Honoring Charlie Kirk came at a cost: ‘We were ostracized’

Charlie Kirk spent years engaging critics face-to-face, debating students, defending his beliefs, and encouraging difficult conversations. But after his assassination, Cliffe and Stuart Knechtle — who worked alongside Charlie many times — were struck by how many college students relished his passing.

“I wonder if Charlie’s assassination had a particular impact on y’all,” BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey says to the father and son. “Because he was doing something that you have been doing for decades in that moment that he was shot and killed. He was dialoguing with people.”

“He was saying things that are uncomfortable but true, sharing the gospel, sharing the truth about sexuality and gender,” she adds.

“Obviously that was an incredible tragedy, an act of violence off the charts. Pathetic. Charlie was an incredible man of faith,” Cliffe responds.

“I think Charlie had a tremendous ability to articulate very clearly what a brilliant guy he was and what a reader he was. The difference between justice and injustice. He articulated magnificently a biblical view of abortion, of sexuality,” he continues.

“He was very respectful of students as he would challenge them to think more deeply, but he did it in a highly respectful way,” he adds, noting that the “vitriol that was directed against him was pathetic.”

“Now, was he a little bit more radical politically, especially when he started out? And did he say some things probably that I wouldn’t agree with? Yes, I’m sure,” Cliffe says.

And Cliffe’s son, Stuart, recalls that after they held a vigil for Charlie, they also became the target of the far left.

“We’ve had people leave our church,” Stuart tells Stuckey. “We had been ostracized when I led the vigil in our town, which is a very far-left town. So [I’ve] definitely had a lot of backlash, and whenever I get that backlash, I’m always surprised, shocked by what even close friends say about him and what he did because it’s conspiratorial.”

“So that’s tragic in my mind,” he adds.

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