Manhunt for Charlie Kirk's Killer Underway

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Live from the Liberty University Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, it's common sense conservative commentary from Todd Starr. That's right. I love this American ride. And hello, America. Welcome to the Todd Starns radio program.

We are honored. that you are joining us today on what is A very difficult day in America, and we've got a lot to talk about and a lot to work through today. Of course, today is also The Horrifying anniversary of the September 11th. Terrorist attacks the day that Muslims waged jihad on American soil. And we'll talk more about that in just a little while.

President Trump making remarks earlier today. But Today is a day about remembering Charlie Kirk and talking about. A very uh difficult and dangerous time that we were moving into uh in this nation.

Now We're going to open up the phone lines today. I tell you, I was. I was hosting Newsmax last night and we went For 60 minutes, no commercial breaks. No scripts at all. And the viewers of Newsmax really got the raw.

Emotional, uncensored, unvarnished truth from me about. What happened yesterday at Utah Valley University? And It's a terrible thing. I I have to tell you that I was filled with rage yesterday. More so than sorrow, even just rage.

I hate what our country has become. And I understand as a Christian And I'll get to that in just a moment. I understand that we should pray and we should be thoughtful, and I completely agree with that assessment. but I also believe there are times and seasons for things in life, and there is a time for rage and anger. And I believe that that rage and that anger is righteous, and I believe that many others.

Around this nation, feel the same thing. Th this morning I I woke up and I felt like I had been just punched in the gut again. I I didn't sleep well last night, and I suspect many of you didn't sleep well last night. Tossing and turning and just thinking over and over and over again about what we saw those images. The sounds The screams.

and the terrified kids Running for their lives. It's just uh So I talked about that last night on Newsmax. And We're going to talk about it today. And we're going to have a conversation about this because there are Christians out there who are saying, well, all we should be doing now is just praying and focusing on the Bible. And yes, we should pray without ceasing.

Absolutely. That's what the Bible tells us. That's what our faith in God commands us to do. But our faith also compels us to stand up. And to let our voices be heard.

It was Dietrich Bonhoeffer who once said that silence in the face of evil is actually evil itself. Not to speak is to speak, and not to act is to act. And I believe that for far too long, the Christians of America. And I mean no disrespect to any other religious group, but But the Christians in America, I believe that we bear a unique responsibility. because our founding fathers meant for us to be a Christian nation.

And so Under that idea I believe that we have a responsibility to speak up and speak truth into the culture. to confront evil. And yet, for so many years, and I would say over the past decade, unfortunately, many people of faith have just simply disengaged. And there's an idea of, you know, our sermons can't be hard-hitting. Our sermons can't convict people's spirits.

Our sermons have to be really these five-point self-help. Sermons Really almost pastors are serving as life coaches. instead of men of God standing in the pulpit, instructing us on right from wrong. How many times over the years have we heard ministers of the gospel say at some of these massive mega churches, even? Say that they don't want to offend people.

with their sermons.

Well, I hate to say this, but the gospel is going to offend people. the truth is going to offend. But if we are not shining light into the darkness, Then evil will prosper. And that's what's happened in our country. We are not dealing with a political fight here, ladies and gentlemen.

We are dealing We are dealing with something Much more dangerous would be We are dealing with spiritual warfare. That's what I believe is going on here. And we're going to have to stand up, and we're going to have to confront it. And I'm telling you, I I am so encouraged By What I am hearing. from so many young people across the nation.

Now we've got a lot to talk about today. But I wanted to set the ground for the conversation, and we're going to get into the manhunt, which is underway. We now can tell you that the rifle And the the bullets were actually engraved With transgender ideology and also anti-fascist Terminology CNN is calling it cultural writing.

Well, we know what the writing is. The Wall Street Journal reporting it, Stephen Crowder getting some exclusive info on that as well. We know what the cultural writing was, so CNN needs to knock it off. But I would equate, and I mean no disrespect here, but I would equate. The assassination of Charlie Kirk with the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

and RFK. in the late 1960s. I believe that is the impact that we are going to see here. Millions and millions of young kids, young people. They were brought into the conservative movement because of Charlie's winsome way.

You know what we do, Charlie was doing what we do on this program. We take the the um the objectors to the top of the phone line. If you call in and disagree, you go on the air first. We invite liberals, we invite conservatives to come and have a conversation on this program. But we are living in a very difficult time now, and a very different time where the left wants to shut us down.

There was a. There was a survey done. I want to pull this information up real quick here. There was a survey done. By Rutgers University, and this was not too terribly long ago, Talking about the rise of the assassination culture among young leftists in America.

And this was a study that was conducted by Rutgers University. By the way, there was in that survey report 48% of Generation Z liberals justified killing Elon Musk. 55% of leftists justified killing Donald J. Trump. We've been telling you for a very long time now, and by the way, the killer of Charlie Kirk is believed to be a young person.

We've been telling you for quite some time now about the dangers that were lurking in our nation's radicalized education system. And that's it. This is it, ladies and gentlemen.

So we talk about defunding the Department of Education and dismantling the Department of Education and returning control. If we don't do that and if we don't get serious about it right now, We will lose this country. More people's lives will be lost. But even if we do dismantle everything, you have a radicalized generation of young people. Remember what we talked about yesterday on this very program, right before the shooting happened.

The study from fire From Campus Reform, One out of three young college students, one out of three. Believes that violence is acceptable to stop speech they disagree with. One out of three college students in America. Folks, we're talking about millions of kids here. That's what we're talking about.

People that have been radicalized.

So, when you hear me explaining why we need to get a handle on what's happening in the classroom. Let me tell you something. That's the reason why. We've got to stop this radicalization. We've just got to.

Now I will say this, that we are, at least in my estimation, I think we're facing a war of world views in the United States. I mean, you see that social media has been overwhelmed. It's so disgusting.

Social media just overwhelmed with people celebrating the assassination of Charlie Kirk. These are the same people who celebrated the attempted assassination of President Trump. These people are dancing in the streets. And these people I'm talking about, they go by many different names, but I'm going to name them today. And I want you to hear me just hear me on this before we name the names.

For years. I've been getting death threats. It's a regular part of life. having to look underneath my car every day before I come to the office to make sure nobody's trying to blow me up. Trying to figure out which death threats are the ones we need to send to the police that we ought to take seriously.

I'm just telling you, it's not going to stop our mission here. I I think I am even more emboldened to keep doing what we're doing. And again, when you look at Charlie and you look at what he was trying to do, what was so radical, you know, the New York Times. The New York Times calling him a right-wing extremist. Why would they call what is extreme about what Charlie was talking about?

He was civil in his conversations, he encouraged. debate and discourse, he was pro-life, he was pro-family. He was Supporting free speech no matter what that speech was. He supported the Second Amendment? He believed that marriage is between a man and a woman?

And you see, we don't bother to push back when the media does this kind of stuff with the labels. A lot of people have blood on their hands. A lot of people have blood on their hands. But these people that I'm talking about here They're called leftists and liberals and Democrats and the Alphabet activists. These people loathe freedom and they despise liberty, ladies and gentlemen.

And by the way, thanks to this radicalized education system, now we have a massive army of militant leftists. and they are hell bent on destroying and silencing any speech they find offensive. We told you about the survey yesterday. But do you see what's happened here? Do you see what the radicalized education system has wrought in our nation where people are celebrating?

The murder of Charlie Kirk? And by the way, Do you think that's maybe why they had to take out Charlie Kirk? Because his message is actually not only resonating on college campuses, but resonating on high school campuses and middle school campuses. Millions of kids We're taught that, you know what, it's okay to be a conservative. It's okay to love America.

It's okay to be straight. It's okay if you want to be gay in America. This is America. You can be what you want to be here. It was okay to embrace freedom.

This idea that we're not about labels. We shouldn't be about labels. The left, they're all about labels. But what you do in the privacy of your home is your business. We should be Americans.

Now I've been watching the cable news. And, um It's the same thing.

Well, both sides just need to back, both sides need to cool it down. Forget about that nonsense. There aren't two sides. There's one side. Only one side is out there shooting people.

Only one side is out there burning down Tesla dealerships. Firebombing cars. Only one side has taken up arms against their fellow countrymen, And it's the left.

So here's what I say. We gotta be men and women of courage here, folks. And we've got to stand firm in our faith. We got to pray without ceasing. In everything we do, we have to remember that we're ambassadors for Christ.

But here's a word of warning to all the leftists out there. Do not mistake our Christian love and charity. For cowardice. Our indignation today is righteous.

Well, Todd, what would the Founding Fathers do? The founding fathers were good and decent Christian men, Todd. What are you saying?

Well, I'm saying the founding fathers were in fact men of God. but they also rose up and took up arms against the British and fought for their freedom. They sacrificed every single thing they had for this nation, every single thing. They sacrificed, put it all on the line. Charlie Kirk sacrificed his life.

to defend what our founding fathers fought for.

So what are you? What are you willing to sacrifice? Yeah, it's scary times. No doubt about it. But I'm not going to be afraid.

I refuse to be, simply refuse to be. I'm going to keep saying what needs to be said. But to day is a day of choosing, ladies and gentlemen. And you got to choose are you going to fight for freedom? Are you going to fight for liberty?

Are you going to surrender to tyranny? You know, we talk a lot about legacy. What do you want your legacy to be? Most importantly. And this sort of gets lost in the conversation.

A thirty one year old young man was gunned down in cold blood. His wife now, and the woman. A widow. Two precious children Will grow up without their father. That's what we ought to be thinking about.

Our telephone number is 901-260-5926. That's 901-260-5926. We have a lot of special guests today, but. Most importantly, I want to hear from you. We've got Ben Dieter, the former executive producer of this program, coming up.

Senator Marcia Blackburn is going to be here. Pastor Jack Hibbs, who is a close friend of Charlie's. And also we're going to be talking to Robin Poffman. She was there and the first reporter to announce that planes had flown into buildings. in Lower Manhattan.

We got a big show, nine oh one two six zero five nine two six This is the Tom Stern Show. Friends, I want to tell you about a new movie. It's called Sketch, and it's the latest from our good friends over at Angel Studios, the folks who are committed to bringing faith-based, family-friendly entertainment back to the big screen.

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If you're tired of the junk Hollywood keeps churning out and you're ready to support movies that are wholesome, meaningful, and made with heart, head over to angel.com/slash starns and become a premium Angel Guild member today. All right, welcome back, everybody. This is the Tod Stearns Radio Show, and as I promised you, naysayers go to the very top of the line. I want to go to Memphis, Tennessee, Robbie. Robbie, what's going on?

Hey Todd, good news. Morning. As a Christian man from the South, I just find a lot of what you're saying. be extremely divisive and one-sided. This country was not found.

it to be a Christian company. country. It was founded on freedom of religion. And right now, there's one out of four Americans or Christians going to church. That leaves another fifty percent, sixty percent, seventy percent of Americans that don't necessarily agree with that.

And for you just to come on here and say that liberals are out for violence and we don't believe in freedom. Charlotte we talk we don't even have guns. We are the most freedom-believing people in America. Robbie, let me ask you a question. Explain to me this: why is it that the House Democrats refused to allow a moment of silent prayer for Charlie Kirk in the House of Representatives?

They literally shouted down and heckled and booed. Why did they do that? What did we do for the congressmen and ministers? Why did they do that? No, no, Robbie.

Robbie, answer my question. Answer my question. Why did they boo and heckle?

Well, probably because Charlie's so divisive. How is Charlie? What exactly is divisive about Charlie? What exactly is divisive about Charlie Kirk? Have you seen where Charlie takes Charlie takes gay students And exposes them on Facebook and his social media.

No, sir, he does not embarrass them. No, that's simply not true, Robbie. That's a lie. Fuck yourself. Exc o yeah, all right.

You see, this is the problem with people like Robbie. He's a filthy mouthed leftist. And we try to give him an opportunity to make his point here, but instead he curses us and guys did we. He cursed us, and And he hung up the phone. Because they don't want to have a debate.

They want to silence debate. And you want to talk about you want to talk about division? I want somebody to explain to me why those Democrats in the House chamber yesterday. Shouted down. A moment of prayer.

or an American patriot. We got Ben Dieter coming up. We have lines open, one line open, 901-260-5926. That's 901-260-5926. This is the Todd Starn Show.

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Head to mypello.com or call 800-800. 839-8506 now. And don't forget to use promo code STARNS to grab your standard MyPellow for only $19.98 while supplies last. All right, welcome back to the Todd Starns Radio Show on a very busy, very busy news day. I want to go to the Patriot mobile newsmaker line, and we are just so honored to have my former executive producer, now a press secretary up on Capitol Hill, Ben Dieter.

Ben, good to have you with us today. It's a terrible day, Todd, and listening to your open, and by the way, thank you for having me on the show. I was listening to your open. I ran through the gamut of different emotions, as I'm sure all of your listeners have as well. Waking up, I would say, first and foremost, in shock this morning, like, how many times have you?

Look down. Check the paper, and Charlie Kirk is dead. They killed him, they murdered him. Um, I simultaneously feel very sad, heartbroken for our country. And then also just anger and rage.

And I think you can feel all of those feelings. with this news debt that just shook our our country and our nation in the way that it did yesterday. You know, Ben, when you look at young conservatives and Caleb Park, our former colleague now at Newsmax, reminded me just a few minutes ago that I actually introduced him to Charlie when he was first coming onto the national scene there at the old Fox News headquarters. And the impact that he has had on so many people your age. He's the reason I have seventy percent of my friend group.

And that is how big of a force he was. for young people in this country. It wasn't just high school chapters, TPUSA chapters in high school, but also college. I now work on The Hill. I work in Washington.

And they're in the House of Representatives, especially for young Republican staffers. And people, different young people working for the administration. It was a very somber funeral-esque. terrifying day for a lot of these kids. who are all really united because of Charlie Kirk.

And that is why I think this could be a turning point. for a lot of young people. Because they took one of our players. This one feels close. You're young, you hear about.

JFK, the assassinations of these politicians, and Ronald Reagan, the attempt, at least. This one hits so close, and I really do think this is going to be a paradigm shift for a lot of people under twenty-five Todd. And that is the big question. What happens next? He was such a powerful force.

And again, the manhunt is underway. They're looking for a young person. We understand the rifle was engraved with transgender, pro-transgender slogans, and also anti-fascist commentary. Wh where do we go from here, Ben?

Something I think we're all asking ourselves. Because I almost And I understand the sentiment. I understand the platitude of Well he's only stronger. No, he's not. He's dead.

They killed him. They snuffed out his voice. And the reason it was his and not. of the over amount of other conservative influencers or commentators out there. was because he was so effective.

Not just with the masses, of course, he was. Did he deliver us a win on November 5th of 2024? Probably. But he was effective with young people. And I don't know who takes that baton, Todd.

I don't know who picks up that torch. But it's a torch that must. And I hope that in the days weeks to come after this. that a lot of young people who are probably very scared today will take up that mantle and follow the example of Eddie left. For each and every single one of us.

We were talking last night, and you mentioned you described the scene up on Capitol Hill because a lot of people may not realize this, but your federal government is pretty much run by a bunch of kids in their 20s. Take us through what happened when word came down that Charlie had been assassinated.

Well you're Back, and so all your members are back on your floor or on the floor of the House, the House of Representatives. Always a buzz working on the hill. It's just so much happening. And we first got word. I got a phone call that there was a report that Charlie Kirk had been shot.

And as soon as that came to me via my phone, it was everywhere on the hill. And I would say overwhelmingly it was just silent. Yet every chatter that you heard was about Trelly Kirk. Every staff were glued to television. Waiting for any updates.

Of course, they said critical condition, they didn't know, unknown condition. And then Pretty much, as soon as we got the news from the President of the United States that he had passed away, I mean, it was, there were tears, there were kids, there were. How do I I mean, our office, we were praying together. It was just. It it was really something to be here.

to witness that. Ben, we're going to have to leave it there, but we appreciate you taking a few minutes to visit with us. Just a terrible tragedy. And I think right now, the emotion is still raw. But we've got to start thinking, okay.

How do we move forward from this? What does that look like? And honestly, Dieter, I I truly think that We have got to do something about this radicalized culture out there. We we can no longer be silent. There can't be an us versus them.

You're either a supporter of freedom and liberty or you're not. And I think that's where we're at right now. Final thought.

Well They have radicals. And are militant, but what we saw yesterday unfold in our nation. Created more radicals on our side. And though we are not a party of thugs like they are. We are not scared, and we will not back down.

A lot of people radicalized yesterday. I know I'm more emboldened now more than ever to keep doing what we're doing on this program. Ben. Look, you be safe. Always good hearing from you, friend.

Keep talking, Todd. All right, the great Ben Dieter. 901-260-5926. That's 901-260-5926. Let's try to work in a call or two here.

Joe from LA J, Georgia. And Joe, I understand that you actually knew Charlie. Yeah. Todd, what happened? I'm a graduate Georgia Tech in my senior year.

I was president of student advantage. We had a very successful alumnus. named Pete Fetit, and he called me up and said, Joe. I've got an outstanding young man. Coming to speak, and I want you and Betty to come down and hear him.

Where Betty and I went down, we met. Of Charlie, and he was so impressive, and he made a great speech. He did not go to college. But he was a bright, he's a brilliant young man. He fired us all all up about him.

He said, I want to encourage the young and lift them up and motivate them and sell free enterprise and capitalism to them. And he was so impressive. We made a contribution to him, and you know the rest of the story. He went to the top, but. When I first met him, when he first started Turning Point, and we made a contribution to him, and I knew then that I told Betty, I said, This guy's gonna go to the top.

Of course, he did. Such a great tragedy. And you did a great job on Newsmax last night, but God, we'd all have to pray and keep speaking up. We'll do it with advocating love and not vowel.

Well said.

Well said, because that's not who we are as conservatives. We are not a violent people. Joe, thank you for that. And I know a lot of folks are going to be wanting to weigh in here.

So let's leave it there. We're going to take a quick break again. Our number 901-260-5926. That's 901-260-5926. This is the Todd Stern Show.

Before we begin, let me express the horror and grief.

So many Americans at the heinous assassination of Charlie Kerr Keffelt. Charlie was a giant of his generation, a champion of liberty. and an inspiration to millions and millions of people. Our prayers are with his wonderful wife Eric and his beautiful children. Fantastic people they are.

We miss him greatly, yet I have no doubt that Charlie's voice and the courage he put into the hearts of. Countless people. Especially young people. We'll live on. I'm pleased to announce that I will soon be awarding Charlie Kirk posthumously.

The presidential Medal of Freedom. The date of the ceremony will be announced, and I can only guarantee you one thing: that we will have a very big crowd. Very, very big.

Well, I have no doubt about that. President Trump, just moments ago, making that announcement. I want to go right away to our Patriot mobile newsmaker line and bring into the conversation. The great senator from Tennessee, Marsha Blackburn. Senator You could you could see on the President's face, this was this was a really a gut punch.

So I think the entire nation. And I'm wondering how you were doing. I know you were very close with Charlie Kirk. Yes, indeed. I have spent many hours with Charlie Kirk speaking at Turning Point USA.

I early on supported him and would speak at the Turning Point USA conferences. and conventions and was looking forward to joining them again. In December, and Charlie has just been so supportive. He was excited. about things that I was working on and Things that we were pushing forward, he would stay in constant.

contact and I had just Really spent a lot of time chatting with him recently on a couple of issues. We are just going to miss him desperately, and I just. have prayed so for his family. And so for um Those that had worked with Yeah. In Turning Point USA, and those that were working with him as he started this new comeback tour, which would be so helpful to the President.

I know the President considered Charlie to be much more than a friend. He was a confidant and someone the President knew he could depend on. Senator, there is a lot of emotion right now, and I think the emotion is raw. There will come a time when we've got to figure out next steps and where do we go from here. But what do you tell the millions of young people on those college campuses and in high school?

That were drawn into the conservative movement as a result of Charlie and Turning Point. Yeah, and you know um My grandson, my oldest grandson, Um Was such a fan of Charlie Kirk. He tried to start a turning point chapter at his school, and the school wouldn't allow it.

So the Young Republican Club they had at school. Cool. Is something that they would go through some of the turning point. uh podcast and uh the Charlie's writings and his speeches and things. But I told my son and my grandson yesterday because he was upset.

Um And let me back that up a little bit, Todd. When he tried to start that turning point chapter in the school wouldn't allow it. I texted Charlie. to letting know. And Charlie jumped into, you know, uh support Jack and thank him for the effort and Um Jack said, you know, he really felt like Charlie was rooting for him.

And in that, I think that's the way young people failed. They felt what my grandson did. They felt that Charlie was on their side. And Charlie wanted the best for them, and he wanted to encourage them, and he helped them to critically think. about the issues that are there.

So my grandson is upset about this and I told him, I said, look. You can honor Charlie's memory by continuing to support his movement. for what we want to see a Conservative prosperous United States of America. And Charlie believed in hard work and smart work. And he believed in being a leader Who had a vision?

And I I told my grandson Honor him by working hard, by working smart, by looking for those opportunities. to be a leader, to dream those big dreams, like Charlie did. and then find a way to make those dreams come true. That is how you honor his life and his legacy. Senator, we're Christians and we cannot adapt the tactics of the left.

And I think that Christianity is really at the heart and soul of what it actually means to be a conservative in this country, just my opinion. But I do wonder what we need to do and what we need to say about this. this violence that is out there that's coming from the left. It is putting a lot of people in harm's way. What kind of a conversation do we need to have about that?

And one of the things that would be helpful would be for our colleagues that are on the left to call for a halt. to this vitriol. In this conversation, and let's just stop referring to conservatives. with all of these inappropriate names. You have people, I've been through a process, we're still going through it.

with someone that had an active death threat against me. Uh and just And they were riled up about things that they heard people. Yeah. Say about me. And this is happening.

You see, it happened with President Trump. You see that it has happened with Charlie Kirk, it happened with Steve Scalise. It has helped and happens. with so many others. that have had threats.

We've talked about it that There are more threats against members of Congress now than there have been And past years, and it's such an elevated threat. And of course, We know that The FBI is hard at work on apprehending this individual that murdered Charlie Kirk. Um It is believed that this person fired only once. It was from a nearby roof. He used a high powered bolt action rifle.

And they have recovered that rifle. It was recovered in the woods. that the shooter fled through following the shooting. And we are hearing reports that investigators found ammo with expressions of transgender and anti-fascist ideology inside that rifle. And there are other things they found, a footprint, a palm impression, a forearm imprint.

that are all going to be analyzed. And I am sure the FBI will find the individual. And we'll um will bring them to justice. Senator, I'm afraid we're going to have to leave it there. We're coming up on the top of the hour, but I.

We appreciate you joining us, and we join with you and your family. your grandson, and we're going to be praying for uh Charlie's sweet wife and those precious children. Thank you. All right, there you have it, Senator Marcia Blackburn on our Patriot Mobile newsmaker line, and again, talking about. The young people and the impact this is having on kids.

We had a teenager call in to KWAM. Earlier today, we're going to play some of that conversation. This young man was so inspired by Charlie that he's already petitioned his school, his Christian school, to launch a Turning Point USA chapter. And maybe that is Maybe that is The answer to all of this is that now, as a result of what happened, We could very well unleash millions of Charlie Kirks of the Across this great nation, spreading this incredible message of freedom and civility and politics. All right, we've got to take a quick break here, folks.

901-260-5926. Again, our telephone number: 901-260-5926. Head over to our website. We have all sorts of great resources for you there. By the way, encourage your kids to go and check out some of our writings.

some of our work, get them plugged into the conservative movement. as well. Hang tight, everybody. We'll be right back. Live from the Liberty University Studio in Memphis, Tennessee.

It's America's conservative blowtorch. That's us, that's right. I love this American. Todd Starns. All right.

Hello, everybody. Welcome to the Todd Starns Radio Show. Hour two underway. The manhunt continues. The FBI is now asking for our help.

and trying to identify the person That they believe shot and killed assassinated Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University. And we have posted the image over on our Facebook page, and we would encourage you to head over there and check it out. And if you've seen this guy, well, the FBI wants to talk to you. I want to give that number out real quick here. Again, the FBI Salt Lake City 1-800 CALL FBI.

That's 1-800-CALL FBI. But the manhunt underway, they've told us that the rifle. That was used. and the ammo that was used. had pro-transgender ideology inscribed on the rifle.

Also, we understand anti-fascist slogans as well.

So you can make of that what you want to in these early hours as the manhunt gets underway. By the way, our telephone number, 901-260-5926, your reaction. to the killing of Charlie Kirk, nine oh one two six zero five nine two six. I want to go to our Patriot Mobile Newsmaker line right now. Our good friend Jack Hibbs, he is the pastor of Calvary Chapel, Chino Hills, And Jack, you really had a very interesting and unique relationship and friendship.

Yeah, Todd, thank you for having me. Really did. Charlie and I met up many years ago. He was. on the rise, obviously, in the political realm and in the influential realm of the social media world.

And Um it was beautiful because Charlie wound up uh Seeking us out to find out more about the Bible. He was a believer, he was a Christian. came to the age or came to Christ at a young age. Uh, but he wasn't grounded, and um, he I had an honor of discipling Charlie, and we kept in touch. I spoke to him.

the day before he was assassinated. And we had a very close relationship. Again, once or twice a week, we would always connect throughout all these years. And yeah. Incredible young man.

I mean, but it's not just the genius of the man and his ability to debate with such articulation and knowledge. But as everyone is reporting Charlie never threw stones back at people who were attacking him. It was quite remarkable to watch where. you would see him in the college setting And people are just you know cussing and saying things at him. He was never ruffled by that.

He let them vent, and then he said, Let's talk about it. What a lot of people may or may not know, Todd, is that whenever Charlie was done talking to someone, no matter what the Dynamics were of that discussion. Private setting or public setting, Charlie would Always tell them. Jesus Christ Died on the cross for you, he loves you. And he can give you a new life.

And This is something that a lot of people don't know, but he was faithful to do that. But boy, I tell you, he grew in the last few years. hard you know dies at thirty one, but you know the inside of his soul Went from being a spiritual teenager to a spiritual senior citizen. He grew so much uh that it was quite impressive, and it was it was just typical Charlie Kirk Able to comprehend, process, and execute his faith. He lived it.

The man Charlie If anything, if he was anything different from Privately, it's this. He was so family focused.

so focused on his wife, so focused on his kids. exactly how we as Christians should be. You had a prayer service last night, and I know that we talked about it. Our pastor, the church I attend in the Memphis area, talked about. Charlie, as well.

What did you what did you tell your congregation last night?

Well, you're going to make me cry. I'm going to do the best to keep that from happening. We had just a couple of worship songs up front. There were over 4,000 people in attendance, I've been told. standing room only.

And I went to Second Timothy chapter four, where Paul the Apostle is. Made aware that near that the emperor is going to behead him. And Paul the Apostle says that I've kept the faith, I've finished the course. And what is laid up for me is a crown of righteousness that the Lord will give me on that day. of judgment, and not only me only, but to all those who have loved his appearing.

And so, um The title of last night's evening was well done, Charlie. And so from there I went. down the list of the influence and the impact of both public the man publicly and the man privately. And I was very, very blessed to find out that we had many, many young people in the congregation.

So I specifically ended it by giving them a charge To really make sure that what you believe in and what you're living for is worth dying for. A Charlie Preached. Believed, lived. and promoted exactly what he believes in believed in to the point where he Active Trigger of an assassin. Charlie became a martyr.

And You think about the mercy of God, Todd, in this church. Charlie died. I know there's conflicting reports, but I've spoken to him. literal eyewitnesses eyewitnesses who were actually working on Charlie, taking trying to Take care, Charlie. Charlie died.

very, very, very quickly. And that said. There's the mercy of God in that pod. No suffering. He's he entered glory.

And his life, his legacy, his mission Is not going to be filled with another Charlie Kirk. That's not going to happen. And Charlie knew that, by the way. That's why Charlie replicated himself In the lives of thousands and thousands of young people, and the chapters for Turning Point USA are all over the United States, and some of them internationally. But His vision was to raise up other people that would take that narrative.

And so I actually think. The outcome of this is going to be uh even greater than what Charlie Cook could have Charlie Kirk could have imagined because I think young people now have realized this man preached it, lived it and died for it. I'm going to do the same. I'm gonna step up. I'm taking this torch.

I'm not going to let it die. We're going to live it out. I think we're going to be quite surprised, Todd, to see what transpires in the months and the days and the years ahead. When was the last time you you had a chance to s to talk to Charlie? the ba the day before he was shot dead.

We were on the phone. Yeah. What was his spirit like, his mood?

Well, I'll tell you, he was incredibly up. He was so excited because this was going to be the first launch of a fourteen city tour. My good friend Frank Turek was with him as well. Frank was going to be part of that program. And Charlie was pumped.

He was so excited. You know, be praying for the event, it's going to be great. And I said, Hey, Charlie. I said, My brother. My brother wants a ticket.

He said, Hey, here's my number. We'll set that up. And my brother actually got a front row seat. Charlie gave him a front row seat. And um And so the next thing I know, my brother's calling me, and I can hear people screaming and yelling, and I can hear my brother telling me Charlie's just been shot.

Charlie's just been shot. But if you look at the video pod before the event, Charlie was exceptionally excited. They always throw out ball caps and T shirts to the crowd. Charlie ran out there. He was doing it himself among the others.

He was just Extra? Excited. Super, super enthusiastic and joyful, more than normal. Um He was lit up. It was beautiful.

And what I don't know if people realize this or not, Todd, but you know the last word out of his mouth. was the word violence. I thought was telling. Pastor Jack Hibbs, the pastor at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills. joining us today.

You know, Pastor, I It's um We've got to talk about the vitriol out there. I mean, the fact is, Charlie didn't have to die. And I I mean, I understand that he's a martyr for um for the faith. But he didn't have to die. And there's so much hatred out there.

You had Democrats in the House chamber. That literally heckled down. They wanted to pray for Charlie, and the Democrats could not even find the courage to do something like that. How do we fix that? Pastor Jack.

Yeah, I don't know. I mean, Todd, you and I talked about this before. When I heard that congressional response against Charlie, Um I wasn't surprised because you got to remember, I delivered a prayer to that very Congress, and 26 members of the Democrat Congress condemned my prayer. I was not surprised by their action yesterday. Um it is um It is not only telling Todd.

But Something is certain. I don't know what that is, but something is certain. And that is when you have people in Los Angeles. When you have people in San Francisco and Portland, literally Cheering. The death of Charlie Kirk.

There is something that is so, in my opinion, demonic. Where the heart has grown so callous and dead in the lives of so many people. That of course that is something that the Bible and Jesus himself warned about that in the last days. men's hearts would grow cold. in their lawlessness.

That we have The young woman who List on that. public transportation And it's it's bad enough. That this man is feigning like he's sleeping. this murder monster is he's he's laying he's sitting there against the glass of that of that transport and she comes in and sits down. Oh.

He pulls out his knife. And then, of course, he begins to slash her throat numerous times. While the people there In the in their speech. Kept looking at their phones. Didn't do a thing about it.

And this man is able to walk off the train. And then he tells his sister: this is all now public information, I saw it this morning. He tells his sister. on on his cellphone, I just killed a white woman. And I know that we're not supposed to say what I'm about to say.

But Todd, how many cities right now are burning down? And riots are there right now because this Ukrainian woman was murdered like this? How many? Is is LAL on fire? Is Portland on fire?

Is New York, is Chicago on fire? No, don't reverse it. Reversed it. What if it was a white homeless guy? who stabbed to death a beautiful young black woman.

Every city in the nation would be on fire right now. Why is this the case? Because there's racism among so many other things. There's anti-Semitism, there's racism. There's antichrist spirit.

That is hating Christians, but isn't it interesting? Yeah. Who is revealing and who's upset and who's calling out, for example, Islam? and what it's doing. Or who's calling out the progressives?

in their DEI A doctrine. Great. that left this guy With fourteen different arrests. Let this man out. And she was a DEI-appointed magistrate who never should have had the job.

What in the world is going on? Is none other than godlessness and insanity. And Tata, be quiet with this. When you read your Old Testament, Pod. And when you look at history.

These are the Clear indicators. That we are a nation without God and judgment. Got God doesn't have to throw hailstones from heaven to bring judgment. All God has to do to bring judgment is to move his hand of grace. off of America or off of Israel.

And He answers our prayer. Meaning We don't want God in the public square. Get out. We don't want God in school. We don't want God.

Mentioned in Congress, get him out. And Todd, what if God heard the prayer request of the godless? And said, Okay, if you don't want me. I'll leave, but this is what's going to happen. That's what the book of Deuteronomy.

versus twenty five to twenty eight. Explain in great detail. The answer is not in the Clearly, the answer is not in the White House and it's not in the State House. If there's going to be an answer, Todd. Is going to have to come from God's house, from God's people.

I just don't have much confidence that God's people either care enough to speak up and stand up Or will this be the assassination of Charlie Kirk? Will this be their conscience? Justification to go and sit quiet now because I don't want to stick my neck out. Look what could happen. Yeah.

We need to remember heaven is our home. And we are to live this life to the full. Foolish for Christ. And by whatever means we die, we go to heaven as believers.

So I think we need to double down. on us seeking Holy Spirit boldness. Pastor, Jack, I just so appreciate you and the great words of guidance. We have got about 60 seconds. Before we have to take a break, and I was just wondering if you might be able to lead our national audience in just a word of prayer.

Yes. God, thank you so much. Heavenly Father, we come before you and Would we ask you that we would be a people obedient to you. It's not just to know the word of God, it's to do the word of God. And even for those who don't even know you, Lord, you wrote your law upon the hearts of man, what is good and what is wrong.

And Father, we pray that this nation would experience a return back to you in the pulpits. in the congregation And that the world that is out there right now, scared and terrified and wondering where our culture is going, might find hope. That it's Jesus Christ, that we would not lift up some church or some man or men. But one, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. And Lord, thank you that you told us in advance.

that there'd be evil days so that we wouldn't be caught off guard by this And so, Lord, because you've given us your heart and your joy and your peace and wisdom. We pray that you would resurrect the spirit that once made America great Return to us, Lord, that vision of our founding fathers with the Pilgrim Fathers, that we might put God preeminent and number one And Lord, that we would see a great, great End or destruction or held back of the evil onslaught in our day. We pray it all. In the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Amen. Amen. A pastor, always good hearing from you, my friend. I love you, Todd. You know that.

Love you too, brother. Pastor Jack Hibbs, everybody, Calvary Chapel, Chino Hills, and they are doing incredible work for the Lord, sharing the gospel. Changing culture, changing minds in Southern California. All right, we got to take a super quick break here. 901-260-5926.

This is the Tod Stern Show. All right, let's see if I can't fit in Mark from the villages. Mark, you got about 50 seconds, my friend. Yeah, they think, you know, Todd This is a sad day. They think they're going to silence Charlie Kirk, but his passing is only going to fuel What he had to say, and millions will continue listening and spreading his name.

God does things for a reason. Remember that. And it's just a sad, sad moment. You know, Charlie was reaching millions of. people like Trump did and they felt they had to silence him, and this is how they did it.

I you know, Todd. be safe yourself, because we live in a different society now. And you know, I think it's going to change this younger generation what's happened. I think this is. God's way of saying, don't worry, it's going to be okay.

And, um, We're going to get through this. Amen, my friend. Hey, Mark, we got to leave it there. What does the Bible say? Be angry, but don't sin.

We'll be right back. And welcome back to the Todd Stearns Radio Show. By the way, you folks in Waterloo and Cedar Rapids, Iowa. That's KXEL Country. I am your keynote speaker for the 250 Patriots dinner.

That's brought to you by the Blackhawk County Republican Party. It's going to be a lot of fun. BlackhawkGOP.org is the website. That's Blackhawk. GOP.org.

If you want to get tickets for the big dinner, it's going to be a lot of fun and look forward to seeing all of our great friends in Iowa. Speaking of Iowa, let's go to Jerry, who is listening to us in the great state of Iowa. Hi, Jerry. What's on your mind right now? Hello, Todd.

I pray the Lord comfort you in your quiet times and all of us over there. I think that's a good idea. May the Lord bless the sea that fell to the sea. to the ground yesterday. I believe it's going to to grow and produce much more fruit.

Um so not not pessimistic pessimistically, but realistically. I am predicting that the violence will escalate And the Muslims will jump in. And they'll they're going to join the Marxists. And like I said, not testing. Yeah.

Predictive. predictively. People are sending their kids To non-Christian education. That means the public schools where God is not allowed to be discussed. And the universities were God and country are hated.

So the whole reason for college sports. Is so that when you put on the regalia, the grandparents and the parents. It's to increase enrollment. Exercise. It's to increase enrollment.

Mm-hmm.

So go. For your Christian. University, a Christian college. When you send your kids. or your your grandkids.

With a cross to a second. Yeah. American Haitian University Uh don't be surprised if they come back with a uh a Chegabar attitude or a pro-Islamic attitude. Um So when you put on that regalia, you just realize what you're doing. Uh they're you're sending them to their I believe we are sending them because for the God of sports, the holy cow of sports.

to their political and their spiritual death. I myself have attended a PLO meeting. Liberation meeting before I became conservative. Yeah. At a university.

Called it a club. that they were they were planning the speed what we've got today. Like Mom Dami, this acceptance of Mom Dami. What was he saying the other I don't know when that's going to be. He's his hoping for a broader Version of Intipada.

So I I predict more violence because this is what Marxists And Islamic terrorist types To do. And us parents and grandparents. Shame on us for not it's okay to have a sending our kids to Secular university, it's okay to. make a tree in a mission field like Charlie did. Um Uh that's one thing.

But to support that government education This is what you're going to get. You're going to get a whole general. Or two of people that are going to FOMO file. Yeah, no, Jerry, no, I think you're right onto it. And I've got to leave it there because we have a jam-packed lineup today.

But I get the point, and it's a point well taken. We have got to make sure that we're paying attention. To what's being put into the brains and the minds of our kids and our grandkids. It's that simple. Jerry, thank you for the call.

I want to bring into the conversation in studio Luke Simbel, who is a Republican strategist, also with the Republican Party of Shelby County, which is in the Memphis area. And Luke, I know that you guys tonight. Are hosting a massive vigil for Charlie Kirk. And I want you to tell our listeners, I'm sure if you're anywhere in West Tennessee, we got a lot of radio stations in this part of the country. Give us an update on what we can expect tonight.

Sure. If you live in the Mid-South, we are hosting a vigil at 6:30 this evening at Germantown Municipal. Park. Again, that's 6:30 this evening at Germantown Municipal Park. It is informal.

We are going to come together to share. We have a lot of turning point folks here locally who knew Charlie personally, who worked for him, spreading that message that Charlie really reverberated across the country these last several years. They will be sharing their experiences. We're going to say some prayers, Todd, and you have offered to come out and speak, and we really appreciate it. And Germantown, Tennessee, has been fantastic to work with.

The government there has been very accommodating. The police force there is going to have a lot of security. They told me they are going overboard on security to make sure it's a safe event for us all to enjoy. But, you know, Todd, I actually met You and Charlie at the same event in 2013. It was CPAC.

We had just suffered a really hard loss in November of 2012. And there were a lot of young folks coming to CPAC. My college sponsored me to attend Grove City College at that time. And I got to meet Charlie. I got to meet you.

And that really was my first foray into the national political scene and getting connected to folks. And obviously, since that time, he just accomplished so, so much for the Christian community, for the conservative movement, for connecting young conservatives. I know that's something that you're really passionate about, platforming young conservatives. And so if you're in the mid-South, I hope to see you tonight. I'm going to be sharing some of my experiences.

I know, Todd, you will be sharing a few words, and it's going to be a really good time. And it will propel us forward with the resolve to carry on the mission so that his death is not in vain. And again, this evening, being sponsored by the Memphis Young Republicans.

So join us tonight, 6:30 at the Germantown Municipal Park. We're expecting a pretty large crowd, and I think we need a large crowd. I think these are the moments. And there were vigils at places like Hillsdale last night and the University of Alabama, Liberty University. This is the time that we've got to take a stand and say, you know, we are not afraid here.

Yes. We're not going to back down. Yes, you are exactly right. I really think it is unacceptable how conservative commentators, commentators on the news, folks who just want to talk and share their opinions and have conversations with people with whom they disagree, people like you, Todd, have to have serious security.

Now, I know that you have to have security when you're going to various events. It's something that we all need to consider. And the lesson here is we just need more. We need to have more of these conversations. We cannot.

Retreat now. We have to move forward stronger together. I want a million Charlie Kirks on college campuses unafraid to speak out because eventually we outnumber the lunatics. And that's really what this is. We are dealing with a lunatic left.

And we have to call it out and we have to stamp it out. I think back to two years ago when Turning Point USA had an event at the University of Memphis. And Kyle Rittenhouse was the speaker. And there was the there was a violent mob there. They shut down the speech and literally chased Kyle Rittenhouse and the Turning Point USA team literally chased them off campus.

They were trying to hunt them down. And I got these urgent calls from TPUSA saying, we need help. We need a safe space. Can we come to the radio station? And you remember what happened.

We literally had, I mean, I'm rushing over. There was, we had literally had armed security all around the building that we're in right now. Yeah, it was unbelievable. It was terrible. I was at that event and I was walking some older ladies who had come to hear him speak back to their cars because there was just pandemonium, and it was purposeful pandemonium.

And the university knew what was coming and did not do what it needed to do and created that heckler's veto, the shutting down of speech that they did not like. And it is so important that we support organizations like FHIR and other organizations that are working to promote speech and working to promote the exchange of ideas. And that is what Charlie stood for. We have got to get more conservative Christian speakers on our campuses because the more our young people hear that encouraging message of salvation and of family and country, the left loses. And that is why they are so intent on shutting us down.

You've got State Senator London Lamar, who's a Tennessee lawmaker, a Democrat, now calling for the Riley Gaines event coming up in November. to be shut down. She wants all turning point USA events banned from the University of Memphis over safety issues. Despicable person. This is an elected state senator here in Tennessee that is saying to shut down all turning point events.

Unacceptable. It just makes me so angry. And I think that anger right now is okay. It is a righteous anger. Anger is a perfectly fine emotion to have.

Of course, you don't act in an inappropriate way through anger, but we let it. Let's propel ourselves to have the resolve to carry on Charlie's mission. And I want, like I said, a million young Charlie Kirks on college campuses doing exactly what he did. Be angry, sin not. That's what the Bible says.

So don't let the sun go down on your wrath. And I agree with that. You know, Luke Simbel, and by the way, we have Luke Simbel here, a Republican strategist. Luke, when you look at a survey that came out, we talked about this yesterday on this show. One out of every three college kids believes violence is okay to stop.

Speech you disagree with. A majority of students now believe that you can stop physically shut down a speech that you disagree with. How do you fight that battle? Yeah, what you need to do is force the issue and force speech to occur no matter how much security the university needs to provide. No matter if the National Guard needs to come in and secure a campus, you cannot shut down speech.

And it is a lie to say, you know, I don't even like the term hate speech, but it is a lie to say that mere words are violence. And that is what our young people are being taught today in public schools across the country is that words can be violence. No, if you have a conviction, it is not violence to say, no, I believe that there are two biological genders, two biological sexes, and I don't believe you can change that. That is not violence. And what we are seeing now is the repercussions of this woke ideology that has been ingrained in our students.

There has never been a better time, folks, to get your kids out of public schools. And if they are there, you better detrain them when they get home. Yeah, got to deprogram them, folks.

So either. Homeschool or get your kid into a good Christian school. The Carolina Panthers just announcing they have fired their communications coordinator because the guy was celebrating the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Here's what gets me: all these teachers and educators, and God bless libs of TikTok, they're calling out all these folks. One at Middle Tennessee State University already fired.

Yep, and that's because of you, Todd. You raised the alarm yesterday at Middle Tennessee, assistant student dean. This is somebody in charge of our students praising the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Unacceptable, repugnant morals, who has no place teaching our students. And because of you raising the alarm, I know you alerted Marcia Blackburn.

She tweeted about it last night. Others here in Tennessee, she was fired this morning.

Well, I'm glad. And we've got to start doing that. And all these teachers, they need to be fired. And then if these school districts aren't tackling this stuff, we got to defund them. I agree.

I mean, we've got to p that's how you play hardball. I agree. But here's what gets me, and we'll leave it with this final thought here. you know, they call him, you know, a conservative, you know, Pundit or a far-right extremist, that's the New York Times. You know, enough with the language, because when you actually step back and say, okay, well, what do you mean by that?

You know, we had a liberal caller earlier in the show, and I'm like, what do you mean by that, extremist? What's extreme? And they never can't answer that question. Look, if being a God-loving, family-rearing, country-loving person is far-right and extreme, count me in. I love it.

All right, Luke Symbol. Again, tonight, 6:30 Central Time. The vigil in Germantown, Tennessee. There's going to be tons of security there. You're going to be safe.

Bring your family. Let's make a stand together. We're going to have what we'll be singing, praying, and candles. I understand. It's going to be great.

It's going to be an event, and I think what a statement that's going to send. All right, we've got to take a break here: 901-260-5926, our telephone number. Got to tell you, Newsmax, you're going to want to watch our coverage tonight. Wall-to-wall coverage last night. And, of course, Rob Fennerty show is at the center of all of that, even President Trump weighing in on the coverage.

Millions are joining the President to watch Fennerty every night at 8 o'clock Eastern on Newsmax. And of course, Rob is focusing on the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Rob also gives you the facts about how the left is coming after President Trump, targeting the National Guard story. He's also telling you about the Jeffrey Epstein files. A lot of stuff happening on Finity.

Be sure to check out your local cable system. Newsmax is on all major systems. You can also download the free Newsmax app. Costs absolutely nothing. You can watch in minutes.

Find out why President Trump is among those watching Finity, the fastest-growing primetime news show in America. More than 40 million Americans go to Newsmax for news they trust because real news for real people. All right, real quick. I want to go to this interview we did this morning with Walker Bowdry, a 17-year-old. At Briarcrest Christian School, and he does our play-by-play on our local radio station, high school football in Memphis.

Let's take a listen. Walker, you wrote me a letter last night, and I'm wondering, first of all, tell me about Charlie Kirk and how important was Charlie Kirk in your life? Um From things him on YouTube the first time I remember. watching him and just seeing him If He Talk with people who May have not agreed with him, and he Tried to change their mind on some things, and sometimes you can't do that, but that's what he tried to do. He spoke the truth.

He spoke about his faith. He was very Uh He was very upfront about his faith, the importance of family. Um But he was a patriot and He loved his country and he loved free speech. And It was I was Very upset yesterday. Walker, I'm curious about your classmates.

So were they feeling those same concerns that you had when you got the news yesterday?

So It happened. About He got shot. Going into seventh period, and so not a lot of people knew about it, but after school. Um, and when it came out that he had passed, um I had a ton of texts from a bunch of people. Uh just talking about it.

And I'm in a group chat with a ton of guys and they were all just Completely um upset about it. Because He meant so much to our generation. because of what he did and because of what he stood for, and that he was so I I shouldn't even have to say that he was so brave, because all he did was talk. The fact that that now has to be something to be brave about in this country is. Scary.

Walker, how old are you? Seventeen years old. I think, Walker, and your courage to come on the radio this morning and to talk about this, I have such great respect for that, Walker. But we have to take a stand, and we can't back down. And I have to imagine that now, Walker, they've kind of unleashed millions of Charlie Kirks all across this country.

I think at a time like this, we can't we have to continue to do We have to continue to Speak and talk because They wanted to silence us. And they may have Silenced Charlie Kirk yesterday. But in doing that They got a lot of people. to start talking. And I know that and I know that, that will happen and it his goal and his Message will continue.

To be said through millions of Americans. All right, that's just a portion of the conversation we had with Walker. A great teen, and I think other kids feel the exact same way. By the way, some breaking news. Vice President JD Vance on his way to Utah.

Charlie's casket is going to be flown to Phoenix where he's going to Which is where he lived, on Air Force Two.

So News Nation reporting that. And we understand the second lady. will be joining. The vice president. All right, hang tight, everybody.

Hour three of the big show coming up. A lot going on today. We're going to be getting to your calls. I know a lot of you have been holding on, so hang tight. Our number: 901-260-5926.

That's 901-260-5926. This is The Touchdown Show. Live from the Liberty University Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, it's America's favorite gun totem, Bible-clinging, deplorable America. That's right. I love this American ride.

Todd starts.

Well, hello, everybody. Welcome to hour three of the big show. Want to share some.

Some information with you, and I just think this is a wonderful thing that's happening. And it goes again to the heart of who we are.

Now... I don't know much about Justin Jefferson. He is a big superstar for the Minnesota Vikings. And Dylan, I have to imagine you're a big sports guy, so you probably know all these names. But Jefferson uh Justin Jefferson has stepped in, and I don't know this guy's politics.

I have I have no idea where he's coming from on the issues of the day, and it doesn't matter. And that's the point. It doesn't matter. This is about. Human decency and kindness.

Anyway, Minnesota Vikings superstar Justin Jefferson has just stepped in, pledging to pay all living and educational expenses. for Charlie's two children. What an incredibly kind thing. to do. Justin Jefferson of the Minnesota Vikings.

Also. There is C.J. Stroud. From the Texans, are good folks in Houston listening. CJ Stroud wants the team and the entire NFL.

To share and observe a moment of silence in memory of Charlie Kirk. They did that at the New York Yankees game last night. He says it is heartbreaking to see America lose such an important voice. This is what CJ said. He said, My deepest condolences to the family and loved ones.

This is not only their loss, but a reminder of the need for us to come together, respect each other, and stand up for the values we share in this. country. That coming from the Houston, Texas. of star C. J.

Stroud. Well, I want to go to our Patriot Mobile Newsmaker line. Always an honor to have our friend Robin Pothman joining us, our national correspondent. And just such a terrific job, and an amazing journalist, an even more amazing human being. Robin, before we talk about 9-11, I want you to weigh in on.

what's transpired over the almost 24 hours now. since Charlie Kirk was assassinated. Hey, Todd. This is so heavy. And so hurtful.

My heart bleeds. Um for his wife and his Small little kids. Um, I've been thinking about this since I heard about it. Um here's the connection for me. This is how I see it.

Charlie Kirk. and all of those innocent souls murdered on nine eleven, Todd, They were all murdered, in my mind, in the sake of agendas. You know, nine-eleven was radical Islam. Charlie Kirk. was an agent of change.

stomping out the radical left agenda. Todd, you and I have talked about this. for over 25 years that I know you. The left We nut job. have been packing and stacking our universities With these left-wing activists that you've been subjected to, that I've been subjected to, that so many have been subjected to.

And Charlie Kirk was in their way. Because he was actually having a conversation with people who may have voted for someone else. He was having that conversation. He was an agent of change. Just like Donald Trump is an agent of change.

And so that's why they tried to assassinate him. All of a sudden, we have people on rooftops with. rifles shooting at people because we don't like their politics. It's absolutely outrageous. Mike, I will tell you that.

Go ahead, Tom. Yeah, go ahead. Go ahead, Robin. I I I just want to make this point. I have been asked.

All day. by people who are texting me from all over this great country. And they are asking me time because they know that I was standing under the Twin Towers on 9-11. Robin, what is our future? What is the future of this country?

Where do we go from here? And Todd, again, you and I used to sit next to each other at Fox News Radio for many years in New York City. But I have to tell you, Todd, that in my heart We in this country have to be like those passengers. On Flight 93, We are going to fight back. We're not going to take it anymore.

And we are, like Donald Trump said, going to fight, fight, fight. because this is outrageous. Robin, I love how you frame this, because you're right. The folks on Flight 93 had a choice to make. They could have stayed in their seats, they could have stayed quiet and silent, which is what the terrorists wanted.

But instead, they did what Americans are supposed to do: they took a vote. They discussed the issue, they took a vote, and then they decided to fight back. And, Robin, when you look at what happened to Charlie, this is political terrorism. That's what that is. And they are trying to tell us.

Don't you ever utter your opinion in the public marketplace, it is not welcome here.

So they're trying to silence people. I don't think it's going to work. But that's what they were trying to do. I think that was the message they were trying to send. Oh, it's going to have the opposite effect.

absolutely the opposite effect. And all of these left wing nut jobs running around in High school and colleges and elementary schools and all the woke climate change agenda and all these other agendas that we don't have time for today, because today is a day of mourning. Today is heavy. Today we have to think about what, you know what, you know what, Todd? Let me tell you this.

I don't think that Charlie Kirk realized how big a target he was. Because if he did, if you remember they used to attack people like Ann Coulter. different people who have been attacked on stages over the years. He didn't realize what a target he was. He needed Protection more than whatever he had, a bodyguard or whatever he was possibly wearing, a bulletproof vest.

I don't know. But he didn't realize what an agent for change he was. Donald Trump And the Secret Service now realize it. But this guy single-handedly You know, leaves college, says, I'm going to have a conversation with people that I may disagree with. and maybe change their mind.

I I have a friend, Todd, um, in Florida. And she uh was very big with the Hollyweird crowd. And she spent a week with me in Dallas, Texas years ago. And I'm watching Fox News and Sean Hannity and listening to Todd Starnes. And she's ingrained in the Robin agenda of truth.

And she has completely, this person in the last 15 years, changed her politics after spending a week with me. And hearing my story. And Todd, our best hope on 9-11 because of radical Islam, they hijacked aircraft. And our best hope on the 101st floor of Tower One is is to hold hands, say a prayer, and drum our death a thousand feet. I mean, think about how outrageous it is.

And you know what? It's not being taught in school. It's not being taught. But Charlie Kirk was trying to get the 9-11 agenda and the truth about what happened that day. The mainstream media covers up.

The footage of all of that, we're like sugarcoating it. You talk to people at the airport, I did the other day. And the TSA agents, half of them weren't born. They have no idea how the TSA came about in the aftermath of 9-11. We have this totally naive.

Population. And if you don't know about the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and you don't know about 9-11, 2001, You better start learning because I'm telling you, these people, the radical Islamic agenda, just like the educational left-wing woke agenda, these agendas, Todd, are not going away. that we better start educating people as to what happened. Because you know how it is. It's going to repeat itself.

Oh, well, it is. And again, the survey, we keep harping on it, but yesterday we were talking about a survey they did for college students. They interviewed, I think, 70,000 college kids, nearly 70,000. They asked the following question: you know, is violence acceptable to shut down speech that you disagree with? One out of three college kids said, yeah, absolutely.

Over 50%, Robin, say it's okay to shut down meetings or speeches that you disagree with.

So we got a big problem on our hands: this radicalization of the education system. You know, as Mike Rowe. from a guy with the one of the dirty jobs, a guy, Micro, said it was as if the First Amendment got shot yesterday. And I think that's a great way to describe it because the point is, they want us to shut up. They do.

They're trying to silence us and take people like you and me off the air.

Now they've resorted to killing people from rooftops Listen, the terrorists on 9-11. Chook down. The iconic symbol of the United States and the world. 50,000 people worked in the Twin Towers. There is no no other building, no other place.

that you can point to in this country or this world. That stands for American Might and Strength, okay? And Charlie Kirk embodied all of that. And so they tried to take down the World Trade Center. They tried to silence Charlie Kirk, and guess what?

as American people. They voted on on Flight ninety three when they knew that they were doomed. And Americans fight back. We stand back up. We rebuild the World Trade Center.

There will be other Charlie Kirk. Sadly, that will step into his huge shoes. I remember listening to him, Todd, when we were at CPAC together in Washington, D.C. Many years that he would always speak, and students were so, even students that didn't agree with him were so interested in just having some civil dialogue like we used to have back in the day. There are many people that I do not agree with.

their politics, and you know what, a lot of it is lack of education. And they're trying to shut us down in our education system, and we cannot let it happen. You know, we had a radical leftist in the Memphis area, and he's a school teacher. And was really upset over the fact that 70% of the kids can't read. And we actually agree on that issue.

And we were trying to help gent up some support. He pulled me aside. This kid did. He says he's again, he's a radical leftist. And he said, you may not know this.

But I went to this Christian school. And I think it was somewhere in Knoxville, or whatever, and he said, You are my commencement address speaker. And I'm like, wow, I must have really screwed up that speech if you're a liberal. But we got a good laugh out of it. And it's the idea that you can disagree on a lot of stuff, but there's still humanity there.

You're still a fellow American. Problem is, Robin. We've got a very large swath of the left. And they don't think like that anymore. They have been radicalized.

And I'm going to give you the final word here, but that's the concern I have: what happens next? Because I I'm not sure. I I just don't know where how all of this plays out right now. Yeah, I I I don't either, but I do know this. I know that we have to start talking to one another.

And we have to educate our youth, and grandparents need to teach their grandchildren what happened. I was very struck this morning by two things. The face of President Trump and Melania at the Pentagon. The weight of this moment on the president's face, for those who haven't seen it, look it up on your phone. He is carrying the I'm so worried about him and his health.

And the other thing I'm struck by is that all the people that were reading of the names in New York City. You're not talking about the grandchildren of people. I mean, you're talking almost 25 years, it's like generational. And if we don't tell the truth, we're going to be in a lot of trouble. I do need to end on this, Todd.

There are so many while radical Islamic terrorists killed almost 3,000 on 9-11. Double, triple that have passed. From the 9-11 toxins. From PTSD, from suicide. There are many friends of mine that are very sick, very, very ill.

And today my thoughts are with them. Because this situation is not going away. I mean, the tentacles. Of what happened on 9-11 are still very much alive. I work as a volunteer for Tunnel to Towers.

helping to pay off mortgages while I still have my health, trying to do good for another human being. Robin, again, give that address, the website address, Tunnels to Towers. I know you've been very involved. You and your husband have been incredibly involved in that incredibly important group. Where can people go to get more information?

It's tt dot org.

So much of the money it goes to pay off, you know, for those who are the fallen police officers and. um firefighters and eradicating veteran homelessness. and paying off the mortgages of those died in the line of duty deaths from nine eleven people who are now still passing away from cancer. It is an absolute tragedy. Robin, we've got to leave it there.

Good hearing your voice today, and we're looking forward to talking to you down the road. God bless you, Todd. Thank you. Robin Poffman, everybody, on our Patriot mobile newsmaker line. Robin was the first reporter.

announcing on air on the national radio That the towers had slammed into the building. She was in Lower Manhattan as all of that transpired. Just a fascinating story. All right, we've got to leave it there. Hang tight.

901 260 5926. Going directly to your calls next. All right, as promised, let's get to the phones. Cleveland, Georgia. Our good friend Eileen, it's been a long time, Eileen.

What's on your mind? No, I I wanted to say that, you know, the left always claimed that Charlie spoke hate. But the reality is that they just hate the way what he spoke. and they couldn't silence him with logical argument. They had Yeah.

Sorry, they had to silence him with a bullet. And all he did was say. Jesus is king. Families matter. Babies are precious.

And that men aren't women, and women aren't men, and they never will be. And I don't understand. those principles, why the left thinks that that's hate speech. or Nazism or any it's just common Decent principles. I am just very, very sad about the whole thing.

Eileen, I hear you and I hear the emotion in your voice, and I think.

So many of you, I just thought about sweet Patty from North Carolina who calls us. She's one of our regulars too, and just the tears and the sadness of it all. And we're going to have time to reflect on that. I don't think this feeling is going away anytime soon, Eileen. I think we're going to have to deal with this as a country.

Yeah, I just I just want to say that about nine eleven that we can never forget. Never. And this is a day like that. We can never forget. And the media and the Democrats, they keep saying Donald Trump is his bault, it's the rights' bault.

But we know every single day they're calling for violence against people that they disagree with. All because They are stripped of power and they're afraid. They are extremely fearful. And so, what happens when you're afraid? You act out in violence.

or you go away and cower. And Democrats are not one to cower.

So they better wake up because people are waking up. I don't care what side of the aisle you're on, I don't care who you voted for. but common decency must prevail. It must. Or we We're not a country anymore.

We're not even a people anymore. Eileen, thank you for the call, and you hang in there, my friend. And I hope today's show has been an encouragement to you. To all of you. We're going to get through this, but we cannot back down.

We have to stand up as Pastor Wiley, Dr. Wiley Rice, he's a mega church pastor, Southern Baptist. He wrote these words: There will be those who tell us we need to de-escalate the passions of the time. Nonsense. We need to escalate.

I speak not of an escalation of violence with the weapons of the weak, But an escalation of courage. An escalamation, an escalation rather, of truth telling and idol smashing. An escalation of hope. of believing that young people are worth speaking to.

Well said, Pastor. I like this guy. All right, hang tight. We've got to take a quick break. We'll be right back, everybody.

And welcome back, everybody. I just want to give you a heads up here. We were expecting a press briefing from the FBI really within the past 20 minutes. We've been told that the the press conference has been moved. to perhaps later this afternoon, Because of rapidly, of a rapidly developing situation.

So let's hope. that they've caught this guy. Who assassinated Charlie Kirk? Let's hope that we're able to get that guy in custody. All right, I want to go to the.

Patriot Mobile newsmaker line, and always honored to be able to talk to my good friend. Jason Raypert, who is the founder and president of the National Association of Christian Lawmakers. Jason, good to have you with us today. Thank you, Todd. Appreciate you having me on and appreciate your being on our advisory board, my friend, and all that you do.

And what a tragic day that we're. Following here.

Well, it is. And I'm just wondering from a legislative position here. There is so much hate and division, and a lot of it is actually coming from elected leaders on the other side of the aisle. What say you?

Well, I agree with you, Todd, and You know, I just got to say as I start on this that, you know, Charlie Kirk. Spoke at the December the 14th, 2024 NACL meeting and the American Patriot Award for Christian Honor and Courage. And I just have viewed in the last 30 minutes, his speech. that was given that night and it's Almost perfection. He talked about Donald Trump's assassination attempt.

He talked about the fact that we were inches from Civil War in our country at It's really interesting. I'm going to send you the footage, sir. You'll be one of the first to get it. We've put it in a memorial tribute.

So that people can hear his words, but he talked about what we've known him for, which was his boldness. And to your point, I got a call this morning from Representative Mark Durazi. with Texas. We were talking about this. The how it was.

We're concerned about the violence. And to be honest with you, Todd. In many ways, The spiritual warfare that's been going on in our nation is actually presented yourself now. And some could describe as Real acts of civil war, and they're killing. people.

for their beliefs. And I had to be honest in saying. If we are in the early days of the Civil War, isn't it interesting that only one side seems to be shooting? And it really troubles me, Todd. I'm careful about my word.

We've had the Minnesota legislators who were hunted down and killed in Minnesota. We had Uh young Jewish couple that were gunned down and killed, shot in the back and slaughtered on a sidewalk. in Washington, DC. We've had in the past shootings against other politicians. But Donald Trump, what's the So horrible about this.

Donald Trump, we nearly saw him killed in the exact same manner. It is true. Yeah. miraculous that he was not killed. that day at Butler, Pennsylvania.

And to see what happened to Charlie. It I'm shaken to my core, honestly, sir. Because It's awful to see this evil. this violence in our nation that has now taken the life of a 31 year old young man. I think it is not.

too much to say collect possibly in the future might have even been A great political leader himself. Yeah. Who knows? might even been presidential. in the future.

To see them slaughter him in front of. Murder him. Kill him. But he literally was Yeah. Yeah.

The violence that we're seeing and try to see it go down. It should. calls every American citizen to stop and refuse. on where we're at in this moment. We have got to be more civil.

and stop political violence. And we must not. Let them silence us. By these acts of fear. And yet, you have the on the other side of the aisle here.

I'm going to play some of this audio here. This is. A this is a CBS morning show host. His name is Nate Burleson. And let's take a listen to his framing of this.

By the way, he's speaking with a former Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy. Cut Tim, please. And as Tony mentioned, not everyone took to his words or his rhetoric. You know, at times, they were offensive to specific communities. But with that said, this is not the time to focus on that.

We are focused on this tragedy. Speaking of this tragedy, is this a moment for your party to reflect on Political violence? Is it a moment for us to think about the responsibility of our political leaders and their voices and what it does to the masses as they get lost in misinformation or disinformation that turns in and spills into political violence? I say both parties. I don't even say parties, I say a nation.

If there's a moment in time we want to look to, and I looked back and I watched this again when Robert F. Kennedy is running and he's in Indianapolis and he just got the news that Martin Luther King was killed. And he has to tell the crowd, because we don't have social media at that time. And it was remarkable the words he said. He said, We have to ask as a nation, who are we?

And how do we want to move forward? We have watched this political attack on both sides. We watched what happened in Minnesota. We watched what happened to President Trump. We've watched this on both sides.

This is not a question about parties. This is a question about nations. We cannot normalize this, but Charlie was not elected. Charlie was not doing something. where you would sit there and one party say something wrong.

He was honoring. He was doing it on a college where ideas. This is what happened in the 60s. This is a moment in time for this nation to take this time to actually make a question about all of us. We don't want to go back to the 60s.

We don't. That was a more violent period than people recall.

So, again, the idea here is that it's the Republicans who have the. You just heard it, Joe. Jason, that it's the Republicans who need to tone down the rhetoric.

Well, isn't the mind is an amazing thing? It can make a heaven out of a hell. And the hell out of the heaven. and make peaceful people seemed to be the problem. I really am.

sad about some of this rhetoric. It it reminds me even God of uh The the moment where they tried to pray. in Congress yesterday. And Democrats erupted. In opposition, that you're going to stop to pray.

This man. Charlie Kirk. Champion. Christian values. Charlie Kirk champion.

standing up for the lives of unborn children. That's saving lives. Charlie Kirk stood up for Israel. the Jewish people. Saving lives.

Charlie Kirk. Never prompted people to violence. He stood up against the violence that we have been seeing. from the radical left that we've seen in the country. And I'm here to say to you, That the best way that we can honor Charlie Kirk.

is that we can all aspire to be more like Charlie Kirk to stand in public. To speak the truth, even if the ground shakes, to not be fearful. of those that lash out And the idea that someone would spend this. Charlie Kirk, or even you. Trump, and others that boldly proclaim the truth to some of the somehow say that you're the problem is absolutely wrong.

We need more truth to be spoken in this nation. We need more bull pits in this nation. truth of the gospel. and the truth of who we are as a nation. One nation under God.

founded on these principles. No, what I think needs to happen is those that are speaking untruths lies in division. Those are the voices. that must be told to sit. Yeah.

I'll say that. Yeah, go ahead and finish your thought. I'm just going to say. this and I want it to be said in the right way. Men and Women in this nation.

Must listen closely. It is all our responsibility to ensure That the chaos and the violence and the evil in this country. is no longer tolerant. We cannot Allow our nation. to become The mess that we're you're seeing right now.

Our children and our grandchildren. Need to inherit a nation. It is worthy. of being one nation under God. And we must step up.

Whether you're a teacher. Whether you're a housewife. whether you're digging ditches or whether you're a preacher. Mm-hmm.

Right.

Now is the time to step up and say we're not going to tolerate this kind of stuff anymore in our nation. All right. Real quick, real quick here, because our time is quickly expiring, Jason. Christianlawmakers.com, that is the website. And I have to say, folks, if you are an elected leader, and you're a Christian, you need to be a part of this organization.

And Jason, it just seems to me. that the Democrat Party in its current iteration It cannot th th those people, they have to be removed from office. And the midterms is a is a Fantastic opportunity for us to send a very serious message that we're not going to tolerate this kind of lawlessness coming from a political party. Do you agree with that assessment, and do you think we can send that message in the midterms? We need to.

We need to have the greatest voter turnout that we've ever seen in this nation. To stand up. And to vote for good, godly people to be in office at every single level. I'm going to make a very honest and bold statement to you, Todd. The NACL is a non-partisan Non-profit.

faith-based organization. But do you know that we only have a handful of Democratic elected officials. It said, we want to be a part of. the National Association. of Christian lawmakers.

That's a reality. And I want people to hear it. And if you're a Democrat-elected official out there, If you love God and you love this country, you're welcome to come be a part of what we're doing. But we're going to stand up for protecting lie. For marriage between a man and a woman.

We're going to stand up for the values of freedom and dignity in the Constitution that Charlie Kirk's. Yeah. And I challenge the Democrats. If you really love America. Then you will support the things that America has been made great by, and that is the Constitution and the founding principles.

And I've just had to say it. because People need to understand. We've got members in every 50 states. Of the National Association of Christian Lawmakers, all 50 states. State, local, and federal.

But only a handful. The Democrats. Say they want to be a part of an organization like ours. There's the problem. There's the problem.

All right. Well, we're going to have to leave it there. Jason, appreciate the great work you guys are doing. Again, ChristianLawmakers.com. By the way, Jason will be on our Newsmax TV show later this evening.

Christianlawmakers.com. And if you know of a state leader, And let them know about this and tell them they need to become a part of this incredible ministry and organization. Jason, thank you again. You're welcome. Welcome, sir.

Thank you for everything being with you. All right, we've got to take a quick break here, folks. 901-260-5926. This is the Todd Stern Show. All right, don't forget 5 o'clock Eastern, we have a jam-packed show for you.

A lot of guests, a lot of breaking news, and of course, we'll be following that FBI press conference. Let's go to the phone lines: Memphis, Tennessee, Black Conservative. Good to have you with us today, sir. Thanks for taking my call. I won't give my introduction today.

Um I just give honor to Uh Charlie. Uh Kurt? Uh-huh, because he was a very brilliant Mine. Yeah. And you you said something earlier I listed a show.

We need to start. Fixines by Eliminating federal fund fund into some of these Uh broadcast.

So like, I don't know if the view get federal Fund it. uh places like that because they spread a lot of this prop again there. And the hatred they're kind of fearful. This kind of things that have evil like this. I think we need to begin there.

Somebody if I was listening to you in yesterday. You know, and that's it. They had to be they had to Made to face the truth of the matter. kicking and screaming against their will. About The incident and And they still try to blame the President, in substance.

for what's happening. And and you play the You played that clip a moment ago. Uh Or is that NBC or something like that? CBS News. CBS News.

Yeah, I I guess there was a black commentator report of where he was. One of the indirectly say, Well, you know, it's It's uh the President, the leaders got to set the tone or or some kind of other you know, they they have these little slides. messages they try to send. But we know they're trying to take, you know, Hit. at conservatives in blaming again republicans.

There is no I I know on the on on the right I don't see it. I don't see them burning down Taking over police. Yeah. Pre-sane. And burning them down or you know, sending us you know, uh taking over a half a block here in Memphis, you know.

No, yeah. we I I would say as conservatives, let's not let them Shift the blame on us. The point fingers that us because We're not causing all the chaos and confusion. in America. It's the radical left.

Yeah, now is not the time to back up. It is time to surge forward with power. Yeah, don't let them point don't let them uh Uh Um accuse us. Uh uh This score you know, here in the country because They ignited every day. Sure day.

Especially, like I said, on their television shows. But Hey, thanks for the time and uh I let no On Monday when I called back, that I'm the most erudite mind, brilliant thinker and politico. Philosopher.

Well, there's no doubt about that. No doubt about that, my friend. All right. Thank you, black conservative. And if you're in Germantown this evening, we'd love to see you drop by the vigil.

That's tonight, 6.30 at the Germantown Municipal Park. And we hope to have a good crowd out. You just don't know, but we certainly hope that there's a good crowd. Out there tonight, if you're in this part of the country, I want to play something. This is from the floor of the House of Representatives.

When When Lauren Boebert asked if we could have, if they could, if they could lead a prayer. In memory of Charlie Kirk, take a listen to what happened. The Chair would ask that all members present in the Chamber and those in the gallery please rise for a moment of prayer for Charlie Kirk and his family. What purpose is the gentlelady from Colorado rise?

Okay. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. The house will be in order. The house will be in order.

The house will be in order. Shh. The house will be in order. We we will join pro prayer right after this, okay? The chair lays before the House a communication.

The house will be in order. Those were Democrats. Ladies and gentlemen, the Democrats were shouting down A prayer for Charlie Kirk. These people have no business being anywhere near an elected office, and my challenge to you and I don't care where you are. in this country.

My challenge to you is vote out as many Democrats as you can possibly do. and it is time for the Republicans to unite together Put aside all of the squabbling over these issues. The broader issue is saving the Republic from these monsters, and that's. That is the mission at hand.

So we've got to unite together. And together, I think we can save this country. Folks, it's been a great show. 5 o'clock tonight on Newsmax. We'll see you back here tomorrow.

You guys be safe out there, America. You be good, too.