Keely Brown

MAGA. Proud coal miner’s wife. Boy mama x 2. Illini lover. Golden Goose enthusiast. FNP.

[Sleepers Media 💤🏀 @SleepersMedia]

“Brad Underwood is the coach who is most stable here, which sounds insane, we never would have believed that three years ago. I’m incredibly envious of Illinois fans”

With Brad Underwood at the helm, @gwizzy12 thinks this Illinois program is as strong as ever⬇���

[Illinois Football @IlliniFootball]

Dream fulfilled. A salute to the FamILLy.

[Keely Brown @Keely8701]

Let’s Go!

[Jon Rothstein @JonRothstein]

Andrej Stojakovic is returning to Illinois next season, per his agent Drake U'u.

Averaged 13.5 PPG and 4.5 RPG last season.

Another significant returning piece for the Illini.

[Keely Brown @Keely8701]

@CoachUnderwood that was 100% on you. Not playing baby Z or Jake for the entire 1st part of the 2nd half. U should-be ashamed.

[Brandon Straka #WalkAway @BrandonStraka]

GEN Z: Zohran Mamdani’s socialism doesn’t protect you. It traps you.
🚫 Rent freezes = no apartments.
💸 His tax hikes = no opportunity.

Gen Z is the most innovative, entrepreneurial generation we've ever seen. But Zohran isn't going to freeze your rent- he's going to freeze your future.

Watch my new video (v. 3) before you lose your shot at independence. @joerogan @PBDsPodcast @BillAckman @EYakoby @MichaelRapaport

[Keely Brown @Keely8701]

⁦@RealCandaceO⁩ lots of love for CK @Disney

[Keely Brown @Keely8701]

Ensue bawling the rest of the night..it hasn’t stopped since 230
Today

[JD Vance @JDVance]

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.

[Keely Brown @Keely8701]

@forthepeople is this one of yours? If so, please address! Rejoicing and celebrating the death of a political opponent has no place in our society and definitely not one that represents injured people. #CharlieKirk #CharlieKirkshot

[Keely Brown @Keely8701]

If you can’t keep a kid that started 31 games then there is some serious sh*t going on with inner workings of the program and Brad &co better figure it out! @IlliniMBB #illinimbb

[Keely Brown @Keely8701]

@CoachUnderwood what a freaking joke. U don’t deserve to be out there when u flat out refuse to make adjustments. It’s getting terrible to watch anymore and really reminding me of mid00s. Make fucking adjustments. It’s not that damn hard. #illini

[Brigitte Gabriel @ACTBrigitte]

After watching the RFK Jr. hearing today, it is abundantly clear to me that I could NEVER vote for a Democrat for the rest of my life.

These people are completely insane and have no morals.

[Keely Brown @Keely8701]

Can we get this kid a shot of penicillin and decadron stat!!!!!!

[Derek Piper @DPiper247]

Huge blow for the Illini tonight.. Tomislav Ivisic, who was battling strep throat on Sunday at MSU, is OUT tonight vs. Maryland.

Will Riley & Tre White are questionable.

[Keely Brown @Keely8701]

The refs took our best player out of the game! It was absolutely despicable to watch. There needs to be a full investigation. #illini #msu #bigten @bigten

[Keely Brown @Keely8701]

It wasn’t just the tech. This was possibly the worst officiated game I’ve ever watched! Absolute abomination.

[Jon Rothstein @JonRothstein]

Michigan State's winning streak is now at 11.

Credit the Spartans for a great victory.

But the officials who called that technical foul late on the Illinois bench took the game out of the hands of the players.

Let them PLAY!

[Keely Brown @Keely8701]

🙋🏼‍♀️Vegas MMILV

[Jon Rothstein @JonRothstein]

There are people out there right now planning family vacations in mid-March.

Pray for them.

[Jay Wright @CoachJayWright]

Keep an eye on "in conference road wins " . @MSU_Basketball win at Ohio st was big ! @UofArizonaMBB at Cincinnati was big . But @IlliniMBB wins on the road at Oregon and at UW is incredibly impressive. This is the toughness necessary in March ! @CBSSportsHQ @CBSSports

[Keely Brown @Keely8701]

@RepThomasMassie U should be as it’s highly deserved

[Dave Wischnowsky @wischlist]

In just the past three days:

Illinois football beat an SEC football team for the first time in history.

Illinois basketball posted the largest road win over a Top 10 basketball team in the history of the game.

That's quite a week.

[Byron Donalds @ByronDonalds]

Make America Fun Again 🇺🇸 #TrumpDance