Yesterday, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was fatally shot while hosting a speaking event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.
Charlie, only 31 years old, leaves behind his devoted wife, two young children, a powerful organization that reshaped the conservative movement, and a grieving nation already feeling the profound void of his absence.
When she heard the horrible news of Charlie’s death, Allie Beth Stuckey, BlazeTV host of “Relatable,” canceled her regular programming to both honor and reflect on the time she shared with one of the most transformative torchbearers in conservative America.
In 2017, when Allie was just entering the world of politics, Charlie Kirk — a rising star in the conservative movement — invited her to speak at Turning Point USA’s second annual Young Women’s Leadership Summit.
Fast-forward two years later, and Allie was asked to help plan and host the event. Even though she was due with her baby around the same time the summit would take place, she agreed to help because it was Charlie who was asking.
“I knew that if Charlie was leading it, then no matter what, that it was worth doing,” she says with tears in her eyes.
“I am one of thousands of people who can say that Charlie believed in me. He platformed me. He helped shape me long before I had done anything impressive,” she says.
Unlike most people in politics, who are kind only if it gets them something in return, Charlie was genuinely kind — and not just to the people he liked and knew well. His graciousness extended to those who hated him and called him their enemy — and was perhaps even greater.
“I almost wrote that Charlie treated everyone the same … [but] I realized that is not true. He was loving toward his friends, but he went out of his way to show even more grace to the people that considered themselves his enemies,” says Allie.
In 2022, Allie recalls doing a joint speaking engagement with Charlie at Auburn University. One hostile student stormed up to the mic and accused Charlie of being racist for calling out crime and fatherlessness in the black community.
“And he responded to her — I remember I got to watch this up close in true Charlie fashion — with precision, with boldness, but most of all with gentleness,” says Allie.
“For 13 years, Charlie worked with all kinds of people — from high school students, college volunteers, thousands of employees to the most powerful people in media and government. And I have not met one person who has ever had anything negative to say about Charlie Kirk,” she continues.
The magic of Charlie lay not in his brilliance, his leadership qualities, or his visionary mindset — although these qualities were certainly profound in him — but “because very simply, he was a good friend.”
Charlie embodied what it means to “share the arrows,” says Allie.
“If someone said something true, and they were taking flak for it, no matter their political affiliation, Charlie was the first in their inbox cheering them on,” she says.
“If you are a college student who is getting bullied for saying something true in class, Charlie would find a way. He would exhaust his network to find a way to reach you and to encourage you. If you were a politician running for office and you were getting raked over the coals, Charlie would go to bat for you.”
As an example, Allie points to her joint segment with Charlie on Fox News last month. They talked about the rise in Christian music, highlighting the work of Forrest Frank, who’s become a transformative voice in contemporary Christian culture.
Frank reposted their segment to his social media page and was hit with furious backlash from people who maligned Allie and Charlie — “but especially Charlie.”
“So what did Charlie do? He reached out to Forrest, not to defend himself, but just to encourage him — to tell Forrest that he’s doing a great job and that he’s cheering him on,” says Allie.
She also recalls the memory of speaking with Charlie at a megachurch in Phoenix, Arizona.
“We got to do what Charlie really loved more than debates, more than campaigning, and that was [defending] the faith. His knowledge of the Bible, his relentless passion for truth just absolutely overflowed into everything,” says Allie.
“I know if I could have texted Charlie this morning and asked him, ‘Hey, Charlie, I’ve got this really tough subject to talk about today, what do you think about it?’ … I know exactly what he’d tell me,” she says. “He would just have said, ‘Jesus — that’s it. Just point them to Jesus.”
To hear Allie’s full tribute, watch the video above.
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