This Is the Most Important Thing We Can All Learn from Charlie Kirk

0:00Dave Rubin:Hey, Chicagoland! The Wayfair store is in your neighborhood at Edens Plaza in Wilmette. Finally, you can feel the fabric, sit on the sectionals, and even open the refrigerators. Plus, our in-store designers will help you bring it all together with free one-on-one design support for any project on any budget. Yep, we said free. Oh, and did we mention the cafe? So what are you waiting for? Come see all that's in store. Visit the Wayfair store today at Edens Plaza in Wilmette. Way fair, every style, every home All right, as you guys know, today is the one-year anniversary of the assassination of my friend Charlie Kirk, and I thought maybe I could share just a couple thoughts about Charlie and kind of where we're at with you.

0:42I met Charlie back in 2017 at a David Horowitz event in West Palm Beach, Florida. At the time, I was still kind of figuring out where I was landing politically. I saw a lot of craziness on the left, but I still considered myself part of the left. And Charlie and I did not agree on a lot of stuff. But almost immediately, instead of treating those disagreements as a reason to avoid me or keep his distance, Charlie immediately was like, let's go on tour. We disagree. Dave, I like you. Let's do something. Let's talk it out. Let's meet kids. Let's do events. Let's go. And I just said yes. Charlie and I ended up traveling together for nearly two years.

1:25We debated abortion, gay marriage, taxes, health care, and pretty much every other issue you can imagine. We disagreed openly, sometimes strongly, but almost always the conversation ended up the same way, with a smile, a handshake, a hug, a high five, and dinner afterwards. And by the way, at dinner afterwards, we just continued the same conversation we were having hours before. Charlie clearly and almost magically understood something that our culture has almost completely forgotten. That disagreement does not have to become a declaration of war. In an era where everybody seems determined to build walls around themselves, ideological walls, political walls, digital walls, Charlie built bridges.

2:07He built them in college campuses that were filled with people who had been told to hate him. Trust me, I saw it. He built them towards people who disagreed with him, and on a much smaller and more personal level, he built one towards me. Over the years, Charlie and I became real friends. We sat together at weddings. We spent endless hours in cars talking about politics, life, family, and the future. He came to my house just a few months before he passed away just to have a cup of coffee because he was in Miami. When I went out on my book tour, Charlie showed up to open for me while he was dealing with insane, terrible, insane back pain.

2:42He could barely stand in the green room before. And he got up, he made a beautiful speech about me, and I tried to pay him for the appearance and he wouldn't even take a dime. Nobody watching a viral debate clip of Charlie would ever know that part of him, right? They saw the fighter and I saw the friend. They saw the guy willing to walk into the lion's den. I saw the husband, the father, the man of faith, the guy who showed up for the people he cared about. And there's one memory of Charlie that I haven't been able to shake. The last time I saw Charlie was actually at Mar-a-Lago. It was at a PragerU event.

3:16And President Trump was going to make a few remarks to the group. But first, he walked across one of the balconies that was up high at Mar-a-Lago. It's quite a staggering building. And I was standing right next to Charlie. And he was sort of between me and the balcony. So I was looking up towards the balcony. But Charlie was standing in front of me. And those of you that knew Charlie, if you saw my video, he was quite tall. So I was sort of looking at Charlie in my distance, in my just foresight right here as I'm looking at Trump. And I turned to Charlie and I said, well, that could be you one day.

3:48And without missing a beat, Charlie said, God help us all. It was funny. It was pithy. It probably had some real truth to what he thought about maybe what his political future could be. And that was Charlie. And I've thought about that moment for a ton since we've lost him. Because when I looked at Charlie that day, I saw someone who had an unbelievably bright future in front of him. And who knows where it would have led. But I do know this. He was already doing something that may be even more important than holding any office. He was teaching an entire generation how to have the courage of their convictions without losing their willingness to engage the other side.

4:26And that's why one year later, I don't think the best way to honor Charlie is just to remember him. I think we have to continue building those bridges that he started. We're living in a country in a time where it's become remarkably easy to build those walls. Yeah, you can block people. You can unfollow people. We can retreat into our political corners. We can convince ourselves that anyone who sees the world differently must be stupid, evil or beyond reaching. But Charlie rejected that. He walked onto campuses where people fundamentally disagreed with him, and he handed them a microphone. Think about what that means.

4:59He didn't say, agree with me before I'll listen to you. He said, you disagree with me? Come to the front of the line. And we did that at every event we ever did when we did Q &As. And it was Charlie's idea and something that I've incorporated into all of my live shows since. If you disagree with me during the Q &A, you come up first. Don't just come up to say nice things to me. He was a bridge builder. And bridges are not built by surrendering what you believe. They're built by believing something deeply enough that you're willing to defend it face to face while still recognizing the humanity of the other person.

5:28So if you want to honor Charlie today, tomorrow, next week, or whenever, do something more meaningful than posting a picture of him. Build a bridge. Call the friend you stopped talking to because of politics. Sit down with the family member who sees the world differently than you. Speak up when your socialist-leaning classmates make dismissive remarks about your beliefs. Ask them why they believe what they believe. And maybe listen to the answer. Stand firmly for what you know to be true, but never become so hardened that you forget there's another human being on the other side. Because a wall says, I'm done.

6:03A bridge says, we may never agree, but I'm not giving up on you. Charlie spent his life doing just that, and now it's our job to honor Charlie. one conversation at a time, one friendship at a time, one person at a time. That's how we continue what he started. And that's how we live like Charlie Kirk. I'll see you on the other side, my friend.

6:28Dave Rubin:Hey, Chicagoland, the Wayfair store is in your neighborhood at Edens Plaza and Wilmette. Finally, you can feel the fabric, sit on the sectionals, and even open the refrigerators. Plus, our in-store designers will help you bring it all together with free one-on-one design support for any project on any budget. Yep, we said free. Oh, and did we mention the cafe? So what are you waiting for? Come see all that's in store. Visit the Wayfair store today at Edens Plaza and Wilmette.