
- 7:56Without Turning Point, I wouldn't have met my husband who
- 7:59traveled 2 states away to meet me so he could help me table on
- 8:02campus for Turning Point. And if I didn't meet Justin, I
- 8:06wouldn't be the mother of our two beautiful children.
- 8:09When your beautiful wife Erica gave her statement and shared
- 8:12with all of us that if you ever ran for office your would be to
- 8:16revive the American family, I felt that in my gut I wouldn't
- 8:20have my family if it weren't for you.
- 8:23But there's something even more important that I wouldn't have
- 8:26if not for you. After I got married, I abandoned
- 8:30my atheism and was called to give my life to Christ.
- 8:33I never credited you in any way for this, but looking back, I
- 8:37can finally see how you planted the seeds that helped lead me
- 8:40there. The principles you taught me
- 8:43weren't political values, they were Christian ones.
- 8:46My family, my faith, and my vocation can all be credited
- 8:50back to you. I'm so upset with myself that it
- 8:54took you passing to look back and realize all of this, and I
- 8:58wish I could have had the chance to tell you all of this to your
- 9:01face. I never really understood what
- 9:03people meant when they said God brings good out of horrible
- 9:06evils, and I am admittedly struggling to know how any good
- 9:12could come from this. But after seeing all the prayer
- 9:15vigils, talking with students who looked up to you, and seeing
- 9:18thousands of people say they will start going to church again
- 9:22because of you, it's starting to make sense.
- 9:27Just as you helped inspire me at the start of my journey, I hope
- 9:31you can help me now in my next chapter of life.
- 9:34I hope that I can be just as boldly and unapologetically
- 9:37Christian as you. And I hope that my work can lead
- 9:40people to Christ just like yours.
- 9:42From the bottom of my heart, Charlie, thank you for
- 9:45everything. Thank you for giving me
- 9:47something to be passionate about.
- 9:49Thank you for giving me my first job and turning point.
- 9:52Thank you for creating an organization that I made so many
- 9:56lasting memories. Thank you for instilling in me a
- 9:59love for free speech and dialogue.
- 10:02And most importantly, Charlie, thank you for my family and for
- 10:06my faith. Thank you for being part of my
- 10:09story, and thank you for spreading the love of Jesus.
- 10:12And thank you for introducing the world to your amazing wife.
- 10:16I am praying for you, your family, and I promise we won't
- 10:21let your mission fail. I hope I get to see you in
- 10:26heaven someday and tell you all of this.