Charlie Kirk was "enormously talented" and could have someday "been a great president," political operative Roger Stone said Saturday on Newsmax.
Kirk, 31, was killed on Sept. 10 during a public speaking event at Utah Valley University.
"I really didn't know Charlie Kirk until the FBI raided my home at 6 in the morning … Charlie reached out to me. We didn't know each other, and he said, 'this is outrageous. You're being framed. There is no Russian collusion.' We both know it. And he became both a public, but probably more importantly, a private advocate for clemency," Stone said during an appearance on "Saturday Report."
"He's the only reason I'm able to be with you today. I came to love the man. He was enormously talented. He also confided in me. I think I'm free to say now that he did have political aspirations, that he was thinking about a potential future race for governor of Arizona. And yes, someday, I think he aspired to be president.
"I think he had the faith and the principles, and the discipline and the drive; he could have been a great presidential candidate, could have someday been a great president," he added.
But censoring people because of distasteful rhetoric isn't the right thing to do, Stone said.
"I'm still in shock about this, but I also am concerned that some on our own side will take the wrong conclusions. Look, I was censored in 2017. I had almost a million followers on what was then Twitter, and then out of the blue without explanation, I was banned. Then I was banned on Facebook, then I was banned on Instagram, then I was banned on YouTube. What was my sin? Supporting Donald Trump and questioning whether the Russian collusion hoax was a fraud.
"Charlie Kirk himself said it. There is no such thing as hate speech. In fact, the First Amendment is specifically designed to protect the most repugnant, disgusting, offensive speech. That’s the American system, free speech that we have, that we revere. And therefore, those who say, oh, the left censored us. So now that we're in power, we should censor them. Charlie would not have agreed. He would not have approved," he added.
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Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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