Tucker Carlson: America After Charlie Kirk

Hey, I’m Tucker Carlson. Minutes after Charlie Kirk was shot, a proxy war broke out over his memory—claims he died as a Nazi, or for Israel. That is all self‑serving nonsense. Charlie’s life was defined by his belief in Jesus. That faith shaped everything: the conviction that God is God and we are not, that every person bears a soul, that free conscience and free speech are sacred because they come from God. He lived that—on campuses, flight after flight, arguing with love and words, because words reach the soul. Here is a piece of that.

If you recoil at the thought of shooting two toddlers with a shotgun, that same moral instinct applies to the two children at six weeks in the womb. One is older, bigger, outside; both are human. That voice inside you is your soul telling the truth.

That divine spark in you does not lie. Charlie appealed to it without screaming, because he really believed abortion is the taking of innocent life—and your conscience knows it. That is why he fought for free speech: deny someone’s right to speak and you deny their soul. Which is why talk of “hate speech” from the Attorney General is so dangerous. There is no such lawful category in America. If they can criminalize words they hate, they will own your mind. If they try to pass hate‑speech laws off Charlie’s death, that is a moment for civil disobedience.

Charlie and I talked a lot this year. At TPUSA in July, right before my speech, I told him I might skip the Epstein–Israel intelligence part to spare his donors. He looked at me and said, go all the way. He meant it. That is why the ghoulish attempt by Benjamin Netanyahu to hijack Charlie’s memory offended me. Charlie loved Jews and Israel; he did not support Netanyahu’s conduct. After that July speech, a small, intense group of donors tormented Charlie. He lost real money because he still platformed me. The American Jewish Committee even smeared him as anti‑Semitic and dangerous—grotesque and untrue. Meanwhile his views were evolving: against forever wars that drained our nation, and toward basic fairness in an economy where the most aggressive and best connected too often get richest while young people cannot buy a home or build a life. That is not socialism; it is a Christian insistence on justice. Listen to how he framed the crisis for the young.

We are the wealthiest nation on earth, yet young Americans can’t afford basics and have to finance necessities. How can we be a juggernaut and an economic nightmare at the same time?

If there were a real left, they would at least hear that out. Instead, they called him a Nazi. He was a check on power, and they hate checks on power. Megyn Kelly is here—she knew Charlie well. Megyn, on air your first words were, he was sent by God. Why?

I spent so many hours with Charlie professionally and watched his faith infuse everything—he was a happy warrior, generous, relentlessly optimistic about people. He gave everyone the benefit of the doubt. That goodness felt angelic. And it made him more threatening than any of us, because he converted people—especially young people no one on our side used to reach. He helped swing the youth vote toward Trump by nearly ten points. That magnetism, plus his refusal to smear or grandstand, terrified his detractors. He also felt real pressure—some of it the same pressure I got—to drop you over Israel. I refused. You’ve been sincere and evolving, still America First. Certain influencers and donors wanted a single narrative. Charlie would not enforce it, and he paid a price.

Why smear you, Charlie, and frankly me, as anti‑Semitic and dangerous when we are basically pro‑Israel and trying to keep our own country intact?

All I said was Israel was losing the PR war and it was time to wrap it up—a line Trump used earlier—and that Epstein could plausibly have been someone’s asset, including possibly Israel’s, which is a legitimate question. Charlie said even less. He hosted debates and kept the Israel side fully represented. Still, we were smeared. Why? Because we told the truth as we saw it and refused to police conversation. Charlie reflected his constituency—under‑thirties are broadly against Israel now—and he had the courage to tell donors he would not silence people. As for “hate speech,” Pam Bondi’s comment was legally wrong and morally gross. She knows the Supreme Court precedents. I worry she was signaling a policy push. I think Trump will block it. On child sex changes, it is a moral scourge: sterilizing and mutilating minors who cannot consent. I doubt we get a federal ban; it will be state by state. We will keep fighting.

We should name the politicians blocking a ban on mutilating kids, because history will recoil at what was allowed. Megyn, your words about Charlie were profound—thank you. Scott Adams joins now. Scott, what is the lesson of Charlie’s life and death—and how does someone get to the point where shooting a man seems reasonable?

As a trained hypnotist, I see a mass‑hysteria, Hitler‑everywhere bubble built by years of repetition from people in suits saying, Nazis are here, Trump is Hitler, his lieutenants are Nazis. You can brainwash millions that way. When I checked the claims about Charlie, they were either fabricated or ripped from context. No evidence he was what they said. Some people will eventually feel shame when they realize they slandered one of the best men we have seen. His death unleashed a massive energy—Republicans are suddenly operating like a machine, starting TPUSA chapters, going to church, acting. I have mixed feelings about cancellation as payback; the other side is genuinely brainwashed. But there must be consequences or abuse never stops. Why brainwash? Power. If you cannot beat common‑sense policies and charisma, you sell apocalypse until people act. I predict Republicans crawl over glass to vote; turnout like we have never seen.

I appreciate that. Cenk Uygur joins us because Charlie talked with people he disagreed with—and invited you to AmFest after a viral clash years earlier. What changed, and how were you treated?

Charlie approached us at the RNC and said, let’s talk. We still fought on culture issues, but we agreed on corporate rule. We agreed private equity should not be buying up single‑family homes—it jacks up prices and robs families of the main wealth‑building asset. We agreed money in politics drives insane outcomes like banning Medicare from negotiating drug prices. And we agreed on anti‑war. At AmFest, a right‑wing crowd booed Dick Cheney and Mitch McConnell—that is a sea change. The people at AmFest were universally kind to me. On speech, when Charlie said things about Islam I disliked, I answered with arguments. We do not cancel, and we certainly do not kill. Non‑violence is a first principle: violence is intellectual surrender. Laws against “hate speech” in Charlie’s name would betray who he was. Debate, do not muzzle.

Exactly right. We began with Charlie’s faith; let’s end this segment there. Father Josiah Trenham is here. Father, people felt a sudden spiritual stirring after Charlie’s murder. How should we proceed?

We should mourn—slowly and seriously. In the Church, we mark forty days before making big decisions. Take time to pray, calm down, and refuse to weaponize grief. Honor the good, consign the bad to forgetfulness, and imitate his virtues. That is the Christian way.

I’m unfamiliar with this, but it feels wise. Why forty days, and what have Christians traditionally done in that period? What does it mean to mourn seriously?

Forty is a sacred, stabilizing span in Scripture—think Christ’s fasting—meant to cool rash reactions when everything is raw. In that time we pray and do acts of charity in the departed’s name; you’re already doing that by helping Erica. We pray for the soul’s journey, not assuming instant arrival in the next life, and our funerals ask God’s mercy while we learn sobriety by facing death. Modern America hides death—no bodies at funerals, elders dying far from family—and it robs us of real mourning. Our tradition, shaped by St. John of Damascus, stares into the grave and remembers death levels rich and poor alike. Charlie’s family and friends should take time—pray, mourn, and think deeply—before rushing back to work.

That resonates—the death of someone you love is crushing and beautiful and it changes you, and we’ve been denied that. So what real signs of hope do you see?

We’re in a dangerous descent into violence unlike anything in my lifetime—from jihadist attacks to rising leftist violence, even attempts on a president and now Charlie. Hope cannot be fake. Scripture says God judged a world filled with violence; to assault a person is to assault God’s image. In a nation that aborts its young and exalts godless secularism, the outlook is grim. Our path forward is repentance and leadership willing to say so—think George Washington, King David, my patron Josiah. We must put God back at the center. The good news: people are flooding into faith. I have over two hundred catechumens where forty once felt big; it is happening nationwide. If that hunger becomes rooted repentance, times of refreshing can come. Technology and AI will not save us. A human being is more than biology; there is the life of the soul and, above all, eternal life. Recover those truths, and we have a future.

What a wonderful explanation. Charlie was very interested in Orthodoxy—were you aware?

Yes. He interviewed my friend Father John Strickland and grasped why so many are becoming Orthodox: they want something time-tested, substantial, culture-shaping—Christianity as a whole life under Christ the King. Healthy communities enthrone worship at the center; the Church’s altar is the river of life that vivifies society. The best thing for America is to root in the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. Beautiful.

Father, thank you. For those who want to follow up: Josiah Trenham—T R E N H A M—senior pastor and director. I appreciate you coming on. We’ll keep going and see if this format works—I kind of like it. Thanks for sticking with us for an hour and fifty minutes. We’ll be back.