Charlie Kirk, my friend, my sparring partner, fought for the freedom to debate

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Yesterday, my pal and political sparring companion, Charlie Kirk, was shot and killed at Utah Valley College.

He left us on the younger age of 31 years outdated.

Such as you, I'm in complete shock and totally heartbroken proper now.

<img style="aspect-ratio:1.8962963;display:block" fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" data-modal-image="37078624" width="1024" height="540" src="https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.16.17-PM.jpeg?w=1024" alt="Screenshot of David Rubin and a guest on The Rubin Report." class="wp-image-37078624" srcset="https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.16.17-PM.jpeg?quality=75&strip=all 2524w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.16.17-PM.jpeg?resize=300,158&quality=75&strip=all 300w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.16.17-PM.jpeg?resize=768,405&quality=75&strip=all 768w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.16.17-PM.jpeg?resize=1024,540&quality=75&strip=all 1024w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.16.17-PM.jpeg?resize=1536,809&quality=75&strip=all 1536w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.16.17-PM.jpeg?resize=2048,1079&quality=75&strip=all 2048w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.16.17-PM.jpeg?resize=878,463&quality=75&strip=all 878w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.16.17-PM.jpeg?resize=744,392&quality=75&strip=all 744w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.16.17-PM.jpeg?resize=576,304&quality=75&strip=all 576w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.16.17-PM.jpeg?resize=440,232&quality=75&strip=all 440w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.16.17-PM.jpeg?resize=424,223&quality=75&strip=all 424w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.16.17-PM.jpeg?resize=180,95&quality=75&strip=all 180w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.16.17-PM.jpeg?resize=107,56&quality=75&strip=all 107w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.16.17-PM.jpeg?resize=76,40&quality=75&strip=all 76w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.16.17-PM.jpeg?resize=133,70&quality=75&strip=all 133w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.16.17-PM.jpeg?resize=102,54&quality=75&strip=all 102w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.16.17-PM.jpeg?resize=200,105&quality=75&strip=all 200w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.16.17-PM.jpeg?resize=231,122&quality=75&strip=all 231w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.16.17-PM.jpeg?resize=322,170&quality=75&strip=all 322w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.16.17-PM.jpeg?resize=664,350&quality=75&strip=all 664w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.16.17-PM.jpeg?resize=114,60&quality=75&strip=all 114w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.16.17-PM.jpeg?resize=152,80&quality=75&strip=all 152w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.16.17-PM.jpeg?resize=87,46&quality=75&strip=all 87w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.16.17-PM.jpeg?resize=234,123&quality=75&strip=all 234w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.16.17-PM.jpeg?resize=50,26&quality=75&strip=all 50w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.16.17-PM.jpeg?resize=150,79&quality=75&strip=all 150w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px"/> Screenshot of David Rubin and Charlie Kirk on The Rubin Report. The Rubin Report

I first met Charlie in 2017 at a Horowitz Freedom Middle occasion in Palm Seashore.

On the time, we had been on reverse sides of the political aisle and spent our early conversations making an attempt to determine one another out.

May we truly belief somebody on the opposite aspect of the political aisle?

We each put our reservations apart, which led to a decade of respectful, highly effective and essential conversations — on and off digital camera.

What began as spirited disagreements on politics, tradition, faith and activism changed into a significant friendship and a turning level, pardon the pun, in my profession.

Collectively, we went on to do dozens of faculty campus occasions the place we each relished in discussing our variations — not solely with one another, however with the large crowds of faculty college students as effectively.

Bomb threats had been typically referred to as in, hearth alarms typically pulled, in an effort to finish our talks earlier than they even started.

College students (normally masked) would say unimaginably horrible issues to us, throw issues at us, and attempt to block the doorways so different folks wouldn’t be capable of hear us communicate.

Charlie all the time stood tall, undeterred and dedicated to participating with folks truthfully and immediately.

He even instituted a rule I’ve utilized in all of my public occasions since then: When you disagree with us you get to talk first through the Query and Reply section.

<img style="aspect-ratio:1.63578275;display:block" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-modal-image="37078626" width="965" height="590" src="https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.17.26-PM.jpeg?w=1024" alt="Screenshot of two men sitting in chairs during an episode of The Rubin Report." class="wp-image-37078626" srcset="https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.17.26-PM.jpeg?quality=75&strip=all 2176w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.17.26-PM.jpeg?resize=300,183&quality=75&strip=all 300w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.17.26-PM.jpeg?resize=768,469&quality=75&strip=all 768w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.17.26-PM.jpeg?resize=1024,626&quality=75&strip=all 1024w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.17.26-PM.jpeg?resize=1536,939&quality=75&strip=all 1536w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.17.26-PM.jpeg?resize=2048,1252&quality=75&strip=all 2048w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.17.26-PM.jpeg?resize=878,537&quality=75&strip=all 878w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.17.26-PM.jpeg?resize=744,455&quality=75&strip=all 744w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.17.26-PM.jpeg?resize=576,352&quality=75&strip=all 576w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.17.26-PM.jpeg?resize=440,269&quality=75&strip=all 440w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.17.26-PM.jpeg?resize=424,259&quality=75&strip=all 424w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.17.26-PM.jpeg?resize=180,110&quality=75&strip=all 180w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.17.26-PM.jpeg?resize=107,65&quality=75&strip=all 107w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.17.26-PM.jpeg?resize=65,40&quality=75&strip=all 65w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.17.26-PM.jpeg?resize=115,70&quality=75&strip=all 115w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.17.26-PM.jpeg?resize=88,54&quality=75&strip=all 88w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.17.26-PM.jpeg?resize=200,122&quality=75&strip=all 200w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.17.26-PM.jpeg?resize=231,141&quality=75&strip=all 231w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.17.26-PM.jpeg?resize=322,197&quality=75&strip=all 322w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.17.26-PM.jpeg?resize=664,406&quality=75&strip=all 664w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.17.26-PM.jpeg?resize=98,60&quality=75&strip=all 98w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.17.26-PM.jpeg?resize=131,80&quality=75&strip=all 131w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.17.26-PM.jpeg?resize=87,53&quality=75&strip=all 87w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.17.26-PM.jpeg?resize=234,143&quality=75&strip=all 234w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.17.26-PM.jpeg?resize=50,31&quality=75&strip=all 50w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-10-at-3.17.26-PM.jpeg?resize=150,92&quality=75&strip=all 150w" sizes="(max-width: 965px) 100vw, 965px"/> Charlie Kirk sitting down in an interview performed by David Rubin on The Rubin Report. The Rubin Report

Charlie was a great man.

A principled man.

He stood up for what he believed in and by no means give up, regardless of how arduous the battle.

Preventing for what he believed in was his job, but additionally his passion.

From spending numerous days and nights in swing counties, to debating on faculty campuses, to rallying the youth towards extra ethical and accountable values, his influence was each tireless and simple.

It’s on us now to proceed what Charlie began — to hold ahead the mission he devoted his life to: bringing extra freedom and prosperity to this nation and serving to all of us return to a extra virtuous and flourishing nation.

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The query all of us should ask ourselves is that this: What sort of nation can we need to dwell in?

A rustic the place we are able to debate our variations with respect, conviction and love — or a rustic that drifts farther from reality and replaces it with violence?