Steve Deace’s AMfest appearance set the room on fire when he repeated the two-word challenge Charlie Kirk had whispered to him: “go hard.” The BlazeTV clip captures Deace channeling grief into fierce resolve, urging conservatives to stop mourning with quiet resignation and start acting like free citizens who mean to preserve their country. That raw, unapologetic energy is exactly what a movement that values law, faith, and family needs right now.
Deace reminded the crowd of a small, unforgettable moment — a whisper from Charlie backstage at Dream City Church that became a rallying cry — and he has worn that exhortation like armor ever since. He has been pressing a simple, urgent question: if we believe in ordered liberty, what are we actually going to do about the breakdown of our institutions and the violence aimed at those who defend American values? The anecdote is personal, but the prescription is public: stop compromising and start defending.
The context behind that fury is a wound the country still feels: Charlie Kirk was assassinated on September 10, 2025, while speaking at a college event, and the loss reverberated through every corner of the conservative movement. The outpouring of grief and the nationwide vigils proved that his life and work mattered — and they exposed the reality that political violence can, and will, be used to try to silence us if we respond with timidity. Every patriotic American who believes in free speech should be outraged, not cowed.
In his AMfest speech Deace laid out hard truths: punish evil when it appears, stop treating violent actors as political props, and rebuild the deterrence that once kept our streets and plazas safer. He argued that governing is about justice and that elected leaders must choose whether they will protect citizens or surrender to fear of being called names by a biased media. That is not warmonger rhetoric — it is the plain demand that justice be swift and certain so no family endures another public tragedy.
Conservatives have every right to push back against a culture that excuses chaos while vilifying those who enforce order, and Deace is right to call for bold, concrete policy responses rather than performative vigils alone. From securing venues and strengthening prosecutions to reasserting the rule of law, the movement must translate sorrow into legislation and muscle into moral clarity. If we do not act, we surrender the streets, the campuses, and the airwaves to a lawless consensus that hates what we stand for.
Hard times require hard answers, and “go hard” is not a slogan so much as a strategy: defend institutions, demand justice, and fight for the next generation so they inherit an America worth loving. To the hardworking men and women reading this, consider this a call to stand up in your towns, churches, and statehouses — vote, organize, and refuse to let cowardice define our response. We will honor Charlie Kirk not by silence, but by redoubling our patriotism and ensuring his sacrifice was not in vain.
