Highlights from Charlie Kirk's memorial (09-22-2025--Hour1)

What's going on. Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to three on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, go to dpeakclendershow dot com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button. Get every episode for free, write to your smartphone or tablet, and again, thank you so much for your support. Charlie Kirk always wanted to be remembered for courage, for his faith. That's what he said, And so, as Jordan Boyd writes over at the Federalist dot com, it was only fitting that more than one hundred million people around the world heard the good news that Jesus Christ saves at his memorial service yesterday. I watch the whole thing. I was not aware it was supposed to go as long as it did. I thought it was only supposed to go about three hours. It ended up ended up going like five. Highly recommend it. If you have the time to watch it, you can break it apart. There are lots of a lot of speakers, each one running between you like three to five minutes. Most of them three to five minutes. As you got towards the end of the program, people spoke for longer periods of time. It started with more than an hour of worship focused on spreading the faith that Charlie had in God. I will tell you that as I watched it, and this was just my reaction, and of course over the course of five hours there was there was a lot of different people, a lot of things that were said, a lot of performances. All the performances, the musical performances were amazing, and I found a lot more. I'd say I felt like it was predominantly about God and Christ, which I thought was entirely appropriate for a memorial service for somebody who was as practicing a Christian as Charlie Kirk was. So a lot of profoundly moving moments, a lot of comforting moments, a lot of defiance. Yeah, there were political messages as well, which I could. Have frankly done without. I didn't need to hear any of that, but I understand that was the work of Charlie Kirk's life. And there's a comment here I'm gonna play from his pastor, Rob McCoy, who explained why there was also some cringey moments, which like honestly, every funeral and memorial I think I've ever been to had some cringy moments. It's just like, it's what happens, right. I saw people were questioning why there were fireworks they did like sparklers like these, uh you know it's like floor mounted or ceiling mounted. Uh, just like sparklers that were just that were just like constantly going off, and people were like, oh my god, I have that stuff on there. And I admit, like I watched it too, and I was like, that's odd for a memorial service, But when you think of it in terms of a celebration of life, it makes a little bit more sense. But also according to Andrew Colvett, who worked with Charlie at Turning Point, USA, he said, the staff at Turning Point loves that effect. They see it as one of the event signature for all of their events that they do, and like it was a marvel to behold the amount of planning necessary to put together this kind of a service that had like the top level security that you would afford like the Super Bowl. You had like every member of the cabinet was there. You had the President, the Vice president. You had all of these, you know, famous people on the right that are targets for more violence, and. It went off without a hitch. And the amount of planning that was done in such a short period of time by a whole operation that was mourning, it's remarkable, absolutely remarkable what they were able to. Pull off yesterday. But here's the other thing is that Charlie Kirk loved those special effects. He loved them, and so as Covett Andrew Corvette pointed out, they did this because the staff loves it. Charlie loved it. It was a part of their events. And he said, we do not grieve the way the world grieves. We refuse to let the evil that killed Charlie rob us of our joy in remembering his incredible life and legacy. See, if you've ever been to a celebration of life versus like just a funeral, you know they're different. And that's what this. Was. That's the way I interpreted it as more of a celebration of Charlie Kirk's life. And I do have some audio I'm going to play here. In fact, let me start with Pastor Rob McCoy. This was Charlie's pastor, and he was the first speaker I believe, of the afternoon. He kept calling me his pastor, and I stopped him. I said, Charlie, since the president's got an elect your stock has risen through the stratosphere, and I don't see much of you. I mean, he wasn't a very good congregant. He was on the road three hundred and twenty days a year. But he said, Rob, not only are you my pastor, but you're America's pastor. And I said, Charlie, if. We were at a tabling event on a campus where you had the table set, prove me wrong, I'd win. And he looked at me with that sheepish grin that he always has Doug gone and if he wasn't right, I mean, I wasn't America's pastor two minutes ago, and I. Won't be after this. But for right now, he proved me wrong. He offered insight. I thought this was really profound into why Charlie Kirk was so politically active, why this was the work of his life. Now my responsibility and trusted to be by my friend and his wife. You're gonna hear of what Charlie did but I'm here today to tell you the why in what he did. The why brought him the courage, The why brought him the wisdom and the strength. The why is the one that Charlie wanted to welcome as the guest of honor. The guest of honor. His resume is long. He's the King of Glory. He's the Prince of Peace. He's the Savior of the world. He's the Living God. He's the God of all mercy and grace, the total embodiment of love, the total embodiment of truth. And he's here today to call his children back to him. From the thin veil of heaven. Charlie declares to all earthly powers and principalities who will gather here, they have come into the presence of the God of all creation. Charlie wanted his Savior to be the guest of honor. He wanted all of you to receive this gift from him, the why and what he did. Charlie was never afraid, because he knew his life was secure in the hand of God. Jesus left the glory of Heaven's throne for the humiliation of an earthly cross. He was fully tempted yet was without sin. For those of you who struggle with the word sin, it's real simple. It's an archer's term. Where the bullseye is and where the arrow lands that's called the sin distance. How far are you fallen from perfection? And there are none righteous, no, not one. We've all missed the mark the bullseye, and we try to get to God by our efforts, but there is no effort that will bring us back into the presence of a righteous God. You see, the wages of sin is death. Charlie knew this, and at an early age he entrusted his life to the savior of the world. Jesus came to this earth, was tempted in all ways, yet was without sin, was crucified upon a cross. His blood was poured out, because blood. Must be shed for the remission of sins, and his death upon that cross was sufficient for all the world's sins, but only efficient for those who, like Charlie, would receive him as their savior. Jesus has come to seek and saved that which is lost. And I would say this. To all of you. The Lord loves you. He wants to save you, He wants to give you a new life. He wants to cover the multitude of your sins by the blood he shed upon the cross. The Bible says, if you believe in your heart and you confess with your tongue Jesus's Lord, you will be saved to the. Glory of the Father. You see, Charlie looked at politics as an on ramp to Jesus. He knew if he could get all of you rowing in the streams of liberty, you'd come to its source, and that's the Lord. There it is. Politics was the on ramp to Jesus that if you're rowing in the waters of liberty, you will find its source, and that's God. So I did expect there to be political speeches and comments during the memorial service yesterday, and there were some. I'm not going to give you a lot of those, if any, because to me, it was all secondary, right, because those were just the waters. I'd rather focus on the source. So when I was a kid, my grandpa died with Alzheimer's, and before he died, my mom and my dad took care of him as he got worse. Forty years ago, there were no treatments and not much support for caregivers and family, but things are different today because of the work of so many people, including the Alzheimer's Association of Western Carolina. It's a great organization with awesome people with huge hearts. I've been a supporter for twenty five years. This cause means a lot to me. I participate in the annual Walk to end Alzheimer's and I'm leading a Charlotte team again this year, and it's called once again Pete's Pack. You can sign up and you can join the team and walk with us. It's on October eighteenth, that truest field. Sign up at alz dot org slash Walk and then you could search for my team name Pete's Pack. There's also a link at thepetepod dot com. There's also a link in the description of this podcast. Also, I'll be am seeing the Gastonia Walk on October eleventh, and so you can make a team and join that one too, or make a donation and help me hit my goal of five thousand dollars. If you do, I really appreciate it. There are a bunch of other walks all over the Carolinas. You can go to alz dot org slash Walk for all the dates and locations. We're closer than ever to stopping Alzheimer's. Can you help us get there? Will you walk with me? For a different future, for families, for more time for treatments. This is why we walk. We heard from Charlie's pastor Rob McCoy, old fashioned alter call, right, And if you've never been, if I know, there are a lot of transplants from up north that probably have never seen something like this at a funeral or a memorial service. When I first came down south, and I was younger, and so I didn't attend a lot of funerals because all of the people I knew were all younger. It was something I had never seen until oh, probably my thirties. But I've seen a lot of them now as I've gotten older, and you know, I know more people who are passing away, and so this is pretty standard too. Next up was Larry Arne, who is the president of Hillsdale College, and you can tell this deeply affected him in his comments here. He became a friend of mine because I interrogated him one time. Nineteen year olds are my specialty. I asked him some questions he couldn't answer, and he was already becoming famous, and I noticed his reaction. He said, what should I do? And I said, well, you have to suffer. If you want to grow, you have to suffer hard to learn into the night, crack the dawn in the morning. Start with the Bible, read the classics, study the founding of America. In those places you will find that there's a letter that reaches up toward God. And at the bottom of. It is the ordinary good things that are around us everywhere. If we can call them by their names, they have being, and the beings of the good things are figments of God. You will find that article in Aristotle, you will find it in the Bible. You will find it in Madison and Jefferson. How do I learn that? He said, And I said, you have to suffer. You have to study, You have to think. I thought I'd never hear from him again. Within a month, he got hold of my cell phone number and he texted me a copy of a certificate of completion of a Hillsdale College online course. He would go on to do that thirty one times. I keep a list in my head of the six or eight young people, and I'm very privileged. I get to know many inspiring young people who. Are the best I ever saw. Charlie is the only one who is never a full time student at Hillsdale College who was on that list. We will miss him dearly. He went on to say that he and his wife have set up a college scholarship for Charlie's two kids, and that he's granting an honorary degree to Charlie, which is the highest honor college can bestow upon someone who did not go to that college. Obviously, he had a bunch of staffers speak at his memorial, people that worked with Charlie, one of. Whom Mikey McCoy. And this was a fella who Charlie met and Charlie told him, Hey, don't go to college. Come work for me, and McCoy did so, just like Charlie didn't go to college based on advice from a mentor of his who said, there's no reason for you to do that. You can always go back to college. You're building something else right now. Mikey McCoy, he was defiant. He said, we'll never surrender and are resolved to live free from life lies and seek out what is true. We will respectfully, boldly challenge what is accepted by culture in order to seek out what is acceptable and true to God Almighty alone. My friend was martyred for using his voice to engage in peaceful dialogue. Charlie's assassin thought that he could steal and silence his voice by putting a bullet in his neck. In the words of sore and Keeregarden, the tyrant dies and his rule is over. The martyr dies in His rule has just begun. Right. This is why people on the right are saying and have been saying that. A lot of our friends on the left and in the media, but I repeat myself, have misjudged this moment. This isn't going away right. The defiance and the faith that was on display yesterday is proof of that. So you've heard me talk about Creative Video for almost a year. But did you know they also offer a game changing app for businesses that reward their teams with incentive trips. Well they do. It's called Incentive Trip Kit. If you want a business or work at one that offers these incentive trips, this is a must have. It maximizes the impact and value of these motivational trips. It's a super easy to use app built just for your group, with private messaging, shared photos, important trip documents, even a find the group locator just in case somebody gets separated. And when I say it's private, I mean it. No personal emails, no phone numbers, no ads, no account sign ups. Everyone uses one shared login, so it's super easy, no hassles. During the trip, everybody can post their best photos and short video clips, and folks back at the office can even follow along. 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He sent her critical medication and an oxygen machine directly to her house and she said, she still has no idea how he was able to do that. She said, he helped because that's what a Christian is supposed to do. When she apologized to him repeatedly over the two years for you know, not being able to get into work, and she had to, you know, put some of her responsibilities aside because she had to care for her husband. And he would always say family first. And then she lost her home in the Pacific Palisades fire, and Charlie said, well, you know, you should move to Arizona, where Talking Point or sorry, Turning Point, USA is located. And she did. And then she said this while and during our various tragedies, my daughter Grace would ask me at least once, why would God. Do this to us? Mom? My honest and only answer was, someday we will look at each other and instantly know why all of this had to happen, and it will be for something far greater than we can ever imagine. In my first conversation with Grace after Charlie's death, Grace said to me through tears over the phone, Mom, this is the answer to my question. This is our why. Now we can be there for Erica. And Gigi at mac the way they. Were there for us. One of the things that comes through when you hear and for a lot of people they may have never heard have heard this kind of eulogizing in these types of Christian sentiments expressed. Which is also another reason why yesterday's service I think was so profound, as that a lot of people may not be accustomed to hearing these types of messages, is that this is all about your personal not just relationship with Christ and God, but it's your personal responsibility the things that Christ called you to do, not to offload that responsibility to somebody else or some entity like government. I've said for years, right, if we on the right Christians want government to do less, we need to do more. There was no reason for the government to do things if those things are being addressed by individuals, by churches. Frank Tuik he was a mentor to Charlie Kirk. He's a Christian apologist guy and author. And he was there when Charlie was murdered, just five feet away, standing off to Charlie's side, and so he was there with him in the vehicle as well as they raced to the hospital, and he told the audience that Charlie Kirk was killed instantly, there was no suffering. Now, I want you to know that Charlie right now is in heaven. Not because he was a great husband and father, not because he saved millions of kids out of darkness on college campuses, not because he changed minds and chased votes to save the country, not because he sacrificed himself for his savior. Charlie Kirk is in heaven because his Savior sacrificed himself for Charlie Kirk. So over the next hour, then after this weird speeches from Stephen Miller, Susie Wiles, Tucker Carlson, then Telsea Gaber spoke and she said, Charlie took his message to the very places where that message was needed most. And Charlie did this so well. He was winning so much, winning so much so that the forces of darkness, hate, and evil were threatened by him and tried to silence him. History shows this dark pattern that when ideas cannot withstand scrutiny, whether it's the ideology of so called religious fanatics or political fanatics, their defenders, terrified that their weak ideas will be exposed for what they are, turned to intimidation, censorship, and violence. They kill and terrorize their opponents, hoping to silence them. But in this evil that we have experienced that Charlie faced their flawed ideology as exposed. Because by trying to silence Charlie, his voice is now louder than ever, His message is more powerful and impactful than ever. The truths that he spoke have spread hundredfold. Right. This is why I'm not sure people who hate Charlie Kirk call everybody on the right Nazis and fascists and every sort of phobe and ist. This is why I'm not so sure that you recognize what is happening and what has happened in the wake of this murder. I said it right after the assassination when we came back on the air. It is very much like the line from the Star Wars movie You strike me down, I will become more powerful. That's what happens. That doesn't happen, as she says here, it doesn't happen when you strike down the tyrant. The tyranny ends. But the message and the attempts to spread the message, those are only threatening to people who would use violence and intimidation against you because they cannot debate the ideas. They cannot answer for the ideas. That's why I've said for years also, unchallenged ideas are easy to hold. If you can defend your ideas, then you debate them, and if you can't, then you should either scrap them. But if you kind of like build your entire personality and everything that you think is interesting about you around your political ideas, then that's why we see this this, you know, resorting to violence and cancelation and intimidation. It's been going on for fifteen years at least against conservatives on college campuses. I've been talking about it literally my entire radio host career, and I think we might be at a turning point. Game on Week one starts now, and every touchdown brings you closer to a payout. With Draft Kings Sports Book and official sports betting partner of the NFL. This isn't just football, it's first touchdown fireworks anytime. TD rushes live bets that ride every momentum shift that DraftKings every play is your next shot to win. Will the Panthers win? Will we even get a touchdown? 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Void in Ontario. Bonus bets expire seven days after issuance. See Sportsbook dot DraftKings dot com, Slash promos NFL Sunday Ticket offer for new subscribers only and auto renews until canceled. Digital games and commercial use excluded. Restrictions apply additional NFL Sunday Ticket terms or at YouTube dot com slash Go Slash NFL Sunday Ticket Slash terms Limited time offer, Chris, Welcome to the program. Hello Chris, good morning, Pee, how you going, Hey, I'm. Good, good afternoon. What's going on. I've just been listening to you for a long time, man, and now I got it. Just I just felt called to say, dude, thank you for who you are, for being a truth seeker. I'm one who has very limited patients with people who I would say are blind, and I am reminded in the last couple of weeks just how I have to stop, like I have to drop to my knees and thank God that I can see that the veil has been lifted from my eyes, and those that can't are to be dealt with with more patience and kindness because they're blind. Like it's they're cursed in a way. I'm not trying to put myself on some morally superior pedestal. I just have the ability to see the highest order. I'm not saying that I live it or I am, but I certainly can tell. And men like you who just you know, put me in my place at times and remind me how long about things I have been And I just appreciate you man, Thank you. I'll watch, yes, sir, well. I appreciate that. I think though there there requires a level of humility to say what you have said about your relationship with God, to get down on your knees and to recognize that that relationship, you know, And I think that's what inspires so much hatred from a lot of people that are, as you say blind. I always get this suspicion that they kind of know right, and and rather than humble themselves, they they lash out and deny, you know, because that allows them to continue doing what they're doing, living the way they would prefer to live. And I think. That that was also Charlie Kirk's mission was to open people's eyes and to give especially young men a different direction when they are ready to see. Yeah, and the older we get, the harder it is to realize that maybe I've got this wrong. Maybe I actually am not the bad guy in the situation, but I just I've been wrong in this situation. And the more steadfast and the more dug in we get, the older we get, it's just harder and harder and harder to rip that part of us that's wrong off and let it die and let something new grow there. I mean, it's really difficult. It hurts. Well, that's what Larry Arne was saying from Hillsdale College, right, he said, in order to grow, you have to suffer. And a lot of people don't want to do that. They don't want to put in the work, you know, they don't want to challenge their own ideas that have become so central to who they think they are. You know. Well, you keep sending that suffering my way, peepe. All right, man, I'm gonna try my hardest, right all right, bless you. I appreciate the call, man, Thank you along those lines. There was a headline at the Wall Street Jo to listen to this invoking a quote revival. GOP hopes Kirk's legacy unites and endures. They hope the slain activists work will carry them into a new era of influence and dominance. Hugh Hewitt talks your host out in California. He said, this headline illustrates a point secular media, not just media staffed overwhelmingly bi secular people, but secular media lack the language and background to understand yesterday's service. It was the largest witness to the objective truth of Christianity in history. The regular roster of guests and sources who comment on matters politics and policy, they're not equipped to analyze or even comment coherently on what they saw. Some won't even be inclined to try. It was not primarily a political event. It was a religious event, and a uniquely powerful one. Reported that way, and you won't miss by much. Though it is hard, the Christian view is a large one. All right. That'll do it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. I could not do the show without your support and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast, so if you'd like, please support them too and tell them you heard it here. You can also become a patron at my Patreon page or go to thepetecleanershow dot com. Again, thank you so much for listening, and don't break anything while I'm gone.