Morning Note

The FBI is investigating social media posts by at least seven accounts that appeared to indicate foreknowledge of Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Although the posts do not prove that any of their authors participated in Charlie’s murder, they raise legitimate questions about whether individuals other than the assassin knew the crime was coming. Some of the messages are eerie. 

"itd be funny if someone like charlie kirk got shot on september 10th LMAO," one X account posted on September 3rd.

"september 10th will be a very interesting day,” another wrote on August 6th before replying to the message with "I plead the fifth” following the murder. 

“Charlie Kirk is coming to my college tomorrow i rlly hope someone evaporates him literally,” a third posted the day before the shooting. “Lets just say something big will happen tomorrow.”

"charles james kirk…does not know what’s coming tomorrow,” a TikToker shared on the same day. "This isn’t a threat. It’s a promise."

Several of the accounts appear to belong to transgenders, and at least one followed Tyler Robinson's roommate.

Read more.

Did accused killer Tyler Robinson act alone? Or was he a part of a wider conspiracy? FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino isn’t ruling anything out.

“We’re looking into everything,” he said during a Monday interview. “There’s not gonna be a stone left unturned if there was anyone involved who aided, abetted. I can’t say that in strong enough terms. Every single FBI asset on this team is being applied and used in this investigation.”

He also expressed openness to the idea that third parties may have aided and abetted the shooter, through financial support or otherwise. 

Watch his remarks here.

JD Vance credited Charlie Kirk with fueling his rise to the vice presidency on Monday, saying in no uncertain terms that he would not be in his office without the gunned-down influencer’s years of support.

“If it weren’t for Charlie Kirk, I would not be vice president of the United States,” Vance said while hosting The Charlie Kirk Show. “I thought about that a lot in the last few days. Charlie was maybe the most important person in both getting us across the finish line, but actually getting me the nomination to begin with — it was his grassroots army.”

How many politicians would say something like that? Most of their egos would never permit them to attribute their success to someone else, instead demanding the spotlight remain squarely on them even in a moment of mourning. The humility that allows Vance to be different is one of the many reasons he was a great choice to join the Trump ticket. Charlie’s role in pushing the president in that direction makes his legacy shine even brighter. 

Read more and watch Vance’s message here.

History is filled with people whose legends grew after their deaths. Vincent Van Gogh and Edgar Allan Poe are obvious examples, and plenty more exist. Charlie Kirk could prove to be the latest.

The slain Turning Point USA founder’s books and podcasts have soared to the top of the charts since his killing, skyrocketing across nearly every major platform as the nation grieves his death. The Charlie Kirk Show reached the #1 slot in Apple Podcast’s rankings on Monday, and his forthcoming book, “Stop, in the Name of God: Why Honoring the Sabbath Will Transform Your Life,” became Amazon’s best-selling book despite not being scheduled for release until December.

Other works simply linked to the late pundit also took off, including Canadian rapper Tom MacDonald's tribute song, “CHARLIE,” and a biography of the conservative activist.

Erika Kirk predicted that her husband’s voice “will ring out louder and more clearly than ever, and his wisdom will endure,” following his death. She may be right.

Read more.

No matter what he does, Donald Trump is always wrong.

That has been the left’s defining ideology for the past decade. Jimmy Kimmel just provided the latest example.

The late-night comedian attacked the president for mourning Charlie Kirk’s death “how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish” during his Monday show, scoffing at how Trump is grieving the killing of his close friend.

If you’ve lost a loved one, you know that grief can take many forms. There is no right or wrong way to process such a tragic event. You’d think members of the “tolerant left” like Kimmel would show some grace and avoid criticizing those close to Charlie for not mourning in an approved way. But that even that has proven too much to ask. 

Read more.

The IDF’s recent attack on Qatar floored us. The idea that the Netanyahu government would use American tax dollars to commit an act of war against an American ally seemed beyond the pale even for this “special relationship.”

Donald Trump assured the Qataris "that such a thing will not happen again on their soil" shortly after the strike. Benjamin Netanyahu isn’t so sure. The prime minister refused to rule out further assaults on sovereign, U.S.-allied nations on Monday, saying his country has the right "to defend itself beyond its borders.”

Let’s take Netanyahu’s words literally. Say he attacks Qatar again, despite the White House’s orders that he stand down. Would America still be required to send him billions of dollars in military aid? What if he blows past Qatar and launches missiles into France or Canada or Missouri? Those supporting unconditional American aid are by definition arguing that even those actions wouldn’t be enough to spare tax dollars from coughing up their hard-earned money for Israel. Does anyone really think that makes sense?

Read more.

Congress passed its TikTok ban last year, requiring the app’s Chinese parent company to sell the platform to an American buyer to keep it alive in the United States. The law set a sale deadline of January 19th, 2025, which Donald Trump extended to tomorrow early in his term.

The White House announced the completion of a framework deal to save the popular social media app on Monday, saying that “hundreds of millions of Americans will now be able to continue safely enjoying the highly popular app thanks to the president’s decisive leadership.”

The agreement came together during Sunday’s U.S.-China summit in Madrid, featuring an American delegation headed by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Its objective is to switch the app’s ownership to an American company, allowing it to remain active in the U.S. Lawmakers say they view Chinese ownership as a national security threat because the CCP requires Chinese companies to hand over data requested by the government. The American buyer is unknown.

Donald Trump and Xi Jinping are expected to finalize the deal on Friday.

Read more.

MMA legend Conor McGregor withdrew his bid to become the next president of Ireland on Sunday, announcing his decision on X while pledging that his run was only the beginning of his political journey. 

McGregor used the post to blast his country’s presidential election process, saying the nation is constrained by “the straitjacket of an outdated Constitution” which is “exploited to prevent a true democratic Presidential election being contested, but rather fixed to ensure only Establishment approved candidates may be selected on the ballot.”

His claim strikes us as appropriate. Candidates for president of Ireland must be nominated by at least 20 members of Parliament or four local authorities. That means the country’s elites could easily block regular voters from choosing the leader they prefer. That’s not how “democracy” is supposed to work. It’s an oligarchy.

Read more here and watch McGregor’s appearance on The Tucker Carlson Show here.

Florida woman Danie Wright just wanted to take her puppy, a four-month-old shih tzu named Dax, on a peaceful walk. A local gator had other ideas. It wanted to eat Dax for lunch.

The hungry reptile made its move when Wright and Dax brought their stroll near his creek, leaping from the water in pursuit of his fluffy prey. That’s when Wright sprang to action.

"I turned and looked, and an alligator had him," she recalled to The New York Times. "The alligator's front teeth were through the collar of my dog."

"I just punched him, punched and punched," she said in a separate interview. "I punched him in the eye enough that he kind of let go, he unclamped a little, and I pulled off, but his teeth dragged down my arm."

She then managed to flip the beast on its back, allowing her and Dax to flee inside their house. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission trappers removed the predator from the property after the incident. Maybe they’ll send him to Alligator Alcatraz.

Read more.

We have a tendency to get pissed.

We’re not proud of it, but it’s true. Our blood pressure soaring as we rage against those with opposing views on America’s greatest issues is a strikingly common occurrence. We think it comes from a good place, but it obviously isn’t healthy. Or productive.

We’ve thought a lot about Charlie Kirk over the past six days, and we’re struck by the fact that a similar fury never seemed to consume him. Of course he cared deeply about his country and how it’s governed, but he never seemed to let that passion morph into personal hate toward people with differing visions. He kept his focus on the issues.

Such humility takes enormous self-control, especially considering his opponents didn’t afford him the same grace. You wouldn’t believe the amount of flak Charlie took for daring to speak out even a little bit against neocon foreign policy or for “platforming” people who did the same. They called him vicious names and mindlessly accused him of hate. The pressure was unrelenting until his dying day.

We’ve experienced the same thing, and it has sent us into a tailspin. Charlie was different. Even as he was under assault, he always remembered that everyone in these debates is human. He never forgot that a person was behind each view. 

God commands us to act that way, and Charlie obeyed. May his death inspire the rest of us to do the same.