A while ago, probably in 2017, I appeared on Tucker Carlson's Fox show to talk about God knows what. Afterwards a name I barely knew sent me a DM on twitter and told me I did a great job. It was Charlie Kirk, and that moment of kindness began a friendship that lasted until today.
Charlie was fascinated by ideas and always willing to learn and change his mind. Like me, he was skeptical of Donald Trump in 2016. Like me, he came to see President Trump as the only figure capable of moving American politics away from the globalism that had dominated for our entire lives. When others were right, he learned from them. When he was right--as he usually was--he was generous. With Charlie, the attitude was never, "I told you so." But: "welcome."
Charlie was one of the first people I called when I thought about running for senate in early 2021. I was interested but skeptical there was a pathway. We talked through everything, from the strategy to the fundraising to the grassroots of the movement he knew so well. He introduced me to some of the people who would run my campaign and also to Donald Trump Jr. "Like his dad, he's misunderstood. He's extremely smart, and very much on our wavelength." Don took a call from me because Charlie asked him too.
Long before I ever committed (even in my mind) to running, Charlie had me speak to his donors at a TPUSA event. He walked me around the room and introduced me. He gave me honest feedback on my remarks. He had no reason to do this, no expectation that I'd go anywhere. I was polling, at that point, well below 5 percent. He did it because we were friends, and because he was a good man.
When I became the VP nominee--something Charlie advocated for both in public and private--Charlie was there for me. I was so glad to be part of the president's team, but candidly surprised by the effect it had on our family. Our kids, especially our oldest, struggled with the attention and the constant presence of the protective detail. I felt this acute sense of guilt, that I had conscripted my kids into this life without getting their permission. And Charlie was constantly calling and texting, checking on our family and offering guidance and prayers. Some of our most successful events were organized not by the campaign, but by TPUSA. He wasn't just a thinker, he was a doer, turning big ideas into bigger events with thousands of activists. And after every event, he would give me a big hug, tell me he was praying for me, and ask me what he could do. "You focus on Wisconsin," he'd tell me. "Arizona is in the bag." And it was.
Charlie genuinely believed in and loved Jesus Christ. He had a profound faith. We used to argue about Catholicism and Protestantism and who was right about minor doctrinal questions. Because he loved God, he wanted to understand him.
Someone else pointed out that Charlie died doing what he loved: discussing ideas. He would go into these hostile crowds and answer their questions. If it was a friendly crowd, and a progressive asked a question to jeers from the audience, he'd encourage his fans to calm down and let everyone speak. He exemplified a foundational virtue of our Republic: the willingness to speak openly and debate ideas.
Charlie had an uncanny ability to know when to push the envelope and when to be more conventional. I've seen people attack him for years for being wrong on this or that issue publicly, never realizing that privately he was working to broaden the scope of acceptable debate.
He was a great family man. I was talking to President Trump in the Oval Office today, and he said, "I know he was a very good friend of yours." I nodded silently, and President Trump observed that Charlie really loved his family. The president was right. Charlie was so proud of Erika and the two kids. He was so happy to be a father. And he felt such gratitude for having found a woman of God with whom he could build a family.
Charlie Kirk was a true friend. The kind of guy you could say something to and know it would always stay with him. I am on more than a few group chats with Charlie and people he introduced me to over the years. We celebrate weddings and babies, bust each other's chops, and mourn the loss of loved ones. We talk about politics and policy and sports and life. These group chats include people at the very highest level of our government. They trusted him, loved him, and knew he'd always have their backs. And because he was a true friend ,you could instinctively trust the people Charlie introduced you to. So much of the success we've had in this administration traces directly to Charlie's ability to organize and convene. He didn't just help us win in 2024, he helped us staff the entire government.
I was in a meeting in the West Wing when those group chats started lighting up with people telling Charlie they were praying for him. And that's how I learned the news that my friend had been shot. I prayed a lot over the next hour, as first good news and then bad trickled in.
God didn't answer those prayers, and that's OK. He had other plans. And now that Charlie is in heaven, I'll ask him to talk to big man directly on behalf of his family, his friends, and the country he loved so dearly.
You ran a good race, my friend.
We've got it from here.
I don’t understand the student loan issue.
These people invested in themselves, and lost. Or, they were lied to about the value of their degree.
Plumbers shouldn’t bail them out.
It’s fascinating to watch democrats and their media allies gas light Americans by telling them car prices *might* go up with tariffs by up to $6,000.
During the Biden administration, car prices *actually* went up by $8,000 (20%). Total silence.
Foreign aid is the perfect metaphor for all the economic problems the West faces.
Our body politic is so obsessed with empathy at any price that we are no longer capable of understanding something that every household knows: many things that are good, virtuous and desirable are nonetheless unaffordable.
The reason you don't give hundreds of thousands to help the poor, house the homeless or save the whales is not that you hate the poor, the homeless and whales. It's that you can't afford to feed, clothe and house you own family if you do so.
Britain and America both have debts that are similar to their GDP. That's the equivalent of a household which earns 100k a year having a debt of 100k. Not only that, we add to the debt every year because we continually spend more than we earn. Would or should a household in that position be giving money to charity?
But as a society we have lost the ability to say no to things that make us feel good. Countries used to run up debts during times of war and pay them off during times of peace. Now we just print money to avoid having to tighten our belts. A society of narcissistic, materialistic adolescents who are impoverishing their own children and grandchildren.
So...they burn OUR flag, while flying THEIR flag, because they love living in OUR nation and don't want to go back to THEIR nation? Did I get that right? Get em the hell outta here.
Pete Hegseth just dropped a NUKE at the Senate hearing.
"The dumbest phrase in military history is: 'Our unity is our strength.' NOOO, our shared purpose is our strength. Our shared mission is our strength. We are one DOD community of all, committed to the same mission."
WHAT A ROCKSTAR. Trump hit a gold mine. Home Run Pete is going to get confirmed.
For all the talk of elevating women to positions of power on the left - it's Trump that just named the first ever woman white house chief of staff.
Gonna be any #girlsboss articles about her?
The media say Trump lied when he told Joe Rogan that industrial wind turbines are killing whales, but he didn't. In fact, it's worse than Trump said. If the wind industry continues with its boats, noise, and vibrations, it will make the North Atlantic right whale extinct.
Hillary Clinton in 2008:
“If they’ve committed a crime… DEPORT THEM! No questions asked. You’re gone!
If you want to become a citizen you have to pay a stiff fine, pay back taxes, and learn english.”
Today’s Democratic party would call her a MAGA far-right extremist on CNN.
This North Carolina man totally nailed it when asked about why he's voting for Trump
"I find it funny that as soon as he became a Republican, he became a racist. But name me a that racist that won an NAACP award." 🔥
To @TheDemocrats ,
This is my career suicide note, but it’s also a thank you from someone who is done with careerism. I’m a lifelong member of your party and I’m voting for Donald Trump. Why? It’s not just your industrial-scale censorship or your endless wars or the fact that you disenfranchised millions of Kennedy voters through lawfare. If that were all I had, it would be sufficient, in terms of conscience and rage, but there’s more to this story than anger. Your hatred and censorship has taught me to admire @realDonaldTrump and to love my fellow working-class Americans, and for that I thank you.
This vote is for all the traumatized people who have been canceled and banished just for saying no to the establishment. This vote is for the surveyor, the farmer, the HVAC man, the nurse, the hairstylist, the Deadhead, the veteran, and my fellow adjunct professors who have told me their stories about being bullied by the Democrats in their friends and family and their colleagues at work. This is for the young Black woman in my class last year who, on the day of Kamala Harris’s visit to campus, said, “You’re going to hate me, Dr. Armstrong, but I’m not going. I’m voting for Donald Trump.” Why would she think I would hate her for the way she votes? What has happened to our country?
Somehow, Donald Trump has changed my mind. Where I once saw a cartoon white supremacist, warmonger, and narcissist, I now see the man who renegotiated NAFTA and the only president in the twenty-first century not to start a new war. Where I once saw the pal of the neocons, I now see a man who has awoken from his slumber and disavowed Dick Cheney, George Bush, and John Bolton, even as my own party embraces these “men.”
Why has the greatest entrepreneur of my generation (@elonmusk) risked his career to side with Trump? Why has the most consequential grassroots environmentalist of my time (@RobertKennedyJr ) sacrificed friends, family, and reputation to side with “The Orange Menace?” Why has the most courageous peace activist of the twenty-first century (@TulsiGabbard) left our party? Because Tulsi, Bobby, and Elon see what I see. Donald Trump is resilient and he’s risking his life to change the fate of our nation. Trump is transforming the Republican Party into the party of peace, free speech, and the working-class. He has converted George Bush’s billionaire boys club of Big War, Big Ag, and Big Pharma into a party that cares about public health and embraces regenerative agriculture.
Now I don’t think the GOP is all the way there yet, but they’re clearly the party that embraces dissent, and dissent—brave speech—is the fuel for evolution. So, for the first time in my life, I’m voting Republican. In the name of peace in Ukraine and free speech here at home, I’m casting my vote, as a Kennedy Democrat, for Donald Trump.
#TrumpVance2024 #MAGA #MAHA #TeamUnity
#HealTheDivide #Peace #Iraq #Ukraine
Harold Daggett, the ILA boss who pledged to "cripple" the United States, owns a 76-foot yacht, a Bentley, and gets paid over $900,000.
He was acquitted on RICO charges after the main witness against him, mobster Lawrence Ricci, was found decomposing in a car trunk in New Jersey.
I’m an activist. A front line activist.
I oppose the erasure of women and the mutilation of children.
I believe that it is the biggest threat to mankind.
That’s my issue. That informs my vote.
If you vote for politicians who actively promote the erasure of women and the mutilation of children you are complicit.
A vote for Harris is a vote for more mutilation of children and more erasure of women.
Former Democrats backing Trump reveals the same point as Dick Cheney backing Kamala Harris. It’s not really about Republicans vs Democrats. It’s about the managerial class vs the citizen.
Kamala Harris supports a tax on *unrealized* capital gains & here’s how that will trigger an economic calamity:
Currently, if you own an asset (stock, house, land, etc.) and it goes up in value, you don't pay taxes on that appreciation until you sell it. Makes sense -- you haven't actually made any money yet.
Biden and Harris want to change that. In 2022, they proposed a "minimum tax of 20 percent on total income, generally inclusive of unrealized capital gains.”
In 2023 and 2024, they bumped that up to 25%. This never became law, but the Harris campaign shows no signs of disavowing it.
Imagine you’re a family farmer or small business owner whose property goes up in value.
Or consider a startup founder I know. He’s the kid of a middle-class family who had a brilliant idea for a consumer technology company that’s worth a lot on paper. But he doesn’t have spare cash because he poured his savings into launching the business -- which is growing and likely to succeed. The only way it would fail is if he has to sell shares prematurely.
And that’s exactly what this tax would force him to do. The IRS doesn’t care that your newfound “wealth” only exists on paper. They want cash.
The same goes for someone sitting on long-term capital gains in their public stock portfolio: they *have to* sell in order to pay taxes, even though they otherwise wouldn’t have wanted to. This creates a vicious cycle of what's known in capital markets as "forced selling” - you have to sell off assets to pay your tax bill, but so does everyone else at the same time, triggering a downward spiral in asset prices. It's the best formula for triggering a politician-made market crash.
It’s significant that even thoughtful Democrats won’t support this policy on the merits, they just insist it’ll never actually happen. Not exactly a ringing endorsement.