Gorka: Why Charlie Died

This article was meant to be about today’s anniversary of the greatest terrorist attack of the modern age. But then my friend, Charlie Kirk, was assassinated.

I am actually writing these words as I am traveling with my White House Counterterrorism team to Shanksville, Pennsylvania, to pay tribute to brave passengers of Flight 93, the fourth plane hijacked by al Qaeda Jihadists 24 years ago today.

We will still pay that tribute in the presence of those family members who stand each year on September 11th in that field to hear the names of the mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, daughter and sons who died so other may live. But today will be very different.

I still cannot satisfactorily process what we witnessed yesterday afternoon. And I know I not alone.

There were a small number of us with President Trump, in the Oval Office, when we heard, “Charlie’s dead.” Incomprehension reigned. It continued. Then there was a moment six hours later, finally at home, as my wife and I were watching the wall to wall coverage of the events in Utah when one of us simply said: “He’s gone.”

But why? What was Charlie’s “sin”?

Was it never finishing college, yet building a multi-million dollar national organization with thousands of members and chapters in high schools and colleges across America?

Was it being an autodidact who could debate any “credentialed expert” on a range of substantive issues ranging from moral philosophy to the flaws of the Bretton Woods system?

Or was it because he was friends with President Trump, Vice President Vance, and a multitude of leading figures in the Administration?

The reason Charlie had to die is very simple: he lived the Truth.

Charlie was killed because he lived the values he espoused. He wasn’t a Pharisaical preacher of virtues he never practiced. He traveled the nation celebrating the classic virtues of America and Western civilization and then actually lived them. He was a Christian, he was a family man, and he was a patriot who loved America so dearly, he died for it.

I’ll never forget the time we were together at a Friday event and we were discussing a private yet complicated issue and I finished by telling Charlie, “Let me get back to you at the weekend with my take.” And he warned me by saying, “That’s fine, but I won’t respond until Monday.” When I asked why, he told me that he takes the Sabbath seriously as it was meant to be, and gives his phone to his colleagues at the weekend so he can be with his family and glorify God properly.

At the time I didn’t want to believe Charlie, especially given his prowess and prodigious use of social media. How could he be truly offline when the rest of the world was not?

But he meant it. Because Charlie meant everything he said and lived it. He lived the traditional values that his political and ideological enemies abhorred. That was his sin. Being a Christian patriot and not a hypocrite. And an incredible communicator. That made Charlie too important to be allowed to live and to continue to inspire millions.

I was always impressed by Charlie. But not simply his intellect, courage, or unconquerable ability as a communicator. His greatest impression on me was his humility.

We agreed on almost everything. But Charlie and I had a difference of opinion on a key and controversial policy issue, what America should do about the war in Ukraine. How did he handle that disagreement? Did he avoid the topic? Did he let the agreement undermine our friendship? No. He would call and text me repeatedly, to ask my detailed opinion, to try and convince him. He wasn’t an ideologue. He was a good man who lived in the Truth and was always open to true debate. That was Charlie’s sin.

Twenty-four years ago, when the passengers of Flight 93 realized three other planes had been hijacked and used as weapons of mass destruction, they took action. Led by Todd Beamer, they decided to take back control of Flight 93 from the enemies of Civilization, sacrifice themselves and save thousands. Their cry was “Let’s Roll.”

We will not allow your leadership and your example fail Charlie. We, too, will roll forward on the same truth-filled path you trod. Because you were right, and because you were a good man.

God bless you, Charlie. Thank you for showing us the way. Thank you for being fearless.