MRC president David Bozell appeared on Fox & Friends First Friday Morning to honor Charlie Kirk as the sole winner of MRC's annual free speech award. Host Todd Piro asked Bozell what other factors went into choosing Kirk for this award.
"We gave 35 awards last year. We had a number of people we wanted to consider Congressman Gill, Congresswoman Hagerman, President Trump for all his work in setting the course in his administration, Secretary Rubio and the DOGE efforts.
Remember President Biden had 57 different censorship initiatives in his administration that targeted a number of folks in the conservative media ecosystem, including a lot of folks on Fox News payroll, by the way, and including folks at TPUSA, and including Charlie.
Given Charlie's sacrifice, the ultimate sacrifice, the fact folks felt like they could not debate him anymore, they had to shoot him instead, we wanted to singularly recognize Charlie and his tenacious effort in advancing and protecting and preserving the freedom of speech. There's a reason why the freedom of speech is the first on the list. in preserving free speech and reason why freedom of speech is first on the list."
Kirk died a martyr on Sept. 10, 2025, while doing what he loved most: standing up for truth and unapologetically speaking his convictions without fear. MRC leadership decided to make this singular award to Kirk because no other free speech advocate sacrificed so much for the First Amendment.
Kirk was also a founding member of the MRC Free Speech America Advisory Board, helping guide the organization’s mission to defend the First Amendment and push back against rampant Big Tech censorship.
Watch Bozell's full appearance below:
