WASHINGTON — Tonight, Speaker Johnson joined Jesse Watters Primetime on Fox News and The Source with Kaitlin Collins on CNN to reflect on the profound life and legacy of Charlie Kirk.
“He was a man of deep faith; he and I talked about that a lot. He was a man of deep conviction,” Speaker Johnson said. “I think he brought more productive content to the free marketplace of ideas than anybody in his generation. He’s a singular talent. He’ll be greatly missed.”
Watch Speaker Johnson on FOX and CNN.
On Charlie Kirk’s impact:
He was a good friend of mine. He was a man of deep faith as you know. He and I talked about that a lot. He was a man of deep conviction. I think he brought more productive content to the free marketplace of ideas than anybody in his generation. He’s a singular talent. He’ll be greatly missed. And it doesn’t even seem real tonight.
He had sharp debates, but he always went and was willing to put his arm around the person that he was debating. And the reason that he was so engaged and so passionate about what he did – I know because he and I talked about this – is because he genuinely loved everybody, and he wanted to bring them to the truth. And he was so effective at doing it. And I don’t know if anybody will be able to fill those shoes.
On the example set by Charlie:
The great tragic irony about this, one of the tragedies, is that Charlie represented that the best of it. I mean, he’s the guy that was the champion out on the front lines, having the debate, but he loved on the people that disagreed with him, right? He loved it. And he didn’t regard them as enemies. That was the whole point. He loved it. And he loved the debate, he loved the exchange, and he loved the people that were on the other side of the table. And that’s what’s so important for us to remember. We shouldn’t regard one another as enemies. We’re fellow Americans and we should have vigorous debate, but it cannot lead to political violence. It’s just too much.
On the rise of political violence in America:
We have to call out political violence. I think there is a recognition, some are saying it openly, some more quietly, that the vitriol, the level that is there now, the hatred that has been fomented, there’s a time that we’ve got to turn the volume down. And I think there’s a lot of the people that find pleasure in stoking that fire. And it’s dangerous. There are deranged people in society, and if they are encouraged along this way, they will do dangerous things, increasingly. We see that. I think that members of Congress have come to that recognition. I think many of them are nervous. Of course, they’re public figures. They’re exposed all the time everywhere. We have great security measures for members of Congress, but there’s a desire on many people’s parts to have more. Um, these are, these are the new realities.
I think social media has been a toxin in politics. I think it has added to this vitriol. But at the end of the day, I think the call is that we’ve got to recognize once more that we are all fellow Americans. We should see one another as colleagues and fellow citizens and fellow countrymen and not as enemies. That’s not what Charlie Kirk represented. He genuinely loved the debate because he genuinely loved the people. And I think that’s a really important thing for us to remember.
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