On Sunday, more than 95,000 Americans gathered in Glendale, Arizona, to honor Charlie Kirk, with over 100 million more watching online. Among the most powerful moments came when Secretary of State Marco Rubio took the stage, delivering a speech echoing Charlie’s message to millions of young Americans, especially young men.
Rubio began by admitting the skepticism he held when Charlie first began what he was best known for, engaging in debate with students on college campuses. But, he said, “here was this voice that inspired a movement.” A voice that told young Americans, “Ours was not a great country, but the greatest, most exceptional nation that has ever existed in the history of all of mankind. And that it’s worth fighting for. It’s worth defending. It’s worth preserving. And it’s worth passing on to the next generation.”
He also said that too many Americans “are moving into neighborhoods with other people that agree with them politically” and isolating “themselves from people that do not agree with them." This can be seen in attitudes that Republicans hold towards California, towards New York, and also in how Democrats view Texas and Florida. "But Kirk," he said, “understood that we were not created to isolate ourselves from one another, but to engage. The irony in all this is that what our nation needs, one of the many things it needs, is the ability to discuss our differences openly, honestly, peacefully, respectfully.”
A Wall Street Journal article noted that these core principles "might seem banal to an older generation. But they need repeating now as too many voices preach that America is either a colonialist oppressor (the left) or a debased culture no longer worthy of admiration (the right)." I cannot help but agree.
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Most importantly, Rubio closed by reflecting on Charlie’s unique influence on young men, calling it one of the greatest developments he had ever witnessed. Charlie urged them to embrace marriage, raise families, and love their country, simple steps, perhaps not glamorous ones, but the very foundation for preserving America as she was meant to be.
Apart from Erika Kirk’s address, THIS was the most powerful moment of the day.
— Larry Alex Taunton (@LarryTaunton) September 22, 2025
To Marco Rubio I say, “O Captain, My Captain!” pic.twitter.com/vTuhOofPT1
Editor's Note: President Trump is leading America into the "Golden Age" as Democrats try desperately to stop it.
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