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Once again, a bullet has silenced the most eloquent truth teller of an era. My dear friend Charlie Kirk was our country's relentless and courageous crusader for free speech. We pray for Erika and the children. Charlie is already in paradise with the angels. We ask his prayers for our country.
Sick of the lies. Charlie Kirk knew I was openly lesbian and followed me. He didn't hate gay people. He might have disagreed with the way I live, but he had no hate in his heart.
I never met Charlie Kirk but I am gutted by this atrocity. Open debate is healthy and essential. Free speech is a constitutional right. Violence for disagreeing with someone is sick, deranged, and creates a greater division that becomes harder to overcome.
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.
Charlie Kirk, a name synonymous with having the courage to speak what you believe and seek/welcome conversations with those whom you disagree with.
I’m not a political person but I am a proud American citizen and today was startling, saddening, and maddening all at the same time.. I’ve realized that I’m a bit naive to how crazy it all has become but watching a man get hunted and slayed in broad daylight because of his opinions made me disgusted and devastated.
This can’t be what we actually are or become as a country.. I believe that the good people will always outnumber the evil people but damn… today was an alarming day in our country’s history.
2 kids lost a dad.. a wife lost a husband.. and societal discourse lost a voice.
RIP @charliekirk11.. I send my prayers, thoughts, and love to his family and friends.
The Charlie Kirk Shooting was disturbing, disgusting and wrong.
Praying for Charlie Kirk’s wife, kids and family.
It’s okay to disagree with someone’s political views, but celebrating his death makes you a despicable human.
No one deserves to be gunned down for their beliefs.
I enjoyed dinners with Charlie, but worried for his safety. The left says they want “national conversations.” Charlie Kirk actually did just that. In the lion’s den, no less, at left leaning venues, hoping facts and common sense would prevail.
And they murdered him for it.
Charlie Kirk changed my life.
I attended Turning Point USA's Young Black Leadership Summit in October 2018. I was 14 at the time but Charlie told me it didn't matter how young I was, I could fight alongside him in this movement.
From then on, I attended every Turning Point Conference every year. From 2018 to 2025.
I grew up in this movement. I became the person I am today because of the inspiration from Charlie Kirk and his organization.
I will never be the same without him, and this country will never be the same either.
He was a husband, a father, a man of God, and a visionary for our nation.
You can kill a man.
For we are all mortal.
But you can never kill his Love of his Savior Jesus Christ, his love of our great Nation, the United States of America, and his love of Freedom, Truth and his undying love, confidence and belief in the young people of America.
And you can never kill his message.
America is, and always will be,
the beacon of Freedom the world over.
Charlie Kirk was our modern day Founding Father. And he helped save our country from slipping further into Godlessness, censorship, cultural falsehoods, loss of common sense, common decency and authoritarian communism.
Above all, Charlie Kirk was noble. He was a decent God fearing man. And he ultimately gave his life for the people and the country that he loved so dearly.
All of us who truly love our country will continue to serve, honor and protect the Freedoms that were earned through blood so that we American citizens and our children may always live and breath in a Free society.
Today,
Let us all pledge our allegiance again as I know Charlie would want, to this great land and continue his love of God, Family and Country.
I pledge allegiance to the United States of America,
and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God indivisible with Liberty and Justice for All.
May Jesus Christ hold Charlie Kirk in his arms tonight and comfort his loved ones left behind. I pray for peace at this time for all Americans and for all
of God’s children everywhere.
God Bless you all.
Love,
Rob Schneider
We don’t yet know what motivated the person who shot and killed Charlie Kirk, but this kind of despicable violence has no place in our democracy. Michelle and I will be praying for Charlie’s family tonight, especially his wife Erika and their two young children.