The Tangwall Campagin. A year after his assassination, what remains today of Charlie Kirk ?
Corentin Dugast. First of all, there remains the immense legacy he leaves behind him. Thousands of hours of debates in videos and podcasts, books and above all a colossal organization, Turning Pointwho continues his work. For my part, I also remember, and above all, his last book, published posthumously which he had completed shortly before his death: Stop, in the name of God! (Stop, for God’s sake!). A book about respecting Shabbat and the primacy of God in our lives. This book is a spiritual testament in which he recalls all the excesses of today’s world, as much on a social and political level as on a professional and personal level. Kirk’s central point is that our societies, our families and our personal lives are falling apart because we no longer put God first.
A few weeks after his death, you wrote that his voice would now carry more. Turning Point USA has never been more powerful : can we say that Charlie Kirk has become more influential dead than alive?
The Gospel of Saint John is the best answer: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless the grain of wheat that falls into the ground dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. » (John 12, 24)
Let’s say his assassination made him a global personality. Until his death, there were a few of us who knew him and followed him to France, but he remained largely unknown. He has become a model for all young people who no longer want to live a lie.
Is Charlie Kirk’s legacy political or spiritual?
Both, but I would say spiritual first. Spiritual, because when you watch Kirk’s videos and writings, you clearly see the throughline: God and the Gospel. After his death, his friends said they each received regular Bible quotes from Kirk. Even in his political book The MAGA Doctrinewe find the heart of his religious vision which manifests itself in the defense of the family and life. Kirk’s legacy is then political, because he chose Trump and the MAGA movement to rebuild America. From France, it is difficult to understand this double commitment as we compartmentalize our lives, but in the United States, it is completely normal.
You present Charlie Kirk as a “Christian hero”. Is he a martyr in your eyes?
Yes, martyr in Greek means “ witness “. The first Christians were called this way because they bore witness to Jesus and the Gospel to the end despite physical threats, torture and assassinations.
“We must never mix the Gospel and Christ with a party”
Charlie Kirk bore his testimony of the Gospel to the end and died for it.
However, you had disagreements with him. Which ones?
The mix with politics, precisely. From my point of view, you should never mix the Gospel and Christ with a politician or a party, because then it is too late to turn back if the party or person in question goes off the rails. The Gospel and Christ are far above people and parties: they can inspire them, guide them, orient them, but no party should ever be presented as that of Christ or providence.
Your book is called Die for the truth: is there not a risk, even for a Christian, in proclaiming a political truth? God, Caesar…
The truth is not loved! Christ on the cross reminds us of this every day. He, the perfect man, who had never done the slightest harm, was nevertheless crucified because his word did not please. The Church’s message goes against the grain, we must therefore accept persecution or resign ourselves to silence… Unfortunately, Christians today more often choose silence.
You speak of an American political culture very different from ours. Is Charlie Kirk’s inspiration still partly transposable to France and Europe?
Yes, but that will require relearning the meaning of freedom of expression. We will also have to relearn that someone who does not think the same way is not necessarily a Nazi to be killed.
“Trump betrayed Charlie Kirk’s Christian heritage”
We will have to relearn how to think, judge and above all… listen! Pope Francis repeated it regularly:“We have two ears and one mouth, which means we have to listen twice as much as we speak. »
Digital bubbles and media polarization hinder civic conversation, which seems to be in dire straits. Can it be reborn through youth? Is she capable of no longer considering the other as “an enemy to be defeated”, as you write?
Difficult question… The sinking of democracy that we know today is largely linked to the sinking of thought. Recently, I read Albert Camus’s lectures given to the Dominicans in Paris. He, the man of the left who did not believe, enjoyed going to meet these men to discuss and philosophize.
I think that salvation will come from families in which children are taught early to read, to write properly, to listen to classical music… Beautiful thinking is incapable of killing others only because they do not think in the same way. On the contrary, the other enriches it, strengthens it or transforms it. I would like to be invited by left-wing media, simply to discuss, like Camus among the Dominicans. To the wise…
You point out that Erika Kirk forgives her husband’s killer, while Donald Trump assumes he hates his opponents. Is Trump Betraying Charlie Kirk’s Christian Heritage?
If only he had only betrayed him at that moment… Trump is a complex character and even, I must admit, incomprehensible to me. I wish him to meet Christ, truly, to give him his life and then order everything in his life and in his responsibilities to the glory of God.
Will Charlie Kirk go down in history as a figure of the Trumpist right or as a Christian figure?
I am tempted to answer that the answer lies in your hands, dear journalists… Today, it is no longer the truth that counts, but whoever speaks loudest and longest. For the moment, unfortunately, it is the “Trumpist” Kirk who is most often put forward. But if we wanted to be perfectly honest and faithful to what it was, we would have to remember only the Christian Kirk. His latest book will, I hope, help set the record straight.
Dying for the Truth: In the Footsteps of Charlie KirkCorentin Dugast (Via Romana), 152 pages, 17 euros.
