Dave Smith

Hey, Megan.

Thanks so much for having me.

Yeah, I mean, even as I'm sitting here listening to your opening, which I think was spot on and very good, it's all so surreal to me.

Like, I just still can't believe where I have this thing, which I've had before when I've lost friends and family members, where I still find myself on some level going like, man, I can't wait to hear Charlie's take.

on all of this.

Which I don't know is like my own weird way of grappling with the inevitability or the permanence of death or something like that.

But you know, so I totally agree with everything you said there.

You know, I would just, I would add that, look,

The presumption of innocence isn't just a principle.

It is the foundational principle of Western civilization.

Without it, there is no liberty.

You could write the most perfect constitution ever, but if the government can accuse you of something and you're presumed guilty, you don't have one inch of liberty.

And so of course, you know, and then of course it should also be added that we're all friends.

We were all friends with Charlie.

And so we would have to recuse ourselves, right?

Like, you know, you're more of a legal expert than me, but we would not.

So like, there's this tremendous emotion that is impossible to completely remove from us.

And then of course, now this is not a legal argument, but the crime of murdering Charlie Kirk is so much more than just the crime of murder.

It's the highest profile political assassination of my lifetime.

It is it's like a crime against the country.