Charlie Kirk's Faith: Fact vs. Fiction

March 21, 2026·22 min·1 clip

Brad Brandon explains the three Boko Haram contracts to kidnap or kill him as he returns to Nigeria.

1. This Newsmakers episode (CBN News, hosted by Billy Halliwell) covers three unrelated stories: Boko Haram threats in Nigeria, a free speech court victory in Malta, and disputed claims about Charlie Kirk's religious identity. 2. In the first segment, Brad Brandon, director of Across Nigeria, discusses returning to the country despite three confirmed Boko Haram contracts targeting him for kidnap or killing. 3. Brandon says his organization has elevated its internal security level to 'red level four,' the highest it operates at, and received a simultaneous alert from the U.S. Embassy in Abuja and the State Department about credible threats against U.S.-affiliated schools and facilities. 4. Brandon describes receiving four to five videos per year from Boko Haram showing the execution of Christians, including one of a beheading sent while he was in Medugorje, as part of an ongoing intimidation campaign. 5. He says he is more anxious than usual about this return trip because of protests in Nigeria related to the death of the Ayatollah, citing close financial ties between Boko Haram, ISWA, and the Iranian government. 6. He plans to be in Nigeria for approximately four months and frames his willingness to go as rooted in a conviction that 'what he called you to do is bigger than you are.' 7. Across Nigeria's work includes operating a refugee facility and funding schools in northern Nigeria, both of which are U.S.-affiliated and directly mentioned in the State Department threat alert. 8. In the second segment, Matthew Gresh, described as an ex-LGBTQ activist now living as a Christian, discusses winning a case in Malta that stemmed from him mentioning an organization that supports people leaving LGBT lifestyles during a media appearance. 9. The case arose because Malta became the first EU country to ban 'conversion practices' in 2016; Gresh, the program host, and a third individual were charged with 'advertising conversion practices' after mentioning the organization. 10. He names Silvana Juice, described as a cabinet expert to European Commissioner Helena Daly, as a political figure who organized the original complaints to police. 11. Gresh faced 17 court appearances, a potential five months in jail or a 5,000 euro fine, over three years of proceedings that were originally intended to be resolved in a single day. 12. He says the case felt like 'the process itself was the punishment' and calls for Malta to revoke its ban and for the European Commission to prevent similar bans from spreading across EU member states. 13. In the third segment, Lucas Miles — head of TPUSA Faith, friend of Charlie Kirk, and someone who worked directly for Kirk for roughly the last year and a half of his life — addresses circulating claims that Kirk was converting to Catholicism at the time of his death. 14. Miles says he consulted Father Klein (the priest Kirk had a relationship with) and Kirk's wife Erica before speaking publicly, calling his statement 'the definitive view on Charlie's spirituality.' 15. He specifies that Kirk was not enrolled in OCIA classes, had not expressed intent to enroll, and had named Mariology, papal infallibility, and invocation of the saints as obstacles he had not resolved. 16. Miles characterizes the claims as an attempt by some groups to 'co-opt' Kirk for their own agenda after his death, and says Kirk's marriage was not convalidated in the Catholic Church. 17. Miles clarifies that Kirk appreciated Catholic tradition and read Catholic theologians including Augustine and Athanasius, but that 'respect for Catholicism is not the same thing as moving towards conversion.' 18. The episode's tone is news-brief format — three short segments with minimal back-and-forth, each ending with a call to prayer or a website resource. 19. This episode suits viewers of CBN News who follow Christian persecution, European free speech debates, and American conservative evangelical figures. 20. Listeners looking for in-depth analysis, documentation of any single story, or secular framing of any of the three issues will find the segments brief and one-sided.

As heard by us

A faith-forward news hour that folds testimony and controversy into one conversation.

The hour moves from chaos in Nigeria to a free speech win in Malta, then into Charlie Kirk conspiracies, and the interview format carries most of the weight.

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Want a behind-the-headlines conversation that moves from danger in Nigeria to a free-speech win and Charlie Kirk conspiracies?

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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