September 11, 2025 • 33 mins
Heidi Ganahl fills in for Dan with an emotional tribute to her friend Charlie Kirk, who was gunned down by an assassin on the campus of Utah Valley University on Wednesday.
Guests include Regan Harris, a student at Colorado Christian Academy, an understudy of Charlie's at Turning Point USA; Tori Ganahl, Heidi's daughter, of Rocky Mountain Voice who worked extensively with Charlie over the last several years.
Guests include Regan Harris, a student at Colorado Christian Academy, an understudy of Charlie's at Turning Point USA; Tori Ganahl, Heidi's daughter, of Rocky Mountain Voice who worked extensively with Charlie over the last several years.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Dan capless and welcome to today's online podcast
edition of The Dan Caplis Show. Please be sure to
give us a five star rating if you'd be so kind,
and to subscribe, download, and listen to the show every
single day on your favorite podcast platform.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Hello everyone, it's Heidi Ganaal filling in for Dan Kaplis
this afternoon. And Ryan, I am not my perky self today.
It has been a brutal, brutal twenty four hours. I
wasn't gonna cry cry. Charlie's been a dear friend for
a decade, and I can't believe America is where it
(00:35):
is right now. And I'm just devastated over that, over
the Evergreen shooting, and Colorado is in a bad place
right now. America is in a bad place. And I
know you just got off the air. We had a
crazy fire alarm between there and then. But what's your
sense of how people are reacting to what's happened over
the last twenty four hours.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Well, I feel your emotion, Heidi, and I felt it yesterday.
You saw my post on X having to report on
this all happening in real time, both the Evergreen High
School shooting and also the Charlie kirk assassination. When I
went live to the air yesterday at two, we were
still holding out hope that he may survive, and of
course that hope sank with the truth social post by
(01:15):
President Trump confirming Charlie's death, and Kelly and I were
just staggered. I just felt though I had to hold
it together for Charlie, for the listeners. And I compared
it to when Walter Cronkite was anchoring coverage back in
November of nineteen sixty three in real time for CBS
on the jfk assassination. In that moment where it hits you,
(01:37):
where it's real, where his death is confirmed, nothing prepares
you for that. Nothing in my thirty years of experience
in this craft prepared me for that moment. And you
just try to do the best you can in that moment.
And I hope that I did that.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
I think you made everyone very proud, Ryan, and I
can't imagine being in that situation.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
It was so emotional and.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
So shocking, shocking to see what happened and to see
people's reactions, especially on the left.
Speaker 4 (02:05):
It was just disgusting in a lot of ways.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
But you know, we have so much to look forward
to in our country, and Charlie would want us to
continue to be happy warriors. And I invited many happy
warriors on the show today, so you're going to hear
from a lot of voices. And I thought we'd started
off with a dear friend, family friend, Reagan Harris, who
is an eighth grader at Colorado Christian Academy with my kids,
and she is one of the most well spoken conservative
(02:30):
young people that I know. And Reagan, I want to
check in with you. I know you were a big
fan of Charlie. Tell us how you're feeling and how
you're doing today.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
Yes, thank you for having me on.
Speaker 5 (02:41):
It's definitely disturbing to see the state of our country,
but I know that Charlie would have wanted us to
continue what he started to fight for and what he
did so much for our country with Turning Point USA,
(03:05):
and now it's up to us to continue his work.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Rag and tell me how you met Charlie. And I
know you've talked to him a lot over the years.
What are some moments that you remember about talking to
him or how he inspired you.
Speaker 5 (03:21):
I met Charlie in twenty twenty three at a speaking
event at my school, and his speech really moved me
and encouraged me to go and look at his podcast,
(03:43):
and I went and watched his YouTube videos about debating,
and really he just inspired me to learn how to
debate and to have those conversations with people that we
don't agree with, because that's something that is lost in
(04:05):
our country.
Speaker 6 (04:07):
But he.
Speaker 5 (04:09):
Made a great effort and succeeded in bringing it back.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Gregan, I'm going to ask you a tough question, and
you can be honest, Like, we're all we're all so
worried about our country, and we're worried about all of you.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
Are you scared?
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Are you more emboldened, like do you feel like ready
to go out and pick swings?
Speaker 4 (04:28):
Or are you how are you feeling emotionally about everything?
Speaker 5 (04:33):
Well, I'm definitely frightened about the evil in the world,
but I have confidence in the leadership of this country
and the many brave people that are stepping up, and
I hope that someday I can be someone that will
step up.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
Well, I think you already are.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
I've watched you in action for many years and I'm
so proud of you.
Speaker 6 (04:59):
You.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
I always defend our principles so well, whether it's with
your friends or with somebody who's not quite as friendly.
And I know you're gonna do big things someday. What
does your future look like? Do you have certain plans
or are you inspired to do something? And how has
Charlie inspired you to go big in life?
Speaker 5 (05:21):
Yes, I want to start in business because I've noticed
that business is a crucial aspect to politics, which is
where I eventually want to end up. And Charlie has
inspired me to educate myself and to really learn a
(05:43):
lot about politics so that I can better defend my
beliefs and be strong in them.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
Why are you proud to be an American?
Speaker 5 (05:57):
I'm proud to be an American. This country is unlike
any other country. We have freedom, and our founders understood
the rights that we were born with and knew that
we needed to protect those. And I'm so grateful for
(06:20):
our voting system and how we have a society that's
looking forward and looking to the future and is really
set up to make a brighter future for not only
America and Americans.
Speaker 4 (06:39):
But for the whole world. Oh thanks, Reagan.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Okay, Reagan, You're an eighth grader and there are a
lot of little kids that look up to you at CCA.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
And in your community, even your little brothers.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
I know it's hard to believe, just twin brothers, But
how do you reassure them? How do you make them
feel like it's okay to speak up and it's okay
to feel a little bit afraid, but to be bold
and brave right now.
Speaker 5 (07:03):
Honestly, just making them aware of what is out in
the world, because it is an evil world that we
live in, and it's important to start young and build
the foundation of beliefs. And my school does a great
(07:24):
job that we have an apologetics program in eighth grade,
and that is learning how to defend our beliefs, and
especially as we move on in the world, that's important
because we know that we're going to be tested and
our beliefs are going to be challenged.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
So, Reagan, one of Charlie Kirk's passions was his faith
and his family, of course, and what do you think
he'll be remembered for.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
He wants to be remembered for his faith.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Do you think that's his signature kind of initiative is
to drive young people back to faith and finding Jesus
Christ and feeling like there is hope in this broken.
Speaker 5 (08:10):
World, absolutely, and I think building on that, it was
also having open discussion.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
On his faith, Yeah, and him being bold and brave
about speaking about his love for Jesus Christ and how
it was a priority in his life. And boy, is
the message going to spread a lot wider from this tragedy.
Unfortunately that's not the way we wanted Charlie to grow
his following this movement. But I think it's going to
backfire on the evil people who did this.
Speaker 4 (08:44):
We have about a minute left.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Is there anything else you'd like to say about how
you're feeling or what you want to what you want
people to know about young people and America right now?
Speaker 4 (08:55):
Well, I would just like to share.
Speaker 5 (08:58):
Please step up and do your part like Charlie Kirk did,
so that we can ensure a brighter future for America
and so that we can ensure freedom and hope for
future generations.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
Ah, thank you, Reagan.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
You are a beautiful little soul and you're going to
do amazing things in this world. You already are. You're
such a bright light. We still appreciate you being here.
We're going to go to break and afterwards we'll have
other voices and other friends of Charlie to speak about
what an important force he was in.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
Our world and in politics. Thank you, We'll see you
after the break.
Speaker 7 (09:38):
And now back to the Dan Kaplis Show podcast.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Hello everyone, Tidy Ganal filling in for Dan Kaplis today,
and it's a somber, sad day in Colorado and across America,
I should say, across the world. We lost an incredible
voice and talent and just an all around great person,
Charlie Kirk.
Speaker 4 (09:58):
Yesterday.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
We also had a tragedy at Evergreen High School, and
I mean, everyone's just really shaken right now. And so
what I thought the best thing to do with my
time today would be bring on voices of people and
friends who care or loved about Charlie and have friendships with.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
Him, know him.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
And we're going to bring Tory, my daughter, on next
in just a minute. But I wanted to tell the
story about how I met Charlie and why he's been
such an important force to me.
Speaker 4 (10:30):
I met him through my dad.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
My dad was sitting at the LPR Retreat, the leadership
program of the Rockies Retreat down at the Bodmoor.
Speaker 4 (10:36):
I think it was twenty fourteen, twenty fifteen, maybe and
he said, I met the most amazing young man. He's
he's just incredible. You've got to talk to him.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
And I'm going to introduce him to Tory too, who
was at University of Oregon at the time.
Speaker 4 (10:50):
I'll let her tell that story.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
And I was running or about to run for regent
at the time, and he was just launching an effort
to help change my on college campuses called Turning Point
and really take it big. And so we became fast friends,
and we were in the trenches together on the front
lines of higher education. And he, of course took off
with Turning.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
Point, and I.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
Got elected regent and started battling that fight at University
of Colorado, whether it was free speech or teaching kids
how to debate or cancel culture, COVID.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
You name it.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
And Charlie was there the whole way along, as was
the rest of the Turning Point team. And we launched
one of the first big Turning Point chapters at SU
Boulder and had some amazing kids as part of that,
really brave kids who were just tortured and tormented and
called names and treated pretty horribly. And Charlie was always
a happy warrior. He always had this amazing fortitude and
(11:51):
never wavered and always had these kids' backs, and he
taught me how to do that at see You. And
one of the things I'm things I'm most proud of
being a agent was having the backs of those kids
that were brave enough to be conservative. It's cu boulder
and brave enough to talk about their principles and values
the faculty too.
Speaker 4 (12:09):
And I can't tell you.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
How much of a difference he made in my life
and how Turning Points made a difference in my life
and in the governor's race, He's one of the only
folks who stood strong with me the whole way along.
Like nationally speaking, there was also Governor Sarah Sanders, Governor
Glenn Younkin, but Charlie always answered my calls. He always
helped me, you know, figure out tough situations during that race,
(12:33):
and he truly in his heart wanted me to win,
which meant so much to me, and truly believed in me.
And I'll be forever grateful for everything that he did
for myself, my family. He inspired my sixteen year old
to start a Turning Point chapter at her school, which
is going great. They have over fifty members now they're
growing strong and they just launched.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
It and that's in a suburb of Denver, Colorado. That's crazy.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
But I just I just want to say how grateful
I am for his friendship, and I'm so so concerned
and praying hard for his wife, Erica and their young children.
I don't know if not many of you might not know,
but I lost my first husband in a plane crash
at the age of twenty seven, and of course it
(13:18):
changed my life and it's still to this day is
very painful and has shaped who I am.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
But it's also taught me to live life fearlessly.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
And carpe dim as my first husband, Bien used to say,
seize the day, and that's another lesson that Charlie taught us.
And I think will live on with his children and
his wife. I have no doubt that Erica is. She's
going to get through this, and she's going to raise
two amazing kids and teach them all about their dad,
their brave dad and the changes that he made across
(13:49):
our beautiful country, inspiring all of us. So we've got
Toy in the studio. I don't know, Toy, can you
hear anything? I spilled a big iced tea all over
the control center here.
Speaker 4 (13:59):
So Kelly fired that anymore? Oh, there's so many reasons
I should be fired. God bless you guys for sticking
with me.
Speaker 7 (14:08):
Kelly.
Speaker 4 (14:09):
I know, Kelly, this is terrible. I'm making you clean
up after me.
Speaker 6 (14:13):
Tory.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
Can you hear Okay?
Speaker 8 (14:15):
I can't hear anything, but I can hear you, So
I guess that's all that matters.
Speaker 4 (14:19):
She's wearing my headphones.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
Those aren't working because I spilled iced tea on them. Kelly, Yeah,
I did something terrible. All right, Tory, We'll wait till
you get some headphones on. We're gonna have some other folks,
a couple Turning Point kids from CU Boulder are gonna
be on Tanner and Ashley. We're gonna have Charlotte Schaffer,
who's part of the founding team at Valor High School's
(14:41):
Turning Point chapter with my daughter Holly. We're gonna have
Lacy Williams, who is a fixture in Turning Point, who's
now working for the National Institute of Health and doing
great things there. I mean, Charlie has raised up an
army of people across this country, young strong conservatives who
are going to make a difference, who are already making
a difference in this country. And if anyone wants to
text in or try and call in, we've got a
(15:02):
lot of callers prepared. But if you want to honor
Charlie or you want me to read anything off the
text messages, I'm happy to and hopefully we will honor
his legacy and tell some great stories in the meantime.
Speaker 4 (15:17):
So, Tory, why don't.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
You take these headphones and you can speak about your story,
how you met Charlie and the impact he's had on
his life.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
Here you go, Hey, everyone is.
Speaker 8 (15:30):
Oh, there we are, Torygan all here. Thanks Mom for
having me on. So I am thirty years old now,
and I was actually one of the very first turning
point kids. As you heard Heidi say, my grandpa sent
next to Charlie at LPR. And literally that night he
called me in Eugene, Oregon. He said, hey, I heard
(15:51):
your Paneltic president, which is like president of all the Swarties,
and I heard your Conservative and I'm going to get
you to run for student body government. And I laughed,
was like, I'm not running for anything. Are you kidding me?
This place is crazy? And he said nope, I'm jumping
on a plane tomorrow and I'll be in Eugene and
we're going to talk, and I'm going to convince you
to run. And if I don't convince you to run
(16:12):
by the end of that, I haven't done my job.
So I said, Okay, come on, come on over to Eugene.
Little did I know that Charlie was a die hard
Organ Ducks football fan. He loved that team and that
school like nobody's business, despite its crazy, crazy liberal nut
jobs over there, but he had such a heart for it,
(16:33):
and he said that if he could flip any school
in the country, it would mean the world to him
to flip Organs. So we met upstairs in a on
the top of a restaurant named Caspian's and we met
for hours. It was me and two other people he
had he had contacted a run who were also conservative
on campus. I'd never met either of them before, and
(16:57):
he told us all the ways he was gonna get
get a to win, and all the money who's going
to raise to make it happen, and yeah, it was amazing.
So I'll tell you guys, there is the story here soon.
Thanks Tory, I need to use your headphones.
Speaker 4 (17:12):
We still haven't fixed this.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
I made a mess, you guys, I am a mess today.
I'm happy to be here, but it's been a rough
twenty four hours. We're going to take a break afterwards.
We're going to come back and talk more about Charlie
and honor his legacy is an incredible legacy and all
that he's done to protect our country and our kids.
Speaker 4 (17:28):
This is Heidi Ganaal for Dan Caplis.
Speaker 7 (17:36):
You're listening to the Dan Caplis Show podcast.
Speaker 6 (17:39):
Hello.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Everyone, it's Heidi Ganal filling in for Dan Caplis today
on a very somber day for Colorado, for America and
Tory and I lost a dear friend, Charlie, Charlie Kirk,
and we wanted to talk a little bit about some
of the stories and the crazy adventures we had with him.
Speaker 6 (17:55):
Toy.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
You left off with him asking you to run for
student body government at the University of organ one of
the most liberal places on the planet.
Speaker 4 (18:03):
Tell everybody how that went well. I did it. I
said yes, and it was the fight of a lifetime. Man.
Speaker 8 (18:10):
We had so many we have so many stories to tell,
but we ended up Charlie was so brilliant in the
way that he mentored us and coached us, and his
big thing was, we're gonna get Uber back in Eugene.
There was this huge fight and Uber and Lyft got
forced out, and he said, we have.
Speaker 4 (18:28):
To get them back. This is completely.
Speaker 8 (18:31):
Anti capitalistic and everyone loves Uber. Let's run on that.
And so we did, and we got so much support.
We made these obnoxiously green T shirts. Our name was
one organ and man, I mean, we can talk about
this more, you and I because you've got cookie Gate
and we had pizza Gate. But we got in trouble
for handing out free pizza. We got in trouble for
(18:53):
handing out T shirts. The other party was completely funded
tens of thousands of dollars by the Democratic Party of Eugene.
Speaker 4 (19:00):
So we had a fight. But Charlie basically moved.
Speaker 8 (19:03):
To Eugene for three months and helped us run this
campaign with four other people on his team, and we
fought for our lives and we didn't win. We didn't
win it, but we sure did learn a lot and
we had some wounds to lick after, including a whole
character defamation lawsuit against the university.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
So it was quite crazy.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
Well, you guys were so brave to take that on,
and that's before Turning Point was a big deal. But
they were starting to make a scene, and the other
side caught wind to that and started to figure out
who Charlie was and what Turning Point was, and that
they were backing. And that's why you got all the
complaints filed about giving pizza away. And that's what happened
to Marcus at CU Boulder when he ran and he
(19:44):
had the backing of Turning Point. I don't think anybody
knew that until later.
Speaker 8 (19:47):
In those days, it was very under the radar. No
one could know that Turning Point was involved. No one
really knew who Charlie was except for some of the
liberal activists on campus. And I remember him wearing a
hat and sunglass every day when he tabled for us,
because he didn't want to be seen, because he didn't
want to ruin the facade of he was trying to
get conservative students elected without being conservative, because that was
(20:12):
really the only way you could win back then. This
was back in twenty fifteen, twenty sixteen, and it was
such a trying time to be a conservative on college campus.
And it's only gotten worse, i'm sure, but.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
At least conservative kids have more of a backing now
like back then, you and Marcus and Ashley Mayor who's
going to be on later, and lots of other students
were felt so alone, like there was nobody to have
their back. And that's what Charlie was trying to create,
like this army of people so that you would feel
brave and bold and could go out and run for
office or you know, do the work of building the
(20:45):
conservative movement on a college campus without getting threatened or
shut down or canceled. How did that impact your life,
like taking that on and being brave enough and bold
enough to do that because Charlie asked.
Speaker 8 (20:57):
You, Well, I think that if you would have asked
me if I would ever work in politics back then,
I would have laughed in your faith, and I would
have never wanted to do it, especially after seeing everything
you went through, even just with the regent race. This
was way before you ran for governor and it was
still dirty politics and I was I wanted nothing to
do with it. And I think Charlie taught me the
(21:20):
good side of it. He showed me the boots on
the ground, the way you work hard, how you beat
the system in a way that is fair and just
and based on messaging and you know, the core problems
of what people care about. And he's just he was
the wisest, one of the wisest people I've ever met ever.
I mean, he was twenty one twenty two back then,
(21:42):
and he sounded like he was a sixty year old.
Speaker 4 (21:44):
It wasn't saying. I was telling Jen, our editor Rocky
Mountain Voice today, like he can.
Speaker 8 (21:49):
He could literally quote any verse in the Bible off
the top of his head.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
I never even saw him open a Bible.
Speaker 8 (21:55):
He just had it all in his brain and he
just he lifted us up and showed us what was possible.
And I was just actually speaking with Adam, who was
on my slate yesterday. He called me and we were
sharing memories of Charlie. And Adam was so influenced by
Charlie that he actually moved to Israel for two years
and studied the Jewish religion. And now he's a lawyer.
(22:15):
He went to Harvard Law School, and he is like,
none of that would have happened if it weren't for
Charlie kirk Well.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
And I think the theme here is is that Charlie's
an impact. He's impacted so many people in ways that
are very personal but yet very grounded in his faith,
but also in his belief in this country and the
founding principles of this country, And nobody could articulate why
they are so important better than Charlie. Like, what about
(22:44):
the faith part of it? Did he talk to you
about that? Did he encourage you did? How did that
play into your conversations?
Speaker 8 (22:52):
Adam and I were both just talking yesterday. Faith was
so low on the total poll for both of us
in college, it wasn't even a thought in our minds.
Went until Charlie came in, swooped in and started speaking
all of these biblical truths and telling us all these
stories and backing them all with just such wisdom that
I think it sparked an interest in both of us.
(23:13):
And I went on to become a Young Life leader
and now volunteer in my church, and my faith is
the most important thing to me. And I can't say
that Charlie didn't have anything to do with that, because
he did. And I think that later on, more recently,
it became more public for him. I think he started
talking more about his faith publicly than he had in
(23:33):
the past. But when him and I would spend hours
and hours, you know, plotting Organs next move on our campaign.
It was everything he wanted to talk about more. I mean,
it was everything that he Truth was just at the
core of everything that he did, and so much of
that truth came from his faith.
Speaker 4 (23:54):
Toy.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
We've been to so many Turning Point conferences and we've
brought your little sisters and brother into the mix, and
now Holly is running the Turning Point chapter, helping run
the Turning Point chapter at Valor, and we're really trying
to bring them.
Speaker 4 (24:07):
Along on that path.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
How are you going to describe Charlie to them after
a couple of years, when they haven't had the experience
of these conferences, we're seeing Charlie and watching his videos, etc.
Speaker 8 (24:18):
Well, I do think that his legacy will live on
through all of his videos and everything that he's created.
And now it is our turn to finish what he started.
But I will just tell them I feel like I
am so grateful to have witnessed his greatness so intimately,
and that's what I keep telling people. And I mean,
(24:39):
don't get me wrong, I've spent the last two days
completely devastated, but now I have this joy that he's
in heaven, but also this joy that I got to
experience it so closely and intimately and call him a friend.
And just telling the stories of been telling stories about
him all day between Jen and meeting with Adam, my
(25:02):
running mate, and being here telling the stories is filling
me up. It's making me excited for the future and
everything that he's built and what we can continue to
build because of him. And I think I'll just tell
them he started this from absolutely nothing and look at
where it is now. I mean, it's truly incredible, the
work that he's done, the army that he's built of
(25:24):
influencers and students and just people that adore him, and
the movement that he's created. So I think that we
will all continue to see that legacy just run forward.
I think now more than ever, people are going to
be so much more lit up about this because of
what happened. I think it will only bring more people
(25:45):
into his army, into the Turning Point movement.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
All right, well, we are going to go to break
but afterwards and want to talk about how he's brought
traditional marriage, kids, family back to being cool again when
all the polling has said it was gone downhills slide.
So this is Heidigan All filling in for Dan Kaplis.
We'll see you after the break to talk more about
the legendary Charlie Kirk.
Speaker 7 (26:09):
And now back to the Dan Kaplis Show podcast.
Speaker 4 (26:12):
Do you think men can give birth?
Speaker 9 (26:14):
Do I think men can give birth?
Speaker 4 (26:15):
I think that yes or no question. I think that
a person who is assigned mail of birth, I.
Speaker 10 (26:20):
Don't think that's signed mail of birth, so people are
not maile of birth. Do you agree that the happiest
women of the West are married with kids.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
I would have to look into it, but I think
there are some Subjectively.
Speaker 10 (26:29):
We know that, right, the women with kids are not
the ones carrying down statues, right, They're the ones that
actually have obligations. Carrying down statues correspond to some kind
of smiles pac capita data set that I wasn't allowing.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
What are your thoughts about reparations for black people specifically
and like Black Americans specifically?
Speaker 7 (26:43):
What is your what's there very much against?
Speaker 4 (26:46):
Can I ask why?
Speaker 7 (26:49):
Well?
Speaker 10 (26:49):
First and foremost, I don't believe that we should ever
pay monetary damages to people where nothing bad happened to them,
just because they are related to a group of people
where something bad happen to them.
Speaker 5 (27:00):
You did state that you believe that the Holocaust was
not as bad as abortions. So, in other words, you
believe that abortion is worse than the Holocaust.
Speaker 10 (27:08):
Well so they're they're both distinct evils, of course, with
some similarities. The Holocaust in some ways was far more evil,
but as far as magnitude, the abortion crime is more evil.
And I can just explain more if you'd like. I
can I can wear blackface? Do I become black?
Speaker 3 (27:23):
No?
Speaker 6 (27:24):
No, of course.
Speaker 10 (27:24):
Oh so wait, hold on, If a then a man
dresses like a woman, why does he become a woman.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
It's not that he becomes a woman, it's he's he's
seen and he's he's.
Speaker 10 (27:33):
Why not he recognized as something that he's not.
Speaker 4 (27:36):
It's not that he needs to It's not that they
need to be rep.
Speaker 10 (27:38):
Oh no, that's what it's all about. It's about recognizing
a delusion. You can dress however you wish, you can
act however you wish, but I'm not going to recognize
your lie.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
This is Heidik and All filling in for Dan Caplis.
That was Charlie Kirk doing what he did best and
that was debating Tory. You've seen him debate a lot.
I mean, he taught me so much about how to
talk about my principle.
Speaker 4 (28:00):
What say you?
Speaker 8 (28:02):
Oh gosh, where do I even begin. I mean, again,
I just come back to the fact that he was
so wise beyond his years. And again he just stood
strong on what he believed. And I think that, you know,
he never came at it with anger or hatred. He
just came at it with this is the truth, and
this is what I believe. And that's I think what
(28:24):
made him so great.
Speaker 4 (28:25):
And so.
Speaker 8 (28:28):
It was truly an honor and just like magic watching
him debate. I don't know how else to describe it.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
Yeah, and he actually inspired me to start the Free
to Be Coalition at CU where we had we sponsored
some big, big debates because we couldn't get kids to
show up to do a debate club because they were
worried they were gonna get videos.
Speaker 4 (28:45):
So we had Nigel.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
Farage debate VINCENTE. Fox about globalism versus nationalism. We had
eight hundred people show up for that. We had Robert
Kennedy Junior debate Alex Epstein on the moral case for
fossil fuels. Before Robert Kennedy Junior was like a thing.
It was crazy. But I want to go to a
caller now, right, if we can go to line one.
Speaker 4 (29:05):
Steve from Colorado Springs, Thank you and welcome to the show.
Speaker 6 (29:10):
Kevin, Heidi, how are you.
Speaker 4 (29:12):
I'm good. I'm good.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
Well, I've been better, but I'm I'm glad to be
able to honor Charlie today on air.
Speaker 6 (29:18):
I agree. I'm very disturbed and upset about the situations
with Charlie Kirk. He was a brilliant mind and he
decided to go in to the lions then, which is
college campuses, and insists on civil today and change a
lot of minds, and his legacy will live on anyway.
(29:44):
I'm very upset for his wife, Eric and two sons.
But I want to ask you back when you were
a regent I think you're regent sixteen.
Speaker 4 (29:52):
To twenty yep, well sixteen to twenty two six years.
Speaker 6 (29:57):
Did you you have our interface with to me to
see y anyone?
Speaker 4 (30:03):
Sorry, go ahead and say that again. Did I interface
with who.
Speaker 6 (30:06):
Any people the CUI which is a aussy moore on
the c U.
Speaker 4 (30:09):
I oh, gosh, well not willingly? I did not. That
was a crazy leftist paper, right, Yes.
Speaker 6 (30:20):
And that's kind of my ass. My daughter worked your
way up from grunt reporter to e I c also
named Tidy Patty. Interactions with her.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
No, I don't remember that, but it's been a few
years and I'm getting older.
Speaker 4 (30:33):
Steve, I don't remember.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
Things like I used to, especially interactions with liberal press,
but I would remember your daughter, I'm sure.
Speaker 4 (30:40):
So thanks for coming on the show, Steve.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
We're going to go to the next caller, but I
appreciate your feedback and I'm glad you were able to
join us.
Speaker 4 (30:49):
Doug online too, Welcome to the show.
Speaker 9 (30:53):
Hi, guys, can you hear me?
Speaker 4 (30:55):
I can hear you?
Speaker 9 (30:57):
Yeah, let me Okay, I just I just want to
thanks for the opportunity. It's a tragedy. What's happened. I
just want to say thank you for all you do
fighting for truth and freedoms. All all you guys. How
do we make a difference with turning point here in Denver?
Is there some place we can go to if we
want to donate money or And I wanted to say
(31:19):
this too about Charlie. That guy was something else. I mean,
you can look at the history of America and I
do that a lot, and you'd be hard pressed to
find many people that had more impact on this history
of America by thirty one years of age than Charlie.
And I just want to say that because he was
an honor to even listen to him. And thank you
all for while you're doing it. If you could give
(31:40):
us some information on Turning Point, I'd love it. Thank you, ma'am.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
Oh, thank you Doug for the kind words. Yes, there
are lots of ways you can help with Turning Point.
You can donate at TURNINGPOINTUSA dot com I believe it is,
and you can also dondainate to Turning Point Action, which
is the more political organization. But you can also help
us mentor Turning Point High School and college students here
in Colorado and help them with their chapters. Turning Point
High School has about twenty chapters right now across the state.
(32:05):
They have about twenty college chapters across the state. And
the two leaders are incredible, Vega and Lena, and I'm
sure they could use some help and support, as can
the kids that are trying to do their best to
grow these chapters.
Speaker 4 (32:17):
And you can just go.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
On Rockymountain Voice dot com and sign up for more
information if you want to do a contact form or
email me at Heidi at Rockymountain Voice dot com and
we'll get you in touch with the right people to
do that. But thank you, thank you, Doug.
Speaker 4 (32:32):
That was a wonderful comment. We're about to wrap up.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
Tory, tell me a little bit in one minute, how
traditional marriage and family has come back thanks to Charlotte Kirk.
Speaker 8 (32:41):
Yeah, they just had their huge young women's leadership summit
not too long ago, earlier this summer. And I do
think that Charlie marrying Erica, everyone watching their love story
unfold publicly has been a spark of that movement. And
we've seen Alex Clark, who is a commentator of her
turning point. She's got a podcast called Culture of Papacarry.
I think there's just a lot of young women that
(33:03):
are rejecting this girl Boss idea and going towards a
traditional marriage and family route because those are the data
says the happiest people they're married with kids.
Speaker 4 (33:13):
So which toy is about to be in about a month? Yeah, Mary, congratulations,
Thank you, Thanks everybody. This is Heidi Ganol and the
Dan Kaplis Show. We'll see you after the break
This is Dan capless and welcome to today's online podcast
edition of The Dan Caplis Show. Please be sure to
give us a five star rating if you'd be so kind,
and to subscribe, download, and listen to the show every
single day on your favorite podcast platform.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Hello everyone, it's Heidi Ganaal filling in for Dan Kaplis
this afternoon. And Ryan, I am not my perky self today.
It has been a brutal, brutal twenty four hours. I
wasn't gonna cry cry. Charlie's been a dear friend for
a decade, and I can't believe America is where it
(00:35):
is right now. And I'm just devastated over that, over
the Evergreen shooting, and Colorado is in a bad place
right now. America is in a bad place. And I
know you just got off the air. We had a
crazy fire alarm between there and then. But what's your
sense of how people are reacting to what's happened over
the last twenty four hours.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Well, I feel your emotion, Heidi, and I felt it yesterday.
You saw my post on X having to report on
this all happening in real time, both the Evergreen High
School shooting and also the Charlie kirk assassination. When I
went live to the air yesterday at two, we were
still holding out hope that he may survive, and of
course that hope sank with the truth social post by
(01:15):
President Trump confirming Charlie's death, and Kelly and I were
just staggered. I just felt though I had to hold
it together for Charlie, for the listeners. And I compared
it to when Walter Cronkite was anchoring coverage back in
November of nineteen sixty three in real time for CBS
on the jfk assassination. In that moment where it hits you,
(01:37):
where it's real, where his death is confirmed, nothing prepares
you for that. Nothing in my thirty years of experience
in this craft prepared me for that moment. And you
just try to do the best you can in that moment.
And I hope that I did that.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
I think you made everyone very proud, Ryan, and I
can't imagine being in that situation.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
It was so emotional and.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
So shocking, shocking to see what happened and to see
people's reactions, especially on the left.
Speaker 4 (02:05):
It was just disgusting in a lot of ways.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
But you know, we have so much to look forward
to in our country, and Charlie would want us to
continue to be happy warriors. And I invited many happy
warriors on the show today, so you're going to hear
from a lot of voices. And I thought we'd started
off with a dear friend, family friend, Reagan Harris, who
is an eighth grader at Colorado Christian Academy with my kids,
and she is one of the most well spoken conservative
(02:30):
young people that I know. And Reagan, I want to
check in with you. I know you were a big
fan of Charlie. Tell us how you're feeling and how
you're doing today.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
Yes, thank you for having me on.
Speaker 5 (02:41):
It's definitely disturbing to see the state of our country,
but I know that Charlie would have wanted us to
continue what he started to fight for and what he
did so much for our country with Turning Point USA,
(03:05):
and now it's up to us to continue his work.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Rag and tell me how you met Charlie. And I
know you've talked to him a lot over the years.
What are some moments that you remember about talking to
him or how he inspired you.
Speaker 5 (03:21):
I met Charlie in twenty twenty three at a speaking
event at my school, and his speech really moved me
and encouraged me to go and look at his podcast,
(03:43):
and I went and watched his YouTube videos about debating,
and really he just inspired me to learn how to
debate and to have those conversations with people that we
don't agree with, because that's something that is lost in
(04:05):
our country.
Speaker 6 (04:07):
But he.
Speaker 5 (04:09):
Made a great effort and succeeded in bringing it back.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Gregan, I'm going to ask you a tough question, and
you can be honest, Like, we're all we're all so
worried about our country, and we're worried about all of you.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
Are you scared?
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Are you more emboldened, like do you feel like ready
to go out and pick swings?
Speaker 4 (04:28):
Or are you how are you feeling emotionally about everything?
Speaker 5 (04:33):
Well, I'm definitely frightened about the evil in the world,
but I have confidence in the leadership of this country
and the many brave people that are stepping up, and
I hope that someday I can be someone that will
step up.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
Well, I think you already are.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
I've watched you in action for many years and I'm
so proud of you.
Speaker 6 (04:59):
You.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
I always defend our principles so well, whether it's with
your friends or with somebody who's not quite as friendly.
And I know you're gonna do big things someday. What
does your future look like? Do you have certain plans
or are you inspired to do something? And how has
Charlie inspired you to go big in life?
Speaker 5 (05:21):
Yes, I want to start in business because I've noticed
that business is a crucial aspect to politics, which is
where I eventually want to end up. And Charlie has
inspired me to educate myself and to really learn a
(05:43):
lot about politics so that I can better defend my
beliefs and be strong in them.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
Why are you proud to be an American?
Speaker 5 (05:57):
I'm proud to be an American. This country is unlike
any other country. We have freedom, and our founders understood
the rights that we were born with and knew that
we needed to protect those. And I'm so grateful for
(06:20):
our voting system and how we have a society that's
looking forward and looking to the future and is really
set up to make a brighter future for not only
America and Americans.
Speaker 4 (06:39):
But for the whole world. Oh thanks, Reagan.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Okay, Reagan, You're an eighth grader and there are a
lot of little kids that look up to you at CCA.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
And in your community, even your little brothers.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
I know it's hard to believe, just twin brothers, But
how do you reassure them? How do you make them
feel like it's okay to speak up and it's okay
to feel a little bit afraid, but to be bold
and brave right now.
Speaker 5 (07:03):
Honestly, just making them aware of what is out in
the world, because it is an evil world that we
live in, and it's important to start young and build
the foundation of beliefs. And my school does a great
(07:24):
job that we have an apologetics program in eighth grade,
and that is learning how to defend our beliefs, and
especially as we move on in the world, that's important
because we know that we're going to be tested and
our beliefs are going to be challenged.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
So, Reagan, one of Charlie Kirk's passions was his faith
and his family, of course, and what do you think
he'll be remembered for.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
He wants to be remembered for his faith.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Do you think that's his signature kind of initiative is
to drive young people back to faith and finding Jesus
Christ and feeling like there is hope in this broken.
Speaker 5 (08:10):
World, absolutely, and I think building on that, it was
also having open discussion.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
On his faith, Yeah, and him being bold and brave
about speaking about his love for Jesus Christ and how
it was a priority in his life. And boy, is
the message going to spread a lot wider from this tragedy.
Unfortunately that's not the way we wanted Charlie to grow
his following this movement. But I think it's going to
backfire on the evil people who did this.
Speaker 4 (08:44):
We have about a minute left.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Is there anything else you'd like to say about how
you're feeling or what you want to what you want
people to know about young people and America right now?
Speaker 4 (08:55):
Well, I would just like to share.
Speaker 5 (08:58):
Please step up and do your part like Charlie Kirk did,
so that we can ensure a brighter future for America
and so that we can ensure freedom and hope for
future generations.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
Ah, thank you, Reagan.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
You are a beautiful little soul and you're going to
do amazing things in this world. You already are. You're
such a bright light. We still appreciate you being here.
We're going to go to break and afterwards we'll have
other voices and other friends of Charlie to speak about
what an important force he was in.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
Our world and in politics. Thank you, We'll see you
after the break.
Speaker 7 (09:38):
And now back to the Dan Kaplis Show podcast.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Hello everyone, Tidy Ganal filling in for Dan Kaplis today,
and it's a somber, sad day in Colorado and across America,
I should say, across the world. We lost an incredible
voice and talent and just an all around great person,
Charlie Kirk.
Speaker 4 (09:58):
Yesterday.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
We also had a tragedy at Evergreen High School, and
I mean, everyone's just really shaken right now. And so
what I thought the best thing to do with my
time today would be bring on voices of people and
friends who care or loved about Charlie and have friendships with.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
Him, know him.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
And we're going to bring Tory, my daughter, on next
in just a minute. But I wanted to tell the
story about how I met Charlie and why he's been
such an important force to me.
Speaker 4 (10:30):
I met him through my dad.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
My dad was sitting at the LPR Retreat, the leadership
program of the Rockies Retreat down at the Bodmoor.
Speaker 4 (10:36):
I think it was twenty fourteen, twenty fifteen, maybe and
he said, I met the most amazing young man. He's
he's just incredible. You've got to talk to him.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
And I'm going to introduce him to Tory too, who
was at University of Oregon at the time.
Speaker 4 (10:50):
I'll let her tell that story.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
And I was running or about to run for regent
at the time, and he was just launching an effort
to help change my on college campuses called Turning Point
and really take it big. And so we became fast friends,
and we were in the trenches together on the front
lines of higher education. And he, of course took off
with Turning.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
Point, and I.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
Got elected regent and started battling that fight at University
of Colorado, whether it was free speech or teaching kids
how to debate or cancel culture, COVID.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
You name it.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
And Charlie was there the whole way along, as was
the rest of the Turning Point team. And we launched
one of the first big Turning Point chapters at SU
Boulder and had some amazing kids as part of that,
really brave kids who were just tortured and tormented and
called names and treated pretty horribly. And Charlie was always
a happy warrior. He always had this amazing fortitude and
(11:51):
never wavered and always had these kids' backs, and he
taught me how to do that at see You. And
one of the things I'm things I'm most proud of
being a agent was having the backs of those kids
that were brave enough to be conservative. It's cu boulder
and brave enough to talk about their principles and values
the faculty too.
Speaker 4 (12:09):
And I can't tell you.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
How much of a difference he made in my life
and how Turning Points made a difference in my life
and in the governor's race, He's one of the only
folks who stood strong with me the whole way along.
Like nationally speaking, there was also Governor Sarah Sanders, Governor
Glenn Younkin, but Charlie always answered my calls. He always
helped me, you know, figure out tough situations during that race,
(12:33):
and he truly in his heart wanted me to win,
which meant so much to me, and truly believed in me.
And I'll be forever grateful for everything that he did
for myself, my family. He inspired my sixteen year old
to start a Turning Point chapter at her school, which
is going great. They have over fifty members now they're
growing strong and they just launched.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
It and that's in a suburb of Denver, Colorado. That's crazy.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
But I just I just want to say how grateful
I am for his friendship, and I'm so so concerned
and praying hard for his wife, Erica and their young children.
I don't know if not many of you might not know,
but I lost my first husband in a plane crash
at the age of twenty seven, and of course it
(13:18):
changed my life and it's still to this day is
very painful and has shaped who I am.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
But it's also taught me to live life fearlessly.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
And carpe dim as my first husband, Bien used to say,
seize the day, and that's another lesson that Charlie taught us.
And I think will live on with his children and
his wife. I have no doubt that Erica is. She's
going to get through this, and she's going to raise
two amazing kids and teach them all about their dad,
their brave dad and the changes that he made across
(13:49):
our beautiful country, inspiring all of us. So we've got
Toy in the studio. I don't know, Toy, can you
hear anything? I spilled a big iced tea all over
the control center here.
Speaker 4 (13:59):
So Kelly fired that anymore? Oh, there's so many reasons
I should be fired. God bless you guys for sticking
with me.
Speaker 7 (14:08):
Kelly.
Speaker 4 (14:09):
I know, Kelly, this is terrible. I'm making you clean
up after me.
Speaker 6 (14:13):
Tory.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
Can you hear Okay?
Speaker 8 (14:15):
I can't hear anything, but I can hear you, So
I guess that's all that matters.
Speaker 4 (14:19):
She's wearing my headphones.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
Those aren't working because I spilled iced tea on them. Kelly, Yeah,
I did something terrible. All right, Tory, We'll wait till
you get some headphones on. We're gonna have some other folks,
a couple Turning Point kids from CU Boulder are gonna
be on Tanner and Ashley. We're gonna have Charlotte Schaffer,
who's part of the founding team at Valor High School's
(14:41):
Turning Point chapter with my daughter Holly. We're gonna have
Lacy Williams, who is a fixture in Turning Point, who's
now working for the National Institute of Health and doing
great things there. I mean, Charlie has raised up an
army of people across this country, young strong conservatives who
are going to make a difference, who are already making
a difference in this country. And if anyone wants to
text in or try and call in, we've got a
(15:02):
lot of callers prepared. But if you want to honor
Charlie or you want me to read anything off the
text messages, I'm happy to and hopefully we will honor
his legacy and tell some great stories in the meantime.
Speaker 4 (15:17):
So, Tory, why don't.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
You take these headphones and you can speak about your story,
how you met Charlie and the impact he's had on
his life.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
Here you go, Hey, everyone is.
Speaker 8 (15:30):
Oh, there we are, Torygan all here. Thanks Mom for
having me on. So I am thirty years old now,
and I was actually one of the very first turning
point kids. As you heard Heidi say, my grandpa sent
next to Charlie at LPR. And literally that night he
called me in Eugene, Oregon. He said, hey, I heard
(15:51):
your Paneltic president, which is like president of all the Swarties,
and I heard your Conservative and I'm going to get
you to run for student body government. And I laughed,
was like, I'm not running for anything. Are you kidding me?
This place is crazy? And he said nope, I'm jumping
on a plane tomorrow and I'll be in Eugene and
we're going to talk, and I'm going to convince you
to run. And if I don't convince you to run
(16:12):
by the end of that, I haven't done my job.
So I said, Okay, come on, come on over to Eugene.
Little did I know that Charlie was a die hard
Organ Ducks football fan. He loved that team and that
school like nobody's business, despite its crazy, crazy liberal nut
jobs over there, but he had such a heart for it,
(16:33):
and he said that if he could flip any school
in the country, it would mean the world to him
to flip Organs. So we met upstairs in a on
the top of a restaurant named Caspian's and we met
for hours. It was me and two other people he
had he had contacted a run who were also conservative
on campus. I'd never met either of them before, and
(16:57):
he told us all the ways he was gonna get
get a to win, and all the money who's going
to raise to make it happen, and yeah, it was amazing.
So I'll tell you guys, there is the story here soon.
Thanks Tory, I need to use your headphones.
Speaker 4 (17:12):
We still haven't fixed this.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
I made a mess, you guys, I am a mess today.
I'm happy to be here, but it's been a rough
twenty four hours. We're going to take a break afterwards.
We're going to come back and talk more about Charlie
and honor his legacy is an incredible legacy and all
that he's done to protect our country and our kids.
Speaker 4 (17:28):
This is Heidi Ganaal for Dan Caplis.
Speaker 7 (17:36):
You're listening to the Dan Caplis Show podcast.
Speaker 6 (17:39):
Hello.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Everyone, it's Heidi Ganal filling in for Dan Caplis today
on a very somber day for Colorado, for America and
Tory and I lost a dear friend, Charlie, Charlie Kirk,
and we wanted to talk a little bit about some
of the stories and the crazy adventures we had with him.
Speaker 6 (17:55):
Toy.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
You left off with him asking you to run for
student body government at the University of organ one of
the most liberal places on the planet.
Speaker 4 (18:03):
Tell everybody how that went well. I did it. I
said yes, and it was the fight of a lifetime. Man.
Speaker 8 (18:10):
We had so many we have so many stories to tell,
but we ended up Charlie was so brilliant in the
way that he mentored us and coached us, and his
big thing was, we're gonna get Uber back in Eugene.
There was this huge fight and Uber and Lyft got
forced out, and he said, we have.
Speaker 4 (18:28):
To get them back. This is completely.
Speaker 8 (18:31):
Anti capitalistic and everyone loves Uber. Let's run on that.
And so we did, and we got so much support.
We made these obnoxiously green T shirts. Our name was
one organ and man, I mean, we can talk about
this more, you and I because you've got cookie Gate
and we had pizza Gate. But we got in trouble
for handing out free pizza. We got in trouble for
(18:53):
handing out T shirts. The other party was completely funded
tens of thousands of dollars by the Democratic Party of Eugene.
Speaker 4 (19:00):
So we had a fight. But Charlie basically moved.
Speaker 8 (19:03):
To Eugene for three months and helped us run this
campaign with four other people on his team, and we
fought for our lives and we didn't win. We didn't
win it, but we sure did learn a lot and
we had some wounds to lick after, including a whole
character defamation lawsuit against the university.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
So it was quite crazy.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
Well, you guys were so brave to take that on,
and that's before Turning Point was a big deal. But
they were starting to make a scene, and the other
side caught wind to that and started to figure out
who Charlie was and what Turning Point was, and that
they were backing. And that's why you got all the
complaints filed about giving pizza away. And that's what happened
to Marcus at CU Boulder when he ran and he
(19:44):
had the backing of Turning Point. I don't think anybody
knew that until later.
Speaker 8 (19:47):
In those days, it was very under the radar. No
one could know that Turning Point was involved. No one
really knew who Charlie was except for some of the
liberal activists on campus. And I remember him wearing a
hat and sunglass every day when he tabled for us,
because he didn't want to be seen, because he didn't
want to ruin the facade of he was trying to
get conservative students elected without being conservative, because that was
(20:12):
really the only way you could win back then. This
was back in twenty fifteen, twenty sixteen, and it was
such a trying time to be a conservative on college campus.
And it's only gotten worse, i'm sure, but.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
At least conservative kids have more of a backing now
like back then, you and Marcus and Ashley Mayor who's
going to be on later, and lots of other students
were felt so alone, like there was nobody to have
their back. And that's what Charlie was trying to create,
like this army of people so that you would feel
brave and bold and could go out and run for
office or you know, do the work of building the
(20:45):
conservative movement on a college campus without getting threatened or
shut down or canceled. How did that impact your life,
like taking that on and being brave enough and bold
enough to do that because Charlie asked.
Speaker 8 (20:57):
You, Well, I think that if you would have asked
me if I would ever work in politics back then,
I would have laughed in your faith, and I would
have never wanted to do it, especially after seeing everything
you went through, even just with the regent race. This
was way before you ran for governor and it was
still dirty politics and I was I wanted nothing to
do with it. And I think Charlie taught me the
(21:20):
good side of it. He showed me the boots on
the ground, the way you work hard, how you beat
the system in a way that is fair and just
and based on messaging and you know, the core problems
of what people care about. And he's just he was
the wisest, one of the wisest people I've ever met ever.
I mean, he was twenty one twenty two back then,
(21:42):
and he sounded like he was a sixty year old.
Speaker 4 (21:44):
It wasn't saying. I was telling Jen, our editor Rocky
Mountain Voice today, like he can.
Speaker 8 (21:49):
He could literally quote any verse in the Bible off
the top of his head.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
I never even saw him open a Bible.
Speaker 8 (21:55):
He just had it all in his brain and he
just he lifted us up and showed us what was possible.
And I was just actually speaking with Adam, who was
on my slate yesterday. He called me and we were
sharing memories of Charlie. And Adam was so influenced by
Charlie that he actually moved to Israel for two years
and studied the Jewish religion. And now he's a lawyer.
(22:15):
He went to Harvard Law School, and he is like,
none of that would have happened if it weren't for
Charlie kirk Well.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
And I think the theme here is is that Charlie's
an impact. He's impacted so many people in ways that
are very personal but yet very grounded in his faith,
but also in his belief in this country and the
founding principles of this country, And nobody could articulate why
they are so important better than Charlie. Like, what about
(22:44):
the faith part of it? Did he talk to you
about that? Did he encourage you did? How did that
play into your conversations?
Speaker 8 (22:52):
Adam and I were both just talking yesterday. Faith was
so low on the total poll for both of us
in college, it wasn't even a thought in our minds.
Went until Charlie came in, swooped in and started speaking
all of these biblical truths and telling us all these
stories and backing them all with just such wisdom that
I think it sparked an interest in both of us.
(23:13):
And I went on to become a Young Life leader
and now volunteer in my church, and my faith is
the most important thing to me. And I can't say
that Charlie didn't have anything to do with that, because
he did. And I think that later on, more recently,
it became more public for him. I think he started
talking more about his faith publicly than he had in
(23:33):
the past. But when him and I would spend hours
and hours, you know, plotting Organs next move on our campaign.
It was everything he wanted to talk about more. I mean,
it was everything that he Truth was just at the
core of everything that he did, and so much of
that truth came from his faith.
Speaker 4 (23:54):
Toy.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
We've been to so many Turning Point conferences and we've
brought your little sisters and brother into the mix, and
now Holly is running the Turning Point chapter, helping run
the Turning Point chapter at Valor, and we're really trying
to bring them.
Speaker 4 (24:07):
Along on that path.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
How are you going to describe Charlie to them after
a couple of years, when they haven't had the experience
of these conferences, we're seeing Charlie and watching his videos, etc.
Speaker 8 (24:18):
Well, I do think that his legacy will live on
through all of his videos and everything that he's created.
And now it is our turn to finish what he started.
But I will just tell them I feel like I
am so grateful to have witnessed his greatness so intimately,
and that's what I keep telling people. And I mean,
(24:39):
don't get me wrong, I've spent the last two days
completely devastated, but now I have this joy that he's
in heaven, but also this joy that I got to
experience it so closely and intimately and call him a friend.
And just telling the stories of been telling stories about
him all day between Jen and meeting with Adam, my
(25:02):
running mate, and being here telling the stories is filling
me up. It's making me excited for the future and
everything that he's built and what we can continue to
build because of him. And I think I'll just tell
them he started this from absolutely nothing and look at
where it is now. I mean, it's truly incredible, the
work that he's done, the army that he's built of
(25:24):
influencers and students and just people that adore him, and
the movement that he's created. So I think that we
will all continue to see that legacy just run forward.
I think now more than ever, people are going to
be so much more lit up about this because of
what happened. I think it will only bring more people
(25:45):
into his army, into the Turning Point movement.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
All right, well, we are going to go to break
but afterwards and want to talk about how he's brought
traditional marriage, kids, family back to being cool again when
all the polling has said it was gone downhills slide.
So this is Heidigan All filling in for Dan Kaplis.
We'll see you after the break to talk more about
the legendary Charlie Kirk.
Speaker 7 (26:09):
And now back to the Dan Kaplis Show podcast.
Speaker 4 (26:12):
Do you think men can give birth?
Speaker 9 (26:14):
Do I think men can give birth?
Speaker 4 (26:15):
I think that yes or no question. I think that
a person who is assigned mail of birth, I.
Speaker 10 (26:20):
Don't think that's signed mail of birth, so people are
not maile of birth. Do you agree that the happiest
women of the West are married with kids.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
I would have to look into it, but I think
there are some Subjectively.
Speaker 10 (26:29):
We know that, right, the women with kids are not
the ones carrying down statues, right, They're the ones that
actually have obligations. Carrying down statues correspond to some kind
of smiles pac capita data set that I wasn't allowing.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
What are your thoughts about reparations for black people specifically
and like Black Americans specifically?
Speaker 7 (26:43):
What is your what's there very much against?
Speaker 4 (26:46):
Can I ask why?
Speaker 7 (26:49):
Well?
Speaker 10 (26:49):
First and foremost, I don't believe that we should ever
pay monetary damages to people where nothing bad happened to them,
just because they are related to a group of people
where something bad happen to them.
Speaker 5 (27:00):
You did state that you believe that the Holocaust was
not as bad as abortions. So, in other words, you
believe that abortion is worse than the Holocaust.
Speaker 10 (27:08):
Well so they're they're both distinct evils, of course, with
some similarities. The Holocaust in some ways was far more evil,
but as far as magnitude, the abortion crime is more evil.
And I can just explain more if you'd like. I
can I can wear blackface? Do I become black?
Speaker 3 (27:23):
No?
Speaker 6 (27:24):
No, of course.
Speaker 10 (27:24):
Oh so wait, hold on, If a then a man
dresses like a woman, why does he become a woman.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
It's not that he becomes a woman, it's he's he's
seen and he's he's.
Speaker 10 (27:33):
Why not he recognized as something that he's not.
Speaker 4 (27:36):
It's not that he needs to It's not that they
need to be rep.
Speaker 10 (27:38):
Oh no, that's what it's all about. It's about recognizing
a delusion. You can dress however you wish, you can
act however you wish, but I'm not going to recognize
your lie.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
This is Heidik and All filling in for Dan Caplis.
That was Charlie Kirk doing what he did best and
that was debating Tory. You've seen him debate a lot.
I mean, he taught me so much about how to
talk about my principle.
Speaker 4 (28:00):
What say you?
Speaker 8 (28:02):
Oh gosh, where do I even begin. I mean, again,
I just come back to the fact that he was
so wise beyond his years. And again he just stood
strong on what he believed. And I think that, you know,
he never came at it with anger or hatred. He
just came at it with this is the truth, and
this is what I believe. And that's I think what
(28:24):
made him so great.
Speaker 4 (28:25):
And so.
Speaker 8 (28:28):
It was truly an honor and just like magic watching
him debate. I don't know how else to describe it.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
Yeah, and he actually inspired me to start the Free
to Be Coalition at CU where we had we sponsored
some big, big debates because we couldn't get kids to
show up to do a debate club because they were
worried they were gonna get videos.
Speaker 4 (28:45):
So we had Nigel.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
Farage debate VINCENTE. Fox about globalism versus nationalism. We had
eight hundred people show up for that. We had Robert
Kennedy Junior debate Alex Epstein on the moral case for
fossil fuels. Before Robert Kennedy Junior was like a thing.
It was crazy. But I want to go to a
caller now, right, if we can go to line one.
Speaker 4 (29:05):
Steve from Colorado Springs, Thank you and welcome to the show.
Speaker 6 (29:10):
Kevin, Heidi, how are you.
Speaker 4 (29:12):
I'm good. I'm good.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
Well, I've been better, but I'm I'm glad to be
able to honor Charlie today on air.
Speaker 6 (29:18):
I agree. I'm very disturbed and upset about the situations
with Charlie Kirk. He was a brilliant mind and he
decided to go in to the lions then, which is
college campuses, and insists on civil today and change a
lot of minds, and his legacy will live on anyway.
(29:44):
I'm very upset for his wife, Eric and two sons.
But I want to ask you back when you were
a regent I think you're regent sixteen.
Speaker 4 (29:52):
To twenty yep, well sixteen to twenty two six years.
Speaker 6 (29:57):
Did you you have our interface with to me to
see y anyone?
Speaker 4 (30:03):
Sorry, go ahead and say that again. Did I interface
with who.
Speaker 6 (30:06):
Any people the CUI which is a aussy moore on
the c U.
Speaker 4 (30:09):
I oh, gosh, well not willingly? I did not. That
was a crazy leftist paper, right, Yes.
Speaker 6 (30:20):
And that's kind of my ass. My daughter worked your
way up from grunt reporter to e I c also
named Tidy Patty. Interactions with her.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
No, I don't remember that, but it's been a few
years and I'm getting older.
Speaker 4 (30:33):
Steve, I don't remember.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
Things like I used to, especially interactions with liberal press,
but I would remember your daughter, I'm sure.
Speaker 4 (30:40):
So thanks for coming on the show, Steve.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
We're going to go to the next caller, but I
appreciate your feedback and I'm glad you were able to
join us.
Speaker 4 (30:49):
Doug online too, Welcome to the show.
Speaker 9 (30:53):
Hi, guys, can you hear me?
Speaker 4 (30:55):
I can hear you?
Speaker 9 (30:57):
Yeah, let me Okay, I just I just want to
thanks for the opportunity. It's a tragedy. What's happened. I
just want to say thank you for all you do
fighting for truth and freedoms. All all you guys. How
do we make a difference with turning point here in Denver?
Is there some place we can go to if we
want to donate money or And I wanted to say
(31:19):
this too about Charlie. That guy was something else. I mean,
you can look at the history of America and I
do that a lot, and you'd be hard pressed to
find many people that had more impact on this history
of America by thirty one years of age than Charlie.
And I just want to say that because he was
an honor to even listen to him. And thank you
all for while you're doing it. If you could give
(31:40):
us some information on Turning Point, I'd love it. Thank you, ma'am.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
Oh, thank you Doug for the kind words. Yes, there
are lots of ways you can help with Turning Point.
You can donate at TURNINGPOINTUSA dot com I believe it is,
and you can also dondainate to Turning Point Action, which
is the more political organization. But you can also help
us mentor Turning Point High School and college students here
in Colorado and help them with their chapters. Turning Point
High School has about twenty chapters right now across the state.
(32:05):
They have about twenty college chapters across the state. And
the two leaders are incredible, Vega and Lena, and I'm
sure they could use some help and support, as can
the kids that are trying to do their best to
grow these chapters.
Speaker 4 (32:17):
And you can just go.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
On Rockymountain Voice dot com and sign up for more
information if you want to do a contact form or
email me at Heidi at Rockymountain Voice dot com and
we'll get you in touch with the right people to
do that. But thank you, thank you, Doug.
Speaker 4 (32:32):
That was a wonderful comment. We're about to wrap up.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
Tory, tell me a little bit in one minute, how
traditional marriage and family has come back thanks to Charlotte Kirk.
Speaker 8 (32:41):
Yeah, they just had their huge young women's leadership summit
not too long ago, earlier this summer. And I do
think that Charlie marrying Erica, everyone watching their love story
unfold publicly has been a spark of that movement. And
we've seen Alex Clark, who is a commentator of her
turning point. She's got a podcast called Culture of Papacarry.
I think there's just a lot of young women that
(33:03):
are rejecting this girl Boss idea and going towards a
traditional marriage and family route because those are the data
says the happiest people they're married with kids.
Speaker 4 (33:13):
So which toy is about to be in about a month? Yeah, Mary, congratulations,
Thank you, Thanks everybody. This is Heidi Ganol and the
Dan Kaplis Show. We'll see you after the break
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