Donald Trump Jr. reflects on Charlie Kirk's life and discusses the current climate on political violence:
SEAN HANNITY, HOST: All right. Joining us now is Donald Trump Jr. is with us. First of all, Don, thanks for being here. Our deepest sympathies. I know how much, how close you were to Charlie, how much he loved you, your entire family, especially your father, you know, for a lot of people, having a very hard time comprehending or making sense of this, because it doesn't make sense. Your reaction to all of it, I know he was a dear friend of yours.
DONALD TRUMP JR., EVP, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: No, it doesn't make any sense, Sean. Charlie was such a great guy, kind, articulate, one of the sweetest people I know. He frankly, he gave so many of those who disagreed with him. He actually gave them his platform to debate. We wanted to have that conversation. He understood without that conversation, that violence would ensue, and so he did everything to prevent that. And because he did so, and he did so articulately and so effectively, they killed him. His threat wasn't that he was a threat or malicious, or anything it was that he was very effective, and they had to make sure that that didn't continue. They tried doing the same thing with my father. I've now had to have a conversation about a loved one almost being assassinated or actually being assassinated now three times with my five young children, and it's just not acceptable, Sean. It has to stop. It is absolutely disgusting.
When you think of the things that Charlie spoke about, he spoke about God, he spoke about American values, he spoke about family. He was very controversial, Sean, very controversial that he said men can't be women. He was about as reasonable as it possibly gets, and it didn't matter. They still killed him. So it has been a rough day.
SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: It has been rough time. It's been rough for everybody. And what he was doing was actually magical, it was brilliant in so many different ways. He'd go into a hostile environment, a university campus, knowing there is a lot of leftwing indoctrination often going on, inviting everybody, all political points of view, prove me wrong. Let's have a discussion. And he'd do it with a smile on his face, and he was always in good cheer.
I never saw the guy unhappy. He was always upbeat, always open, didn't care about people disagreeing, wanted to have that dialogue, that debate. I would think a university should be a bastion of free speech and discussion and debate like that.
TRUMP JR.: A hundred percent. And he did that so well. And I think that's why he was able to shift and move the needle so much for the youth of America who for decades were indoctrinated since kindergarten with leftist ideology. So he went to those places. He understood we couldn't just scream in our echo chambers to people who already agreed with us. We actually had to get out there.
And you're not going to win over everyone, Sean, but I think if you look at what he did on college campuses, and God knows I was with him many times at those places, and there were times I questioned it, certainly early on and be like, wait a second, we're conservatives. We're not supposed to go to a college campus. And we did it, and you realize when he made those arguments and he did it in his calm demeanor, he was able to win over, maybe not the radicals that were there to scream at him, but the people who went in there with an open mind, the people went in there wanting to find out more.
Those people heard the arguments, and they realized very quickly that the ideas of the left weren't just bad ideas, they were absolutely ridiculous. And so I truly credit Charlie with changing the minds and the mindset of so many millions of Americans. Not just youth, I think he probably reached out across the aisle to many people, even if his target demographic was the younger generation that so may Republicans avoided for so long. He did that so well.
It's funny, I was thinking about it earlier, I think I was the reason he was on your show the first time ever back in 16. I think I was supposed to do your show, and something was late, so I was going to on set. And I called you, and said hey, Sean, I've got a great one for you. I'm sending over Charlie Kirk. And you were like, who is Charlie Kirk? And I'm like, trust me, it'll be great. and you are like, but tell me. And I was like, he is 21 -- I can't believe at 21-year-old on prime time. Just Sean, I'm not going to be there. Congratulations, I have a great guest for you.
HANNITY: That's twice in my life I'd have to say you are right. That is an inside joke.
There is a real -- there's a more serious issue at hand here. And that is what has gone on the last 10 years since your father and Melania came down the escalator at Trump Tower. The names that you and your family and your father have been called, the weaponization of our justice system. I brought this up with Eric last night, nobody seemed to care that a judge got away with a phony evaluation of Mar-a-Lago. Nobody seemed to care that a misdemeanor whose statute of limitations had run out about a legal NDA was turned into a novel 34 felony count. Nobody cared about the double standard raiding Mar-a-Lago, but not raiding Hillary Clinton's home or Joe Biden. He had four locations, top-secret classified information.
It really is troublesome to me that the left -- and add to that their incendiary, insane language, which I do believe has a dehumanizing effect. Maybe we're now numb to it because I play it every night and I play it every day on the radio. I don't know. But we have to examine, they have to be held accountable for this never-ending rage, and it is rage, it is madness. Trump derangement syndrome is real.
TRUMP JR.: And Sean, the violence only goes one way. It only goes one way. We have seen that now, whether it's the assassination attempts on my father's life, whether it's Charlie Kirk, whether it's the threatening of a Supreme Court justice or doxing ICE agents, that goes one way. It is entirely owned by the left.
So when I watch the radical left television right now, well, it's really the fault of both sides. No, it's not. It is not the fault of both sides. What was Charlie's fault? What were the things that he did there were so radical and so terrible? He talked about God, family, country, the Constitution is good, men can't be women. These are not radical ideas. But they are radical if they're effective against the agenda of the left. You saw that. Trump was effective against the agenda of the left, so you take him out.
But they don't talk about the softball shooting of Congress. You have Steve Scalise and the others. Again, violence against Republicans. They don't talk about -- I can't, frankly, name a mass shooting in the last year or two in America that wasn't committed by a transgender lunatic that has been pumped up on probably hormones since they were three years olds because they want to normalize that, and if you say something about it is verboten because we are supposed to trust the science even if it's not science and even if everyone understands it.
Those people are protected, they are hidden, they are beyond reproach. You will never see the manifesto. Now you are reading about trans paraphernalia written on the cartridges of this rifle that killed one of my dearest friends in life. It is absolute sickness.
And I think the one thing that Charlie perhaps did better than anyone is Charlie actually brought people together. He brought people together that didn't necessarily agree with him. They showed up at those events. They heard him. They saw the exuberance of all these other youth, and they said, you know what? This guy is right. There's nothing wrong with family or loving your country or loving America and being a patriot, believing in the Constitution.
And the fact that he was able to be that effective is exactly why they had to take him out. Just like my father was willing and is willing to take on the swamp, to take on the establishment, to take on the globalists and the world elite and do what is right for the hardworking men in America. You know what, you can say those things, but if you actually start doing it, if you are effective at doing it, we are going to take you out.
This is a constant theme. Charlie was one of the kindest and mildest souls I have ever seen. He did those things, he have those conversations with a smile on his face. Again, as I said earlier, he gave his biggest detractors, the people who hated him the most in the world, he literally gave them his platform on a daily basis to argue their ideas. And they couldn't do it effectively, so they had to kill him. And that's a sad, sad place to be as a country, as a civilization, and certainly in America.
HANNITY: Don, I know you are close to his family. Have you had the chance to speak with them?
TRUMP JR.: I called Erika yesterday, his wife. And when we heard he was at the hospital, he was perhaps stable, he was getting a lot of blood. She actually called us back, and for some reason we just saw the missed call but it didn't actually wring. By the time we noticed that and got back, we had heard the news. So I have not yet. Obviously, we are praying for them, we're thinking of them, we have sent them notes.
But the way to make sure that Charlie's legacy lives on is just to stay active, maintain the unafraid posture that he had and he showed so many and opened the door for so many people to actually speak their minds, who speak the truth, who speak to that power. If we all learn something from Charlie and continue to do that, there is a great future for America.
But if the other side gets what they want, which is to make us cower in fear and hide in silence and to shut up, that's not going to work. You see what's going on, the way they are continuing even today trying to vilify him on leftwing media and anyone that defends him.
HANNITY: Unreal.
TRUMP JR.: But we are in a sick place. We must be unafraid, Sean. We must continue to speak our minds. We must all be out there. It can't just be Charlie Kirk or you or me or my father. It has to be everyone. And if we band together and unite like we united so many people, so many people that were not conservative, that didn't even necessarily even believe in those things that weren't even political, but they saw that movement. They saw the energy, they saw the good. I think Charlie would be incredibly proud to see that legacy live on, and it will.
HANNITY: I think it will. And I think your message of pushing forward in spite of the risk. You have had white powder scent to you. I've had white powder sent to me. You've had threats against you and your family. You've watched your dad have two would-be assassins coming within one millimeter of losing his life. And after yesterday we know what difference one millimeter can make. But there is nobody that I know that believes in the MAGA movement, your father, what's right for the country, that loves our Constitution that is going to back down. But is this now just the new reality we have to accept? I have about 30 seconds.
TRUMP JR.: Unfortunately, I think it is, Sean. They have shown that if we try to be nice and placate them -- we actually have to stand up for ourselves. If we don't, they are more than happy to take us out. That doesn't mean violence. We can do that with words, we can do that with actions, we can do that with voting, we can do that with getting involved. But we must get involved. Apathy is what is going to destroy us. If they shame us into a corner and they fear us into silence, that's when they win. And if they win, that's a truly, truly dark and scary place for America. We can't allow that to happen, and Charlie never would have allowed us to do that.
HANNITY: Don, I truly am sorry. As a friend, a longtime friend, I know how close you were to him. I know how much he admired and looked up to you and your entire family and your dad. I know this is a tough day. Thanks for being with us and sharing your thoughts about it. We appreciate it.
TRUMP JR.: Thank you.
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