Jillian Michaels is remembering the life of Charlie Kirk and the impact he had on her own son.
During an interview with Fox News Digital, Michaels shared that after she was invited to participate in a Turning Point USA event, her son “flipped out” and did everything he could to accompany his mom and meet Kirk in person.
Michaels is a mom of two. She adopted her daughter, Lukensia, in 2012, and her then-fiancée, Heidi Rhoades, gave birth to her son, Phoenix, that same year.
“I was invited to speak at Turning Point USA at the Student Action Summit. I’m kind of surprised to get that invite. I’m going to be honest, because I thought, well, I am certainly not going to adhere to the narrative. I’m more centrist, to be fair, and I, of course, jumped at the opportunity, because I actually really respect Charlie Kirk, despite some of our differences in opinion on particular issues.”
CHARLIE KIRK, TURNING POINT USA FOUNDER, DEAD AT 31 AFTER UTAH CAMPUS SHOOTING
“And my son, of course, flipped out. I was incredibly excited. And he was on vacation with his other mom [Heidi Rhoades]. And I said, ‘Honey, you know what? I’m working the entire week. Like, you’re gonna have to take an unaccompanied minor trip to get to L.A., an unaccompanied minor trip to get to Miami, and then you can fly with Uncle G, who’s my business partner, from Miami to Tampa. But it’s like, it’s gonna be frigging, it’s going to be a nightmare, and you’re going to have to travel a lot.”
Michaels continued, “He’s like, ‘I don’t care. I don’t care, I’ll do it. Whatever needs to happen.’ And sure enough, he did do it. He took all three flights, and he accompanied me throughout the entire three-day event.”
WATCH: Jillian Michaels describes Charlie Kirk’s powerful impact on her teenage son
Michaels shared that during the event, she sat down to film a podcast with Kirk. It was the third day of the event and Kirk had been up for hours, so the fitness instructor assumed he was exhausted, even though he never showed it.
“And I was like, ‘Charlie, would you mind? My 13-year-old is here, and he is a fan, I’m sure you’re tired, I hate to do this.’ And he’s like, ‘Absolutely, where is he?’ And he ended up stopping, having a moment with him, shaking his hand, looking him in the eye, taking a picture, and giving my son exactly what he took three planes to get,” Michaels said.
She said that her children discovered Kirk through social media and like to say they introduced her to the conservative activist.
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“My kids have become political as teenagers, largely because of social media. They didn’t discover Charlie because of me. They like to say that I discovered Charlie because of them, which I don’t think is true. Nevertheless, and of course, having a young boy, he really resonated with Charlie’s message. Charlie had a very unique way of speaking to young boys in a culture that has diminished them and essentially told them that they are needed.”
“He empowered them to be better husbands, better boyfriends, better sons, better fathers. And I found it very encouraging that that was a message my son was resonating with. I came to learn actually only last night that my daughter was also a pretty big fan,” Michaels said.
Kirk, 31, was assassinated at a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University in Orem on Wednesday. He was pronounced dead later that day.
Kirk traveled around the country to college campuses, where he conducted question-and-answer sessions with students and discussed key political issues.
Phoenix shared a message with his mother about Kirk that he wanted her to share.
WATCH: Jillian Michaels shares her son’s last wish for Charlie Kirk
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“My son actually asked me to say happy birthday to him because his birthday is in a month. When I was doing the news last night, he’s like, ‘Mom, can you tell him happy birthday?’ Because his birthday, I think it’s October 14th, and I didn’t get a chance.”
“So Charlie, happy birthday from my son and to his family – I can’t even imagine what you must be feeling. Utterly horrified. I really don’t have words. If there was ever anything that I could do to return the kindness and the generosity and the grace that your father and your husband showed my son, it would be my honor to do that,” she stated.
