What 18-Year-Old Charlie Kirk Had to Say to Tom Woods

The tragically murdered free speech advocate was inspired early by the libertarian author. #45

Gage Skidmore/Creative Commons

Charlie Kirk was many things.

Thoughtful was one of them.

In the wake of his recent tragic assassination, libertarian author and podcaster Tom Woods recently shared a touching email he received from Kirk, fresh out of high school.

What a bright young man with the world ahead of him.

Sen. Rand Paul, a personal friend of Charlie’s, was not the least bit surprised to learn that Kirk was a Tom Woods fan.

No One Should Be Surprised Charlie Liked Tom

In his books, essays and interviews, Tom has spread free market, antiwar and anti-left ideas for years that have challenged the political establishment no matter which party was in power.

Charlie ended up doing the same thing. Founding Turning Points USA as a teenager, that organization exploded as did Kirk’s fame in conjunction with the rise of Donald Trump.

Trump’s political success has been an affront to the old order of both the Democratic and Republican parties, switching out open borders for secure ones, neoconservatism for ‘America First,’ and taking on the woke left in tough ways more conventional conservatives were never able to.

Kirk was a primary figure in Trump’s MAGA movement from day one. He remained so until his last days, enjoying friendships with not only the president, but Vice President JD Vance, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and others.

Similarly, Woods was a major figure in the Ron Paul movement, in which his 2008 and 2012 libertarian Republican presidential campaigns are now seen by many as precursors to the MAGA movement.

Tom just celebrated Ron Paul’s 90th birthday with about 1000 others in Dr. Paul’s home of Lake Jackson, Texas in early August.

It is also no surprise that the son of Ron Paul, Sen. Paul, formed a bond with Kirk.

Charlie and Rand promoted each other’s work all the time.

Liberty Absolutist

Many things will continue to be said about the late Charlie Kirk in the days and months after his death, some good, some bad, but know this: He welcomed it all.

A free speech absolutist, Kirk was a staunch First Amendment advocate who had no tolerance for leftists with their “hate speech” censorship nonsense, or even Republican attempts to censor.

Why did Charlie Kirk care about free speech so much? Probably for the same reason he liked Tom Woods so much.

He cared about liberty. Promoting it. Protecting it. Spreading it.

That’s what he spent his young adult life doing. Tom Woods or anyone else that inspired Charlie Kirk in his remarkable journey can be proud about being a part of that for the rest of their lives.