In a world where political violence threatens the very foundation of democracy, we delve into the powerful messages ignited by the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Mike Gallagher leads us through a conversation as we explore spirituality as a pillar of strength against darkness, while voices like Florida’s new Attorney General, James Uthmeyer, emphasize the importance of rule of law amidst chaos. With insights from political leaders and celebrities alike, this episode is a testament to the faith-driven life and unwavering courage that continue to echo in the wake of a national tragedy.
Welcome to the Mike Gallagher Show Week in Review podcast. It’s Friday, September 19th, 2025. I’m Eric Hansen. This week, America remembers Charlie Kirk and Mike talks to Florida’s new attorney general. Let’s begin with the words of Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erica.
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Andrew Colvett, who is Charlie Kirk’s right-hand man over at Turning Point USA, reported that the organization, Turning Point USA, has received over 32,000 inquiries over 48 hours to start new Turning Point campus chapters. Now, to put that in perspective, he says, Turning Point USA currently has 900 college chapters, officially, and around 1,200 high school chapters, with a presence on 3,500 total. Andrews said Charlie’s vision to have a Club America chapter, which is their high school brand, in every high school in America, which is around 23,000, will come true much faster than he could have ever predicted. possibly imagined. That is so impressive. Erica Kirk, this is Erica Kirk next to her husband’s empty chair in the studios with a powerful message to everybody who is grieving with her.
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The evildoers responsible for my husband’s assassination have no idea what they have done. They killed Charlie because he preached a message of patriotism, faith, and of God’s merciful love. They should all know this. If you thought that my husband’s mission was powerful before, you have no idea. You have no idea what you just have unleashed across this entire country. in this world, you have no idea. You have no idea the fire that you have ignited within this wife. The cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battle cry.
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I was in church yesterday here in South Carolina. I went to Fellowship Greenville where the church was packed. filled with young people, a pastor who had tears in his eyes, who talked about political violence, who talked about silencing a popular voice. And I guess that’s even controversial to talk about it from the pulpit. Did your church talk about it yesterday? Did your pastor? Did your priest? Did your rabbi talk about the assassination? This is the first political assassination in America since 1968. We haven’t seen a political figure gunned down, killed, since Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. And Bobby Kennedy.
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1968.
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But here we are. You know, I’ve got to play the man in the suit again. I’ve got to play it one more time. And if you’re just joining us… I came upon this last night. A lot of people have reposted this video. It’s gone viral on X. I have it posted at Gallagher Show on X. I hope you’ll follow us there. And this is a very eventful day for a lot of reasons. First of all, here at Salem, while we’re all grieving and trying to figure out what to do next, we’re bringing the show to Phoenix this weekend. I’ll be attending the Charlie Kirk Memorial Service at the State Farm Stadium in Phoenix. 60, over 60,000 seats.
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Of course, Charlie was a colleague of ours here at Salem Media, and we all mourn this stunning loss. This week, Mike met up with our morning host, Chris Stegall, to remember Charlie Kirk.
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I’ve been thinking about why they killed Charlie, why this happened to this man. We all talk about politics. We all talk about guns and the border and immigration and all. We all talk about the same political issues that Charlie talked about. But one thing Charlie did that very few did with his platform. Every single event, every single debate with college kids, every appearance he made, he always talked about his love for Jesus Christ. He always talked about his deep, unwavering faith. He was asked even by one guy. I saw a clip last night that gave me chills. He said, Charlie, if I was shot and I was 30 seconds to live, I was shot and I was dying, what would be my final thoughts? And Charlie said immediately, well, you better accept Jesus Christ as your Savior because Because nothing else is going to get you out of it. That’s the only way. Chris, I think they killed him because of his faith. I think it was his spirituality that makes them hate him. They don’t hate him for all the political conversations he had that we frankly all have. They hated him because he had a profound sense of faith and spirituality that very few on the national stage are willing to exhibit. What do you think? Do you think that’s true?
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Sure. Darkness hates light. Now, do do I think what’s his name? I don’t even care to learn his name. Whoever it is that shot Charlie. Do I think that guy shot him because he’s a Christian? I don’t think that guy would say that. But darkness is what inhibits that guy. He is the personification of evil. And darkness hates light. Charlie was light. Charlie did profess his love for Christ. He did talk about the Scripture. Truth in Scripture says that God created man and woman to be together. One man, one woman. He defined marriage. He defined gender. The American left is trying to rip all of that apart. And the one thing that they can’t stop is the biblical truth of the Word of God. And Christ is an affront to evil. We understand that. Always has been. And, you know, Charlie and his call to all of us then and still today, and RFK Jr. said it yesterday, is I’d rather die with my boots on than just be afraid of death. A fate worse than death is to live in a world where you don’t tell the truth. Now, not in a hateful way. And I should pause and say that everyone that imagined that Charlie was some sort of hate monger and peddled hate, which again, we’re all accused of. Being Christian is a narrow walk. It’s a narrow lane. And it is an exclusive lane. Not to exclude anyone. Everyone is welcome in the lane, but it is a narrow lane to walk. And the secular world and the darkness that fills the heart of the assassin, that’s not a lane they want anything to do with. They want that lane erased. They can’t handle people saying that there is a truth, there is a way, it’s this way. And even when it’s said lovingly, that makes people like this person writhe and hiss, and they’ll do everything to extinguish it. But Charlie would not be deterred. He wouldn’t be frightened. He did it with love. And, by the way, I saw a clip of a guy who professed to be a Christian screaming at Charlie, you say you’re a Christian, and yet you’ll talk to gays, you’ll welcome gays in here, you’ll have dinner. You know, he sat down with guys like Dave Rubin regularly. He was famous for having dinner with – People he didn’t agree with politically or their lifestyles biblically. But that’s the point. Charlie was of good cheer. He was loving. We all are called to be. It’s not about hating anybody. You can love people with whom you disagree. Charlie did. He encouraged the dialogue. He encouraged the conversation. They had nothing. They don’t have truth to stand on. So the only thing to do is try to extinguish the light, which, of course, naturally he didn’t do. He can’t do. You can’t extinguish the truth of Christ. But Charlie was unafraid, and he wasn’t afraid to die. And I think what I was saying on my show this morning, Mike, and what I keep finding myself coming back to, I don’t want to ever tell anybody else how to feel. I want to lead the rest of my life like Charlie in that I am unafraid to die. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life trying to – Hold on to my job. Hold on to my money. Hold on to my family. Hold on to my house. Protect my life. Mine, mine, mine. Me, me, me. Cloistered, hunkered down, defensive, trying to get him fired, trying to get her fired. It’s that that’s just it’s no way to live. That’s that’s a loser way to live. Charlie didn’t live that way. He procreated. He built. He made things. He spread the word. He smiled. He went out. It doesn’t mean be reckless. It doesn’t mean not defend yourself. It doesn’t mean not call people out and all those things. I’m not suggesting be passive or quit on holding people accountable. But we’re not on defense, damn it. We’re not on defense. We’re on offense. Charlie was on offense. He died on offense. In his boots on offense, as RFK Jr. said, there’s far worse things than death. And the worst thing would be to quit and allow this totalitarianism to ride roughshod over us. Charlie wouldn’t do that. He didn’t die doing that. We shouldn’t either.
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Well, something has changed. And I really, truly believe, as I see young people, and I was in church yesterday morning here in South Carolina and saw a whole bunch of teary-eyed young high school and college kids, something is changing. There’s a profound change that’s happening in America. Perhaps, just perhaps, they have awakened the sleeping giant. I want to remind you about my friend Mike Lindell at MyPillow. There is nothing better than getting a big, big discount on a product that you love. A large retail store canceled a huge order, leaving MyPillow with a ton of extra MyPillows. You know what? That’s their loss and your gain. MyPillow offers the classic collection for wholesale prices only $17.98 for a standard MyPillow. It’s normally $50. You’re going to get yours for $17.98. And yes, this is the pillow that started it all. You go to MyPillow.com and use the promo code MikeG and you will be on your way to the best night’s sleep of your life. Guaranteed, incidentally. Of course, all the products from MyPillow come with a money-back guarantee. Get the queen-size MyPillow for just $22.98 or upgrade to the king for only $24.98. Go to MyPillow.com. Here’s what you do. Find that Mike Gallagher specials box. Click on that square. And with anything you order, enter the promo code MikeG. MyPillow.com, promo code MikeG. MyPillow.com, promo code MikeG. Or call 800-928-6034. MyPillow.
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There was certainly some heated rhetoric across the country this week. Many on the left claim the GOP wants to silence Kirk’s critics, which just proves they never understood him after all.
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You know there’s been research that says 56% of people who identify as left of center believe political assassination is justifiable. Can you let that sink in for a moment? 56% of people on the left believe that assassinating your political adversaries is justified. This is not a small number anymore. What we’ve witnessed is an extraordinary explosion of the justification of killing political opponents. We need God in a desperate way right now. This country is in desperate need of a revival. Mike Lindell has been talking about this for years. And Mike has said it over and over again. We ought to get MyPillow’s Mike Lindell back on the show just to talk about the need for an American revival. I played those kids yesterday at a church. These joyful, happy kids holding their Bibles and talking about the joy of redemption and the value of eternal life. We’ve got 56% of people. It’s stunning to me. There has been a gradual acceptance of what happened to Charlie Kirk. And I remember screaming loudly about the murder of Brian Thompson. He too was gunned down. In his case, for what he did for a living. He happened to be the CEO of of an insurance company. And a lot of people in America think that’s absolutely A-OK. Luigi is a hero. He’s a martyr. He’s a great guy. He’s representing people that have been, you know, given the shaft by the greedy insurance companies. So gun him down. Man’s walking in front of the Sheraton Hotel on 6th Avenue in New York one morning. Go stalk him. Put a mask on. Hide behind a vehicle. Jump out behind him. And pump him full of bullets. Way to go, Luigi. Let’s donate to your legal defense fund. We are broken. We are broken. This country is in trouble right now. Now, we can do two things at once. We can certainly have conversations about important issues like speech. I mean, the New York Times headline just cracks me up. Silencing Charlie Kirk’s critics. Oh, no. We can’t have that. Right, New York Times? Critics. Celebrating somebody’s assassination isn’t a criticism. You can criticize Charlie Kirk’s beliefs all day long. joyfully celebrating his assassination is not criticism. Silencing Kirk’s critics. I can’t believe what I’m reading.
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This is the Mike Gallagher Show Week in Review podcast. I’m Eric Hansen. Florida has a new attorney general. His name is James Uthmeyer, and he visited us in person on the show this week.
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Our rare in-studio guest, as you’re taking a look at Everglades, Florida, on the Salem News Channel studios on SNC.tv, the Attorney General James Uthmeyer is with us in studio. Mr. Attorney General, I’ve got to ask you about the provocative remarks from the United States Attorney General Ashley Moody. Pam Bondi, I’m getting my— A lot of Tampa AGs. A lot of Tampa AGs. I’ve gotten them all mixed up. Pam Bondi said this week that we will go after you. We will target people with hate speech. You can’t incite people to kill people. This is a tough, tough area because, on the one hand, if you’re calling somebody like Charlie Kirk a fascist over and over and over and over again, and then some 22-year-old carves the word apparently fascist on bullets and bullet shell casings and kills him, somebody could say that speech led to what happened to Charlie. On the other hand, Charlie himself once posted, there is no such thing as hate speech in America. There’s gross speech, there’s reprehensible speech, there’s evil speech, but there’s no hate speech. Can you give me the Florida Attorney General’s perspective on how to deal with this very complicated issue?
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Sure. Well, I think what A.G. Bondi was saying is speech that starts to directly call for violence or threaten certain individuals, speech that’s so specific in nature, wanting to cause harm to people, that will not be tolerated. It certainly can be prosecuted if you are directly calling for somebody to be harmed or killed. But, you know, look, there’s a lot of speech out there that’s gross. There’s speech out there that I strongly disagree with. But that is why we have the First Amendment. We’re supposed to have the disagreement and the discourse, the exchange of ideas, the ability to even criticize people in our own government. So, no, people can’t be prosecuted for free speech. But if they’re calling for harm to an individual, I’m certainly going to tell our law enforcement to go investigate and look at it. And look, law enforcement, they have difficult decisions to make, but that’s why they investigate. They look at the other context. They look at other communications that may be out there that suggest somebody may be a great danger to society. I’ll tell you what people don’t have a right to, though. They can have all these gross opinions, but that doesn’t mean the state has to employ them. So we’re looking at all these public school teachers. We’re looking at state employees that are celebrating this tragic murder. and we’re going to make sure that they lose their jobs. We don’t want our little kids in front of somebody that’s celebrating such political terrorism.
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That’s not an unreasonable position to take. I mean, like you said, these are teachers. These are mental health professionals. These are state employees who have positions of responsibility and authority. Mr. Attorney General, have you been shocked at the amount of vitriol that has come from people like that?
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I have been shocked. But I think this is what happens when you’ve got good versus evil. I mean, I believe we as conservatives, I believe Charlie, we advocate truth. And in a debate, truth will win. Common sense, reason, and truth will win. And when the other side realizes they can’t win on the arguments, they turn to danger. They turn to murder. They try to silence us. So we as conservatives, we have to band together. We need to speak louder than ever. We need to continue to advocate for truth because it wins.
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I want to go back to what was revealed yesterday about the FBI being weaponized, apparently, and targeting a number of conservative organizations. As you said, this isn’t new to you or to your office. This is something you’ve been aware of. This has been an appalling event. trend, and it didn’t just happen overnight. This has been building over a matter of years, has it not? It appears that way.
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You’ve got a leftist, deep state weaponization of government that is very concerning. I mean, thank God President Trump won, and we are getting to the bottom of it. But at the end of the day, people should never be using government positions of power to go after others, potentially criminally, trying to incarcerate them for years. This is wrong. Our founders are rolling over in their graves because of it. So we are going to continue to investigate. Like I said, we’re going to have subpoenas going out within the week. We’re going to hold wrongdoers accountable.
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And that’s the way it is done. Why is it so hard? You know, we talk about red states and blue states. And some people jokingly say we ought to have two countries. You know, you want to live in Berkeley? Knock yourself out. You know, but there is, it seems to me, a fundamental failure on the part of a lot of these blue state attorneys general, governors, mayors. county commissioners. It’s not hard to be neutral. It’s not difficult. And I will say from your office, also Ashley Moody, I have seen the effort to say, look, we got to follow the rule of law. This is about right versus wrong. This isn’t about Republicans versus Democrats. There’s a lot of Democrats here in Florida, as you know. But ultimately, it’s not difficult to do
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It’s not that hard. When you look at the preamble, you know, we the people, but the first thing listed is established justice, rule of law. Supporting law enforcement is going to lead to lower murder rates. Enforcing the law as it’s written and not trying to bring in some political animus. It’s not difficult. Do your job. Do it right. Enforce the law. That’s what the founders would have wanted. It’s what I’m going to do. We’re going to put bad people away, and we’re going to make Florida very safe, and I hope the other states in the country will follow suit.
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Actress Jamie Lee Curtis reacted to the murder of Charlie Kirk this week. Now, few are farther apart than Curtis and Kirk politically, so Curtis’s words were surprisingly welcome.
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Even people, prominent people in America who dare to express any sympathy, they’re being called out. On the Broadway world, Kristen Chenoweth is obviously a very popular Broadway star, TV star. I don’t know if she’s right, left. I don’t care. She’s from, I think, Oklahoma. She’s getting ripped to pieces because of what she said. And all she did was agree with another actress who expressed some sympathy for Charlie’s family. Oh, Kristen Chenoweth, I’ll never see your shows again. What are you talking about? She’s about to star in a musical about that family in Florida that had the huge house. I think it was the biggest private house in the country. And then he was some kind of timeshare guy. I think the musical is called The Queen of Versailles because they called the house in Florida Versailles. Do you know that story, Tracy? I forget. It’s some crazy story about this gazillion-dollar mansion somewhere here in Florida, and Kristen Chenoweth is going to play the lady in that family. Well, the New York theater community now has lost their mind because Kristen Chenoweth agreed with somebody else’s post. that what happened to Charlie Kirk was horrific. Let me give you Jamie Lee Curtis. Now, Jamie Lee Curtis, I believe, is hard left, disagreed with, by her own admission, disagreed with everything Charlie represented, found his views abhorrent. She was on the WTF podcast. with that Mark guy. Very popular podcast. I think he’s hanging up his spurs. I think he’s leaving the podcast. But a very popular podcast called WTF. And actress Jamie Lee Curtis said this.
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I disagreed with him on almost every point I ever heard him say. But I believe he was a man of faith. And I hope in that moment when he died… that he felt connected to his faith, even though I find what he, his ideas were abhorrent to me. I still believe he’s a father and a husband and a man of faith, and I hope whatever connection to God means that he felt it.
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If you criticize Jamie Lee Curtis for that reaction, there is something seriously wrong with you. You are broken inside. If you believe that Jamie Lee Curtis or Christian Chenoweth or any Hollywood people on the left who are as devastated as everybody else over a political assassination in broad daylight, if you find fault with that, You’re the problem. In fact, you have a big problem. I appreciate debate and disagreement. Nobody loved debate better than him. That’s what he did. Prove me wrong. Come on, Libs, give me the best you have to offer, he said with a smile. Bring it on. Let’s debate it. Let’s get it out there. And, you know, people who disagree with him think that he lost debates. People who agree with him think he won debates. Personally, I think he won every one of them. But that’s okay. It’s America. It’s disagree. You can disagree about anything. You shouldn’t be killed for it. And you shouldn’t… I don’t know how to be united with somebody… who is so wicked. I don’t. I really don’t. J.D. Vance said it yesterday. It was a big day in broadcasting. I don’t know that a vice president of the United States has ever hosted a show here at Salem Media, but yesterday he did. The vice president hosted the Charlie Kirk show. And what he said about wanting to be unified is so… It’s so relatable to me, at least. I do. I want… I’m so grateful for the words of Jamie Lee Curtis, knowing that there’s nothing I probably believe in that she agrees with. Again, hard left. And it feels cleansing to hear a Hollywood movie star weeping for his loss. And so… I just really related to when Vice President Vance, on the show yesterday, said what he said about those who would celebrate Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
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There is no unity with people who scream at children over their parents’ politics. There is no unity with someone who lies about what Charlie Kirk said in order to excuse his murder. There is no unity with someone who harasses an innocent family the day after the father of that family lost a dear friend. There is no unity with the people who celebrate Charlie Kirk’s assassination. And there is no unity with the people who fund these articles, who pay the salaries of these terrorist sympathizers, who argue that Charlie Kirk, a loving husband and father, deserved a shot to the neck because he spoke words with which they disagree. Did you know that the George Soros Open Society Foundation and the Ford Foundation, the groups who funded that disgusting article justifying Charlie’s death, do you know they benefit from generous tax treatment? They are literally subsidized by you and me, the American taxpayer. And how do they reward us? By setting fire to the house built by the American family over 250 years. I am desperate for our country to be united in condemnation of the actions and the ideas that killed my friend. I want it so badly that I will tell you a difficult truth. We can only have it with people who acknowledge that political violence is unacceptable and when we work to dismantle the institutions that promote violence and terrorism in our own country.
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You know, declaring that political violence is unacceptable is not a high bar. It’s just not. It’s not a high standard at all. But a whole lot of people are below that bar.
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Finally, Mike had an interesting experience on his flight home from Greenville this week.
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With everything that’s going on in Seattle, I haven’t even told you what happened. I mean, I might as well share this. You ever heard of a runway incursion? Picture this. It’s like this is all surreal. The last week has just been like a nightmare, right? And I just want to wake up. I’ve got to go back on a cruise ship, maybe one where I don’t have to work. So I’m landing yesterday on this commercial airline. I don’t want to embarrass the airline. I don’t want to even embarrass the airport. It wasn’t a normal commercial airline for me. Let me just put it this way. It wasn’t Delta. And it was at the Tampa airport. But there’s a direct flight from Greenville, South Carolina to Tampa. It’s great. It’s like an hour and ten minutes. Wheels up, wheels down. I mean, great flight, nonstop. Get on the plane, minding my own business. I’m in the very first row. Not like there’s first class or anything, but that’s fine. A little bit of extra leg room in the bulkhead. We’re starting to land in the Tampa Bay area. Wheels come down. You know that sound, right? When the wheels come down about a mile or two out, plane is getting lower. We’re getting lower. We’re getting lower. We almost touch down. I can see we’re almost on the ground. All of a sudden, there’s this roar of the engine. Pilot goes full throttle. We all get kind of pushed back into our seats. And he goes up again. And here’s the best part. I’m looking around with wild eyes, like, what’s happening? What’s happening? Everybody’s sitting there like it’s normal. Everybody, all the other passengers are just sitting there. I’m looking at the flight attendants. They’re sitting there. They’re strapped into the jump seats. They look like they’re not looking alarmed. I’m thinking, well, heck, if nobody else is bothered, I’m not bothered, I guess. We go out over the water. We’re circling for like a half hour, which is weird. I know the landing gear has gone down. I know we almost landed. What’s going on? Finally, we touched down. The pilot doesn’t say a word to the passengers, which also blows my mind. Now, look, I’m not going to disparage the airline, but admittedly, it’s one of those discount airlines. Really low fare. I mean, it was cheap. Maybe they ought to include some instructions with the pilot that if there’s something like that, goofy, maybe you can share with the passengers what you did. And I found out what we did. Because since I was in the front of the plane, when the cockpit door finally opened, when we got to the, well, it wasn’t a gate. I’m surprised we didn’t have to shimmy down on a rope from the door. How many times are you getting on and off of a jet with the outdoor ramp? This was not Delta. But that’s okay. So we’re walking down. They open up the cockpit door, and I can see the flight attendant leans in and nervously says, well, what happened? And I can hear the pilot say, there was a plane on the runway. There was a plane on the runway as we were landing. So we had to go around, and then we got into a landing pattern because there were other planes ahead of us. That’s why we had to… you know, circle around and we had to go into a holding pattern over the water. There was a plane on the runway. Well, that’s not good. And he never, nobody ever, you know, Roger P. Shulman, the newsman here in Tampa Bay, he’s trying to find out from the airport what happened. Surely there’s a report, right? Got to be an incident report. Now, all this is going on, I’m thinking, just my luck. Just my luck. We’re all Charlie. We feel like we’re standing up for him. We got to be stronger than ever. We got to be fearless. We got to be bold. We got to be brave. We got to keep fighting the good fight. And I’m going to get blown up on the runway hitting another airplane. Because they obviously made a mistake. Boy, do they make a mistake. Anyway, enough about me. Enough about me. Let’s talk about me.
SPEAKER 04 :
And that wraps up the Mike Gallagher Show Week in Review podcast for Friday, September 19th, 2025. Be sure to subscribe to all the podcasts and follow us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And if you like the show, be sure to share it with a friend. I’m Eric Hansen. We’ll see you back here next week on the Mike Gallagher Show Week in Review podcast.
