September 17, 2025 • 29 mins
Sean Hannity discusses a powerful "awakening" among America's youth and faith communities following Charlie Kirk's assassination, as explored in Selena Zito's Washington Examiner piece. Zito details the surge of young people, from diverse backgrounds, flocking to places of worship and Turning Point USA chapters over 32,000 new requests since Kirk's death. Sean frames this as a pivotal cultural moment, echoing through mothers at soccer games and local gun stores, where first-time buyers seek protection and purpose. Zito highlights how Kirk's boldness and faith have inspired a new wave of civic engagement, echoing similarly after the attempt on Donald Trump's life. This matters because it signals a generational shift in political and spiritual resolve amid the nation's growing fears and division.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Thanks Scott Chad.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
An hour two Sean Hannity Show told free on numbers
eight hundred and nine pot one, Sean, if you want
to be a part of the program. In just a minute,
we're going to be joined by our friend Selena Zito,
And she has a great piece out in the Washington Examiner,
the Awakening FUC Coming, and she talks at length about
(00:23):
already the impact of Charlie Kirk on young people his message.
I mean, I spent most of the last weekend watching
videos of Charlie and the things that he was saying
to younger people that really it kind of takes a
younger person to say it to them, and it was,
(00:45):
it was so impactful. And anyway, the article she goes
into great specificity in detail, and you know, young people
distraught over this. Remember kids in college today, they were
not alive during nine to eleven oh one, and this
is in packed a lot of kids in a massive way.
And she describes what happened at the Sanctuary Church and
(01:08):
how you know, busloads and busloads of kids you know,
were going there. Pastor Jason Howard was taken aback by
the size, the scope, the number of young people that
came out on Sunday for service. He said, I'll be
honest with you, I'm in my forties. So I was
caught off guard by the response from people who were
in my church in their twenties. They were much more
(01:29):
in tune with Charlie's influence than I was. His assistant
pastor was very much tuned in. He's twenty two years old,
and his immediate reaction was to the spontaneity of all
this is that we're going to pray. And the day
after Charlie was assassinated, he had a whole bunch of
people just gather in his backyard praying. Selina Zito is
(01:52):
now with us her book. By the way, she was,
you know, right next to President Trump. She was right
there at Butler in PA and wrote her number one
New York Times bestselling book, Butler. If you haven't read it,
please get a copy. The untold story of the near
assassination of Donald Trump in the fight for America's heartland,
(02:12):
and now we live in this assassination culture. Selena, first,
congratulations on being number one on the New York Times.
It was great to have you on at the time.
It's always great to have you on and I appreciate
your time, and I thought this article was really deep
and profound.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Oh, thank you so much, and thanks for having me
on about the book. And I think this book is
very relevant and important because one of the first experiences
I had after President Trump was shot was I went
out on a one of my grandchildren's soccer games. Right,
(02:51):
there's a bunch of suburban soccer.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Mom there by the way, For the record, Selena is
not old enough to be your grandmother.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
I'm just saying.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
They were all sort of lined up, and I would
see them all the time because I'd go to my
grandchild daughter's soccer games. I had no idea what their
political affiliation was or their face, right, but they were
on paper they should have been Paris voters, right, college educated,
live in the suburbs, right, and upper middle class. I
(03:25):
was stunned, and I detailed this in this book and
interview these young women about the amount of women who
had MAGA haffs on red Mega hafs just two days
after the president was shot. And so we would get
into a conversation and I'm like, you know, I have
no idea what your affiliation was, and they're like, yeah,
we were always afraid Christy Well, the one girl's fame
(03:46):
was Chrissy. I was sort of always afraid to put
it out there. But my attitude now is if he
can take a bullet for me, I can wear a
hat and not and be bold about it. And I'm
seeing the same thing happening post Charlie's assassination and in
a really profound way. And I'll give you two examples.
(04:10):
First is that story that I wrote. I mean, these
kids just came and we're not we're not talking like
you know, lily white suburbs. We're in the city of Pittsburgh,
in the Hill District, a historic black neighborhood in Pittsburgh,
and they are coming by the boss loads of every size,
(04:30):
shape and color and there and and they're they needed
to be somewhere right. They needed These are kids that
are out of faith or have just come to face
and they needed to be somewhere with purpose because they
saw him in two ways. They may not have always
agreed with everything he said politically, but they loved how
(04:54):
bold he was with his face and that was something
that was very very important.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Did you see this over thirty two thousand requests for
New Turning Point USA campus chapters have been filed since
Charlie Kirk's death thirty two thousand, and the message is
even going higher. I mean, and the requests are going
higher day by day. I mean the service that's I
(05:21):
was planning on going out there. I'm not going to
be able to make it in one day this weekend,
but they will see seventy plus thousand people out there.
Speaker 4 (05:29):
Yeah, and.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
There's two little two teenage kids here on the street
who is starting one at the local high school. I
spoke at a Turning Points event in Butler, Pennsylvania this summer,
and it was at Slippery Rocket University and it was
jam packed, like it was jam packed, and there were
(05:52):
kids everywhere. So this is and as a note in
this story, this isn't this awakening. I have noticed the
beginning and last summer and we began among young people,
and I kept and I write it in the book,
but I kept reporting it as well, said telling people
like y'all aren't paying attention to these young people. They're here,
(06:14):
they're at the Trump rallies, right. They see the intertwined
messages from protecting religious liberty to republic conservative populism, and
it's a message that hits them. It's something that's been missing.
Last last night, I sat for ninety minutes of my
(06:36):
little grandson's flag football practice, and the amount of mothers
that have been suburban mothers. Again, different group of mothers
talking about what happened to Charlie Kirk. These are women
in their mid thirties who have little boys that were
playing flag football, who were talking about their thinking about homeschooling.
Now they don't like what they see from the influences
(06:59):
from these teachers. They're thinking. They're devastated by what they're
seeing that other community leaders like doctors and nurses are
and they're mad. They're not just sad, they're mad. And
I don't think that people understand the force that they
have awakened with not just in his assassination, but also
(07:20):
in how they have behaved afterwards, whether it is denying
it or encouraging it to happen to other people that
are conservative, populous.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
I don't like outside events because nobody's going to be
able to afford a secret service type of protection, which
is what you would need if you're doing an outside event.
So I'm urging people, you got to go inside, make
sure everybody gets magged before they come in. You can
do a sweep before of an inside area and make
it secure and then you know, you then go in
(07:58):
and do your event. You know, at that point you know,
I also recommend that you be on a stage, that
you be elevated and not on the same level as
the people that are in the room, because they can
rush you, and you know, at that point you get
have people off stage. I've had that type of security
many many times in my life.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
Yes, And instead of recoiling, and that's a really important point, Sean,
instead of recoiling and my reporting all day, it'll probably
be out on Friday about the amount of women who
have gone to local gun stores just in western Pennsylvania
as first time gun owners and wanting to be and
signing up for training has been through the roof.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
I think the keyboard there is training over the years.
People know.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
I've had a pistol carried my whole life, even in
New York City if you get it, and that's hard
to get if you get enough death threats. I even
had one when I lived in New York, believe it
or not, I turned it in when I moved to Florida. However,
I mean, it's hard to get and you really have
to make a compelling case why you need one, and
(09:04):
you get enough death threats, I guess I passed the threshold. Selena,
I guess I'm not that like, but I mean, it's
kind of scary out there. I urge everybody to have something.
I mean I have obviously I carry I have a
six hour P three twenty and I also carry Berner.
I carry the new cl launcher. It's a non lethal,
very effective technology way to incapacitate any perpetrator. So I
(09:29):
urge people their advertisers on the show, and I believe
in it.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
I'm the same way, same person get death threats all
the time.
Speaker 5 (09:38):
And.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
People don't know, those of us that are in the
public eye that this is this happens with regularity. Oh yeah,
I have because we don't because we don't talk about it.
We just keep it to ourselves. You don't want to
call attention to it.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
That is absolutely right. And and yeah, so the so
the gunshops that I've been talking to said, you know,
there's all of these people are being very responsible. They
want to learn. They don't want to just buy a gun.
They want to understand how to work it. And most
of the gunshops that I've talked to have have target
practice and behind their buildings, right, and so they go
(10:15):
right to a professional. But people just don't feel safe
among their neighbors. Like, think about that, Sean. Think about
the amount of doctors we have seen, and nurses and
people that teach our children and our grandchildren that they
have not just said, oh, I didn't like him, like
(10:37):
so whide. If someone says that I don't care, but
have just said like I wish the rest of them
would die too, it's like, oh, wait a minute, you're
talking about me. You're talking about me your patient, And
it's very chilling.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
The amount of hatred we've seen. What's your reaction to it.
I've chronicled a lot of it.
Speaker 4 (10:56):
You know.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
I didn't cry after Butler. When you and I've talked that,
I wondered when it would happen. I think a lot
of that had to do with sort of how to
work immediately, right. I had to work in the moment,
so it's never given that space to consume what I experienced.
But I'll tell you what. I cried my eyes out
(11:18):
on Wednesday, first for Charlie and Erica, and then for
the young people he influenced. But then as I saw
the hatred come out, it broke me. I can't believe
there are people out there that can think like that.
There are plenty of people that I don't agree with,
maybe even don't like. I would never think about saying
(11:40):
something like that when.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
You think about what you lived through at Butler, being
right there in the front row, right near the president
when the shot rang out. We now know, by the way,
the distance of a millimeter more profoundly than ever. And
you think back to that day and how how close
(12:03):
Donald Trump came to being assassinated right in front of
your eyes.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
Yeah, and I realined that moment every night when I
say my prayers, and I and I and I relived
the conversation that I had with him the next day
along with that. And that's when he talks about God,
when he talks about divine intervention and intervention. What was
my purpose, Selena? Why am I still here? I never
(12:31):
ever turned my head. I never put a chart down,
at least not on that side, and never in the beginning,
sometimes at the end. And he talked profoundly about how
his faith was moved in that moment, and I can't
imagine if both of them were gone right now, I
(12:52):
can't even imagine.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
I've had this conversation with it myself, and I would argue,
having known him for thirty years, that that day, that
moment changed him in every good way, to be very honest,
and we have had conversations with it. You know, I
talked to him. He has not looked at the video
(13:13):
of Charlie getting shot. He says he won't look at it.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
I you know, I understand that, and you know what
I was thinking about, Sean. You know, one of the
things that really has gutted the president and and motivated
him to be so purposeful in everything that he's done
is not the fact that he was shot at, but
the fact that Corey Comparatoy died, someone who went there
that day to celebrate him, to celebrate President Trump with
(13:40):
his family, and in many ways, that's what Charlie was doing.
He was celebrating the movement, he was talking about things
in a very and so I'm not shocked at all
that that's his response, because in many ways, Charlie and
Corey COMPATORI were there for reasons that are very associated
(14:01):
with President Trump. I can't imagine how hard this is
on him.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
It's I think we now are officially living in an
assassination culture and we better be very aware of it.
And the left really does need to examine their consciences
collectively and tone this rhetoric down, as John Fetterman said,
and stop with the Nazi talk and allegations.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Selena, love you, You're the best.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
By the way, if you have not read her book Butler,
number one New York Times bestseller, we have a link
on Hannity dot com, Amazon dot com, bookstores all around
the country. It's called Butler, The Untold Story of the
near Assassination of Donald Trump in the Fight for America's Heartland.
We appreciate you as always, Selena, thank you, thank you,
love you brother the best. Quick break right back. We'll
(14:51):
continue on the other side.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
Quarterm.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
There is a beautiful part and some that there's some
we we are not going to be able to calculate
through the prism of history. We will the magnitude and
the impact of what has happened with this assassination of
Charlie Kirk. We just but it all the evidences. As
(15:22):
we just discussed what Selena Zito is there. I want
to play a montage people going to church and saying
how their churches were packed because of what we all
have been living through.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
I have been to.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
Church like twice in my entire life.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Since Charlie Kirk is unable to go to church this Sunday,
I'm going to go and take his seat for him.
Speaker 4 (15:48):
Els.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
I didn't know Charlie Kirk, never met that guy before
in my life.
Speaker 5 (15:55):
And something else that I've never done before in my
life is believing.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
I'm gonna wear this suit to church. I'm going to
go to church.
Speaker 5 (16:08):
I'm going to try to be a better father, husband
and leader for my family.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
They deserve that.
Speaker 5 (16:20):
Charlie Kirk, Look what you did. No parking, No parking
at all none. How to park like five blocks away
from church because everyone wants to come now? Amen, Thank
you Jesus, Thank you, Charlie.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
We went to church today.
Speaker 6 (16:33):
It was the first time in twenty years for me
and Devon. It was the first time for our children.
After the events of the last week, Devin and I
had a lot of talking that was happening between us
about the type of life that we want for ourselves
(16:55):
and how we want our boys to be. You know,
we talk about Charlie Kirk, We talked about a man
of God who was not afraid to stand in his
convictions in anything. And we are raising three boys that
will one day be men, and we want those boys
(17:16):
to be as strong in their convictions as Charlie Kirk was.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
Wow, how powerful is that? You know?
Speaker 2 (17:25):
I will say I love my parents for so many
different reasons, and I know that they had a much
harder life than me, and I know I stand on
their shoulders and the shoulders of my four grandparents that
came to this country legally from Ireland, and they they
grew up poor. My parents grew up poor, and my
(17:46):
parents sacrifice so much, my mother prison guard, working double shifts.
The main reason was to give their kids a better education.
And that that manifested itself by sending, you know, all
all their kids to Catholic schools. And I went to
Catholic schools for four years, and whether I knew what
(18:09):
was happening or not, it did happen. And that is
that those values and belief in God grew inside of me,
whether I knew it was happening or not. And as
I got older, then I just embraced it more and
more and more and again. Christians, the first thing that
they will acknowledge is we've all sinned and fallen short.
We just want to be better people, and we're asking
(18:32):
for forgiveness for sins and we're asking for help to
be bigger, better people. And the fact that so many people,
you know, misrepresent what it means to be a Christian
is it's it's a it's a sore point for me because, oh,
Christians think they're perfect. No, they just they just have
a belief system and they have a desire to be
their best person, their best self.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
And to hear that is pretty amazing.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
And if when people interview me and they'll say, well, well,
how did you survive where so many others, you know,
have not been able to survive as long as you
have in the industry that you work in, you know,
I go back to my parents. I go back to
the values of hard work and faith that they instilled
(19:20):
in me. And they never took vacations because they were
spending all that money on Catholic schools they could barely afford.
And that my belief in my faith in God is
the other thing I've said this on the air before,
not new, but I'm just sharing it with you now.
And that foundation is at the heart of I think
(19:45):
in an industry where, you know, all those years I
worked in restaurants, ten years and ten years in construction,
nobody wants your autograph, nobody wanted a sel Fiel. Those
selfies weren't a thing back then.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
And and while I might get, you know, request now, which
I'm very grateful to, always accommodate because I feel great.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
I'm grateful to this audience for giving me this microphone
and that camera every night. But it's really those things
that that have kept me somewhat grounded. Linda would argue
maybe not fully grounded, but that's a different issue for
a different day. But you know, my faith grows as
stronger as I get older, and I don't think I
(20:32):
you know, there's a belief in the Bible that of
yourself you can do nothing, and it's true and that
every you know, I consider my life an undeserved life,
and I know many of many of us life is
a gift and is precious and Charlie left us way
too young, gets our busy phones eight hundred and nine
(20:52):
four one sean. If you want to be a part
of the program. Mike in California. Hey, Mike, how are
you glad you called great Sean.
Speaker 4 (21:02):
I just wanted to start with I'm glad you were
talking about what you just spoke about just now. And
I'm a teacher and we're Thean minister in California third grade.
I just feel like the left is really trying to
paint Charlie as a political commentator. They keep saying out
(21:22):
our political firebrand, political political political But what he is,
what he is to us who believe, is he's a
Christian martyr, and he's an American Christian martyr, the most
prominent one since Martin Luther King Junior, which they've tried.
I teach history, and when you read the history books,
(21:44):
it's doctor Martin Luther King now junior, and I have
to tell him, well, it's reverend doctor. I have to
tell him what he had a doctor of because and
you have to insert that, because they're trying to wipe
Christianity from the face of America. And it's a total
disservice to him and a loss of honor to his
(22:06):
memory than not calling an American Christian martyr because he
died for his faith. Everything he talked about all the
time was rooted in faith, just like you said your
morals are rooted in your faith. Was he was constantly
like he talked about the nature of God, he descended Christianity,
(22:27):
he talked about the nature of man. Against the transgender indoctrination,
which is, I believe, religious dogma in itself, because if
you ask a transgender person give me an immutable characteristic
of a man or a woman, they can't a physical one.
It all goes to metaphysical and metaphysics is a department
(22:50):
of religion. So they are trying to indoctrinate with religious dogma,
and they've been successful establishing religion in the name of
government all over the place. And I actually like that
and needs to get fought on that. But my main
point today is just that we need to refer to
Charlie as an American.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
See.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
But this is why Charlie was such a shock to
the system when he'd go into these hostile environments and
he'd talk about faith and God and values and you know,
old fashioned values about how men should treat women, you know,
not going to frap parties and throwing up in the
bushes after I mean I had my rules for my
(23:33):
kids when they went to college. If I told them
in the way I told it to them, you would laugh,
I promise, and he would do it. And the shocking
thing is is because schools barely mention God anymore. It
was a shock to the system. And because they are
in doctrination centers, it was a shock to the system.
(23:55):
And that's what made it all the more powerful. It
was also moment of affirmation for kids that did have
these values but felt, you know, a need to be quiet. Anyway, Mike,
I appreciate your call, man, Thank you. You make great points.
Quick break right back. We'll get to your calls. Eight
hundred ninety four one Sean is our number. If you
want to be a part of the program.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
The final Hour roundup is next. You do not want
to miss it, and stay tuned for the final hour
Free for all on the Sean Hannity Show.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
Back to our busy phones eight hundred ninety four one
Sean if you want to join us. Sharon is in Kentucky.
Sharon apparently disagrees with me. Sharon, but I am glad
you called. How are you hi?
Speaker 7 (24:47):
Sean? Listen to you for twenty plus years yeah, I
just wanted to reiterate the points Rachel was making yesterday
and give you something else to think about in regards
to your stance on profess in colleges. She was completely
right about everything she said. And I ask you this,
what do you think Charlie would do. He would not
(25:08):
want you to just he would not, in any sense
of the word, just not do anything or say anything
for a grade. I don't think it's what he was
all about. I'm so devastated that he's gone. But I
want you to change your stance. I want you to
stop giving it on the radio as just go along,
(25:28):
get along, to get your grade, and then get out
fight it, fight a professor.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
So let me be clear though, because you're not the
only one that has challenged me on this, and I'm
actually very very open to listening to what you have
to say. I'm talking about very very unique circumstances. I'm
talking about. You know, it is so hard, all right,
if we start with the idea, and this comes from
(25:56):
the Latin derivative. I did learn Latin, I did go
to a seminary high school, and we did study theology.
I did go to mass every day. But one of
the few words I remember in Latin is a ducreda
education to bring forth from within. I think that's predicated
on a belief that everybody is born with God's talent.
Everybody that I know that's a fireman, a policeman, a teacher,
(26:18):
a doctor, you know, every one of them, without exception
a nurse, they are called to do so. It's been
a dream of there's a pilot they're called to do
so they've wanted to do it their whole life. So
I'm really I'm talking about very specific, unique circumstances where
people have this desire, this calling that they want to
(26:43):
serve and be a teacher or a doctor, and they
want to get into medical school or law school, or
business school or postgraduate school. And they know if they
have one of these crazy left wing teachers and they
challenge them, that it is going to significantly. One bad
grade can make the difference between getting into that school
(27:05):
and not. I'm not going to condemn the kid that says,
all right, I'll play the game. I know I'm playing
a game, and I'm not gonna I'm not gonna be
critical of them for doing that. If kids have the
freedom that I made the choice in college myself to
fight my teacher. There's the guy that said he's a
(27:27):
Marxist and communist, And it took up the entire you know,
second half of the semester because I couldn't take it anymore.
And Reagan was president. We thought about Reagan the guy.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
You know.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
It was everyone was like rolling their eyes every time
I'd start in with the guy. So I hope you
understand I'm talking about a very unique circumstance when people
are pursuing their calling in life. And I don't think
I explained it as well as I meant it. And
if you still disagree with me, tell me, yes, I do.
Speaker 7 (27:56):
Still disagree with you. I am a critical care registered
nurse and what I will say is, you know what
you went through many many many years ago. It's changed now.
Charlie made a movement. He's caused a movement, and these
young gen zs they're on a roll, and I want
them to keep being on a role. I want them
(28:17):
to be outspoken. I want them to express themselves, and
I want you to back them up and do what
Charlie would have done.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
That's well one way to back them up.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
And this is part of turning point that I really
support is they have for high school kids and for
college kids.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
You know, what do you do?
Speaker 2 (28:36):
How do you fight back against woke teachers and indoctrination?
And I would urge kids to go to the Turning
Point website and learn how to do that, and that
is an alternative for sure. I would say that's a
great option. I agree with you.
Speaker 7 (28:50):
I think that you know, you can respectfully disagree with
your professor, and if he still causes you problems, you
can take it to the proper authorities, and if worse
come to worre sean take the class over. I am
a critical care nurse. I've done this my whole life.
It's all I ever wanted to do. But there is
no way I would have put up with a teacher
(29:12):
preventing me or you know, confronting me with a Marxist attitude.
We have to keep this going. We have to keep
this going for listen.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
I love your fire. I'm I'm mostly agreeing with you.
I'm just not going to be critical of the kid
that has a dream that would be destroyed. I'm not
going to be critical of that. I hope that kind
of answers your question. Eight hundred nine, one, Shawn is
a number of and people make great points on this.
It's just so hard. I'd have seen this for kids
(29:43):
to get into some of these these you know, post college,
you know programs, it's it's so competitive, especially like medical school.
Thanks Scott Chad.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
An hour two Sean Hannity Show told free on numbers
eight hundred and nine pot one, Sean, if you want
to be a part of the program. In just a minute,
we're going to be joined by our friend Selena Zito,
And she has a great piece out in the Washington Examiner,
the Awakening FUC Coming, and she talks at length about
(00:23):
already the impact of Charlie Kirk on young people his message.
I mean, I spent most of the last weekend watching
videos of Charlie and the things that he was saying
to younger people that really it kind of takes a
younger person to say it to them, and it was,
(00:45):
it was so impactful. And anyway, the article she goes
into great specificity in detail, and you know, young people
distraught over this. Remember kids in college today, they were
not alive during nine to eleven oh one, and this
is in packed a lot of kids in a massive way.
And she describes what happened at the Sanctuary Church and
(01:08):
how you know, busloads and busloads of kids you know,
were going there. Pastor Jason Howard was taken aback by
the size, the scope, the number of young people that
came out on Sunday for service. He said, I'll be
honest with you, I'm in my forties. So I was
caught off guard by the response from people who were
in my church in their twenties. They were much more
(01:29):
in tune with Charlie's influence than I was. His assistant
pastor was very much tuned in. He's twenty two years old,
and his immediate reaction was to the spontaneity of all
this is that we're going to pray. And the day
after Charlie was assassinated, he had a whole bunch of
people just gather in his backyard praying. Selina Zito is
(01:52):
now with us her book. By the way, she was,
you know, right next to President Trump. She was right
there at Butler in PA and wrote her number one
New York Times bestselling book, Butler. If you haven't read it,
please get a copy. The untold story of the near
assassination of Donald Trump in the fight for America's heartland,
(02:12):
and now we live in this assassination culture. Selena, first,
congratulations on being number one on the New York Times.
It was great to have you on at the time.
It's always great to have you on and I appreciate
your time, and I thought this article was really deep
and profound.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Oh, thank you so much, and thanks for having me
on about the book. And I think this book is
very relevant and important because one of the first experiences
I had after President Trump was shot was I went
out on a one of my grandchildren's soccer games. Right,
(02:51):
there's a bunch of suburban soccer.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Mom there by the way, For the record, Selena is
not old enough to be your grandmother.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
I'm just saying.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
They were all sort of lined up, and I would
see them all the time because I'd go to my
grandchild daughter's soccer games. I had no idea what their
political affiliation was or their face, right, but they were
on paper they should have been Paris voters, right, college educated,
live in the suburbs, right, and upper middle class. I
(03:25):
was stunned, and I detailed this in this book and
interview these young women about the amount of women who
had MAGA haffs on red Mega hafs just two days
after the president was shot. And so we would get
into a conversation and I'm like, you know, I have
no idea what your affiliation was, and they're like, yeah,
we were always afraid Christy Well, the one girl's fame
(03:46):
was Chrissy. I was sort of always afraid to put
it out there. But my attitude now is if he
can take a bullet for me, I can wear a
hat and not and be bold about it. And I'm
seeing the same thing happening post Charlie's assassination and in
a really profound way. And I'll give you two examples.
(04:10):
First is that story that I wrote. I mean, these
kids just came and we're not we're not talking like
you know, lily white suburbs. We're in the city of Pittsburgh,
in the Hill District, a historic black neighborhood in Pittsburgh,
and they are coming by the boss loads of every size,
(04:30):
shape and color and there and and they're they needed
to be somewhere right. They needed These are kids that
are out of faith or have just come to face
and they needed to be somewhere with purpose because they
saw him in two ways. They may not have always
agreed with everything he said politically, but they loved how
(04:54):
bold he was with his face and that was something
that was very very important.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Did you see this over thirty two thousand requests for
New Turning Point USA campus chapters have been filed since
Charlie Kirk's death thirty two thousand, and the message is
even going higher. I mean, and the requests are going
higher day by day. I mean the service that's I
(05:21):
was planning on going out there. I'm not going to
be able to make it in one day this weekend,
but they will see seventy plus thousand people out there.
Speaker 4 (05:29):
Yeah, and.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
There's two little two teenage kids here on the street
who is starting one at the local high school. I
spoke at a Turning Points event in Butler, Pennsylvania this summer,
and it was at Slippery Rocket University and it was
jam packed, like it was jam packed, and there were
(05:52):
kids everywhere. So this is and as a note in
this story, this isn't this awakening. I have noticed the
beginning and last summer and we began among young people,
and I kept and I write it in the book,
but I kept reporting it as well, said telling people
like y'all aren't paying attention to these young people. They're here,
(06:14):
they're at the Trump rallies, right. They see the intertwined
messages from protecting religious liberty to republic conservative populism, and
it's a message that hits them. It's something that's been missing.
Last last night, I sat for ninety minutes of my
(06:36):
little grandson's flag football practice, and the amount of mothers
that have been suburban mothers. Again, different group of mothers
talking about what happened to Charlie Kirk. These are women
in their mid thirties who have little boys that were
playing flag football, who were talking about their thinking about homeschooling.
Now they don't like what they see from the influences
(06:59):
from these teachers. They're thinking. They're devastated by what they're
seeing that other community leaders like doctors and nurses are
and they're mad. They're not just sad, they're mad. And
I don't think that people understand the force that they
have awakened with not just in his assassination, but also
(07:20):
in how they have behaved afterwards, whether it is denying
it or encouraging it to happen to other people that
are conservative, populous.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
I don't like outside events because nobody's going to be
able to afford a secret service type of protection, which
is what you would need if you're doing an outside event.
So I'm urging people, you got to go inside, make
sure everybody gets magged before they come in. You can
do a sweep before of an inside area and make
it secure and then you know, you then go in
(07:58):
and do your event. You know, at that point you know,
I also recommend that you be on a stage, that
you be elevated and not on the same level as
the people that are in the room, because they can
rush you, and you know, at that point you get
have people off stage. I've had that type of security
many many times in my life.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
Yes, And instead of recoiling, and that's a really important point, Sean,
instead of recoiling and my reporting all day, it'll probably
be out on Friday about the amount of women who
have gone to local gun stores just in western Pennsylvania
as first time gun owners and wanting to be and
signing up for training has been through the roof.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
I think the keyboard there is training over the years.
People know.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
I've had a pistol carried my whole life, even in
New York City if you get it, and that's hard
to get if you get enough death threats. I even
had one when I lived in New York, believe it
or not, I turned it in when I moved to Florida. However,
I mean, it's hard to get and you really have
to make a compelling case why you need one, and
(09:04):
you get enough death threats, I guess I passed the threshold. Selena,
I guess I'm not that like, but I mean, it's
kind of scary out there. I urge everybody to have something.
I mean I have obviously I carry I have a
six hour P three twenty and I also carry Berner.
I carry the new cl launcher. It's a non lethal,
very effective technology way to incapacitate any perpetrator. So I
(09:29):
urge people their advertisers on the show, and I believe
in it.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
I'm the same way, same person get death threats all
the time.
Speaker 5 (09:38):
And.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
People don't know, those of us that are in the
public eye that this is this happens with regularity. Oh yeah,
I have because we don't because we don't talk about it.
We just keep it to ourselves. You don't want to
call attention to it.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
That is absolutely right. And and yeah, so the so
the gunshops that I've been talking to said, you know,
there's all of these people are being very responsible. They
want to learn. They don't want to just buy a gun.
They want to understand how to work it. And most
of the gunshops that I've talked to have have target
practice and behind their buildings, right, and so they go
(10:15):
right to a professional. But people just don't feel safe
among their neighbors. Like, think about that, Sean. Think about
the amount of doctors we have seen, and nurses and
people that teach our children and our grandchildren that they
have not just said, oh, I didn't like him, like
(10:37):
so whide. If someone says that I don't care, but
have just said like I wish the rest of them
would die too, it's like, oh, wait a minute, you're
talking about me. You're talking about me your patient, And
it's very chilling.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
The amount of hatred we've seen. What's your reaction to it.
I've chronicled a lot of it.
Speaker 4 (10:56):
You know.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
I didn't cry after Butler. When you and I've talked that,
I wondered when it would happen. I think a lot
of that had to do with sort of how to
work immediately, right. I had to work in the moment,
so it's never given that space to consume what I experienced.
But I'll tell you what. I cried my eyes out
(11:18):
on Wednesday, first for Charlie and Erica, and then for
the young people he influenced. But then as I saw
the hatred come out, it broke me. I can't believe
there are people out there that can think like that.
There are plenty of people that I don't agree with,
maybe even don't like. I would never think about saying
(11:40):
something like that when.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
You think about what you lived through at Butler, being
right there in the front row, right near the president
when the shot rang out. We now know, by the way,
the distance of a millimeter more profoundly than ever. And
you think back to that day and how how close
(12:03):
Donald Trump came to being assassinated right in front of
your eyes.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
Yeah, and I realined that moment every night when I
say my prayers, and I and I and I relived
the conversation that I had with him the next day
along with that. And that's when he talks about God,
when he talks about divine intervention and intervention. What was
my purpose, Selena? Why am I still here? I never
(12:31):
ever turned my head. I never put a chart down,
at least not on that side, and never in the beginning,
sometimes at the end. And he talked profoundly about how
his faith was moved in that moment, and I can't
imagine if both of them were gone right now, I
(12:52):
can't even imagine.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
I've had this conversation with it myself, and I would argue,
having known him for thirty years, that that day, that
moment changed him in every good way, to be very honest,
and we have had conversations with it. You know, I
talked to him. He has not looked at the video
(13:13):
of Charlie getting shot. He says he won't look at it.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
I you know, I understand that, and you know what
I was thinking about, Sean. You know, one of the
things that really has gutted the president and and motivated
him to be so purposeful in everything that he's done
is not the fact that he was shot at, but
the fact that Corey Comparatoy died, someone who went there
that day to celebrate him, to celebrate President Trump with
(13:40):
his family, and in many ways, that's what Charlie was doing.
He was celebrating the movement, he was talking about things
in a very and so I'm not shocked at all
that that's his response, because in many ways, Charlie and
Corey COMPATORI were there for reasons that are very associated
(14:01):
with President Trump. I can't imagine how hard this is
on him.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
It's I think we now are officially living in an
assassination culture and we better be very aware of it.
And the left really does need to examine their consciences
collectively and tone this rhetoric down, as John Fetterman said,
and stop with the Nazi talk and allegations.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Selena, love you, You're the best.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
By the way, if you have not read her book Butler,
number one New York Times bestseller, we have a link
on Hannity dot com, Amazon dot com, bookstores all around
the country. It's called Butler, The Untold Story of the
near Assassination of Donald Trump in the Fight for America's Heartland.
We appreciate you as always, Selena, thank you, thank you,
love you brother the best. Quick break right back. We'll
(14:51):
continue on the other side.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
Quarterm.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
There is a beautiful part and some that there's some
we we are not going to be able to calculate
through the prism of history. We will the magnitude and
the impact of what has happened with this assassination of
Charlie Kirk. We just but it all the evidences. As
(15:22):
we just discussed what Selena Zito is there. I want
to play a montage people going to church and saying
how their churches were packed because of what we all
have been living through.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
I have been to.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
Church like twice in my entire life.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Since Charlie Kirk is unable to go to church this Sunday,
I'm going to go and take his seat for him.
Speaker 4 (15:48):
Els.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
I didn't know Charlie Kirk, never met that guy before
in my life.
Speaker 5 (15:55):
And something else that I've never done before in my
life is believing.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
I'm gonna wear this suit to church. I'm going to
go to church.
Speaker 5 (16:08):
I'm going to try to be a better father, husband
and leader for my family.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
They deserve that.
Speaker 5 (16:20):
Charlie Kirk, Look what you did. No parking, No parking
at all none. How to park like five blocks away
from church because everyone wants to come now? Amen, Thank
you Jesus, Thank you, Charlie.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
We went to church today.
Speaker 6 (16:33):
It was the first time in twenty years for me
and Devon. It was the first time for our children.
After the events of the last week, Devin and I
had a lot of talking that was happening between us
about the type of life that we want for ourselves
(16:55):
and how we want our boys to be. You know,
we talk about Charlie Kirk, We talked about a man
of God who was not afraid to stand in his
convictions in anything. And we are raising three boys that
will one day be men, and we want those boys
(17:16):
to be as strong in their convictions as Charlie Kirk was.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
Wow, how powerful is that? You know?
Speaker 2 (17:25):
I will say I love my parents for so many
different reasons, and I know that they had a much
harder life than me, and I know I stand on
their shoulders and the shoulders of my four grandparents that
came to this country legally from Ireland, and they they
grew up poor. My parents grew up poor, and my
(17:46):
parents sacrifice so much, my mother prison guard, working double shifts.
The main reason was to give their kids a better education.
And that that manifested itself by sending, you know, all
all their kids to Catholic schools. And I went to
Catholic schools for four years, and whether I knew what
(18:09):
was happening or not, it did happen. And that is
that those values and belief in God grew inside of me,
whether I knew it was happening or not. And as
I got older, then I just embraced it more and
more and more and again. Christians, the first thing that
they will acknowledge is we've all sinned and fallen short.
We just want to be better people, and we're asking
(18:32):
for forgiveness for sins and we're asking for help to
be bigger, better people. And the fact that so many people,
you know, misrepresent what it means to be a Christian
is it's it's a it's a sore point for me because, oh,
Christians think they're perfect. No, they just they just have
a belief system and they have a desire to be
their best person, their best self.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
And to hear that is pretty amazing.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
And if when people interview me and they'll say, well, well,
how did you survive where so many others, you know,
have not been able to survive as long as you
have in the industry that you work in, you know,
I go back to my parents. I go back to
the values of hard work and faith that they instilled
(19:20):
in me. And they never took vacations because they were
spending all that money on Catholic schools they could barely afford.
And that my belief in my faith in God is
the other thing I've said this on the air before,
not new, but I'm just sharing it with you now.
And that foundation is at the heart of I think
(19:45):
in an industry where, you know, all those years I
worked in restaurants, ten years and ten years in construction,
nobody wants your autograph, nobody wanted a sel Fiel. Those
selfies weren't a thing back then.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
And and while I might get, you know, request now, which
I'm very grateful to, always accommodate because I feel great.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
I'm grateful to this audience for giving me this microphone
and that camera every night. But it's really those things
that that have kept me somewhat grounded. Linda would argue
maybe not fully grounded, but that's a different issue for
a different day. But you know, my faith grows as
stronger as I get older, and I don't think I
(20:32):
you know, there's a belief in the Bible that of
yourself you can do nothing, and it's true and that
every you know, I consider my life an undeserved life,
and I know many of many of us life is
a gift and is precious and Charlie left us way
too young, gets our busy phones eight hundred and nine
(20:52):
four one sean. If you want to be a part
of the program. Mike in California. Hey, Mike, how are
you glad you called great Sean.
Speaker 4 (21:02):
I just wanted to start with I'm glad you were
talking about what you just spoke about just now. And
I'm a teacher and we're Thean minister in California third grade.
I just feel like the left is really trying to
paint Charlie as a political commentator. They keep saying out
(21:22):
our political firebrand, political political political But what he is,
what he is to us who believe, is he's a
Christian martyr, and he's an American Christian martyr, the most
prominent one since Martin Luther King Junior, which they've tried.
I teach history, and when you read the history books,
(21:44):
it's doctor Martin Luther King now junior, and I have
to tell him, well, it's reverend doctor. I have to
tell him what he had a doctor of because and
you have to insert that, because they're trying to wipe
Christianity from the face of America. And it's a total
disservice to him and a loss of honor to his
(22:06):
memory than not calling an American Christian martyr because he
died for his faith. Everything he talked about all the
time was rooted in faith, just like you said your
morals are rooted in your faith. Was he was constantly
like he talked about the nature of God, he descended Christianity,
(22:27):
he talked about the nature of man. Against the transgender indoctrination,
which is, I believe, religious dogma in itself, because if
you ask a transgender person give me an immutable characteristic
of a man or a woman, they can't a physical one.
It all goes to metaphysical and metaphysics is a department
(22:50):
of religion. So they are trying to indoctrinate with religious dogma,
and they've been successful establishing religion in the name of
government all over the place. And I actually like that
and needs to get fought on that. But my main
point today is just that we need to refer to
Charlie as an American.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
See.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
But this is why Charlie was such a shock to
the system when he'd go into these hostile environments and
he'd talk about faith and God and values and you know,
old fashioned values about how men should treat women, you know,
not going to frap parties and throwing up in the
bushes after I mean I had my rules for my
(23:33):
kids when they went to college. If I told them
in the way I told it to them, you would laugh,
I promise, and he would do it. And the shocking
thing is is because schools barely mention God anymore. It
was a shock to the system. And because they are
in doctrination centers, it was a shock to the system.
(23:55):
And that's what made it all the more powerful. It
was also moment of affirmation for kids that did have
these values but felt, you know, a need to be quiet. Anyway, Mike,
I appreciate your call, man, Thank you. You make great points.
Quick break right back. We'll get to your calls. Eight
hundred ninety four one Sean is our number. If you
want to be a part of the program.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
The final Hour roundup is next. You do not want
to miss it, and stay tuned for the final hour
Free for all on the Sean Hannity Show.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
Back to our busy phones eight hundred ninety four one
Sean if you want to join us. Sharon is in Kentucky.
Sharon apparently disagrees with me. Sharon, but I am glad
you called. How are you hi?
Speaker 7 (24:47):
Sean? Listen to you for twenty plus years yeah, I
just wanted to reiterate the points Rachel was making yesterday
and give you something else to think about in regards
to your stance on profess in colleges. She was completely
right about everything she said. And I ask you this,
what do you think Charlie would do. He would not
(25:08):
want you to just he would not, in any sense
of the word, just not do anything or say anything
for a grade. I don't think it's what he was
all about. I'm so devastated that he's gone. But I
want you to change your stance. I want you to
stop giving it on the radio as just go along,
(25:28):
get along, to get your grade, and then get out
fight it, fight a professor.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
So let me be clear though, because you're not the
only one that has challenged me on this, and I'm
actually very very open to listening to what you have
to say. I'm talking about very very unique circumstances. I'm
talking about. You know, it is so hard, all right,
if we start with the idea, and this comes from
(25:56):
the Latin derivative. I did learn Latin, I did go
to a seminary high school, and we did study theology.
I did go to mass every day. But one of
the few words I remember in Latin is a ducreda
education to bring forth from within. I think that's predicated
on a belief that everybody is born with God's talent.
Everybody that I know that's a fireman, a policeman, a teacher,
(26:18):
a doctor, you know, every one of them, without exception
a nurse, they are called to do so. It's been
a dream of there's a pilot they're called to do
so they've wanted to do it their whole life. So
I'm really I'm talking about very specific, unique circumstances where
people have this desire, this calling that they want to
(26:43):
serve and be a teacher or a doctor, and they
want to get into medical school or law school, or
business school or postgraduate school. And they know if they
have one of these crazy left wing teachers and they
challenge them, that it is going to significantly. One bad
grade can make the difference between getting into that school
(27:05):
and not. I'm not going to condemn the kid that says,
all right, I'll play the game. I know I'm playing
a game, and I'm not gonna I'm not gonna be
critical of them for doing that. If kids have the
freedom that I made the choice in college myself to
fight my teacher. There's the guy that said he's a
(27:27):
Marxist and communist, And it took up the entire you know,
second half of the semester because I couldn't take it anymore.
And Reagan was president. We thought about Reagan the guy.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
You know.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
It was everyone was like rolling their eyes every time
I'd start in with the guy. So I hope you
understand I'm talking about a very unique circumstance when people
are pursuing their calling in life. And I don't think
I explained it as well as I meant it. And
if you still disagree with me, tell me, yes, I do.
Speaker 7 (27:56):
Still disagree with you. I am a critical care registered
nurse and what I will say is, you know what
you went through many many many years ago. It's changed now.
Charlie made a movement. He's caused a movement, and these
young gen zs they're on a roll, and I want
them to keep being on a role. I want them
(28:17):
to be outspoken. I want them to express themselves, and
I want you to back them up and do what
Charlie would have done.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
That's well one way to back them up.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
And this is part of turning point that I really
support is they have for high school kids and for
college kids.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
You know, what do you do?
Speaker 2 (28:36):
How do you fight back against woke teachers and indoctrination?
And I would urge kids to go to the Turning
Point website and learn how to do that, and that
is an alternative for sure. I would say that's a
great option. I agree with you.
Speaker 7 (28:50):
I think that you know, you can respectfully disagree with
your professor, and if he still causes you problems, you
can take it to the proper authorities, and if worse
come to worre sean take the class over. I am
a critical care nurse. I've done this my whole life.
It's all I ever wanted to do. But there is
no way I would have put up with a teacher
(29:12):
preventing me or you know, confronting me with a Marxist attitude.
We have to keep this going. We have to keep
this going for listen.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
I love your fire. I'm I'm mostly agreeing with you.
I'm just not going to be critical of the kid
that has a dream that would be destroyed. I'm not
going to be critical of that. I hope that kind
of answers your question. Eight hundred nine, one, Shawn is
a number of and people make great points on this.
It's just so hard. I'd have seen this for kids
(29:43):
to get into some of these these you know, post college,
you know programs, it's it's so competitive, especially like medical school.
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Cardiac Cowboys
The heart was always off-limits to surgeons. Cutting into it spelled instant death for the patient. That is, until a ragtag group of doctors scattered across the Midwest and Texas decided to throw out the rule book. Working in makeshift laboratories and home garages, using medical devices made from scavenged machine parts and beer tubes, these men and women invented the field of open heart surgery. Odds are, someone you know is alive because of them. So why has history left them behind? Presented by Chris Pine, CARDIAC COWBOYS tells the gripping true story behind the birth of heart surgery, and the young, Greatest Generation doctors who made it happen. For years, they competed and feuded, racing to be the first, the best, and the most prolific. Some appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, operated on kings and advised presidents. Others ended up disgraced, penniless, and convicted of felonies. Together, they ignited a revolution in medicine, and changed the world.