A Republican teenager who was hurled into a cauldron of online hate in 2019 has revealed how Charlie Kirk helped him through it.
Nick Sandmann was 16 when a video went viral of his encounter with a Native American man on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.
The teenager was part of a pro-life event called the March for Life when he was recorded standing near another protestor from a different event, the Indigenous Peoples March.
When Sandmann smiled at the man while wearing a MAGA hat, liberals accused him of harassment and racism.
The video quickly went viral, leading to a hostile backlash online. Consequently, Sandmann had to stay away from his school, and his family sought refuge with friends to ensure their safety.
The young man later explained that his smile was an attempt to peacefully de-escalate a potentially volatile situation. He eventually reached settlements with several major media companies regarding their portrayal of the event. A former CNN anchor remarked that Sandmann had a ‘punchable face.’
But amid the storm, one of the first people to reach out was Kirk, the conservative activist who was assassinated earlier this month.
Nick Sandmann, 16, (left) and Nathan Phillips (right) in Washington on January 18, 2019
Charlie Kirk (pictured) was one of the first people to reach out to Nick Sandmann in 2019
Kirk, co-founder of Turning Point USA, sought out Sandmann’s phone number and called him on FaceTime for around 20 minutes.
Now 23, Sandmann shared with the Daily Mail that during the time, he couldn’t stay at his own home due to security threats, causing great stress because he felt he had nowhere to turn.
‘He was one of the first people to get my contact info and reach out to me and be supportive.
‘He definitely urged me to continue fighting, and let me know that people cared about me in that situation and what was going on.
He mentioned feeling isolated from the world, including friends, but found reassurance in knowing there were people who understood and supported him during the ordeal.
At the time the incident took place, Sandmann and other students from Covington Catholic High School in Park Hills, Kentucky, had been in Washington for the March for Life event.
After the demonstration, he purchased and donned a red MAGA cap.
While on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial with other students he was seen smiling without saying anything.
Omaha Native American political activist, Nathan Phillips, was participating in a separate Indigenous Peoples March, playing a drum and singing.
Nick Sandmann, now 23, works in Washington for the Republican Party
After the video of the interaction between went viral, both Sandmann and Phillips said they had been trying to defuse tensions among groups holding competing demonstrations.
Six years later, Sandmann, now 23, said the call from Kirk had helped strengthen his political convictions.
Since then, he has moved to Washington and now works for the Republican Party in Congress.
Some people still recognize him, but Sandmann said he hasn’t had any negative interactions.
‘I think everybody up here has been professional. I enjoy where I’m at, and I enjoy helping be a small cog in our majority and what we do up here, and learning more about how the federal government operates, and what we’re trying to deliver,’ he said.
A drone view shows people arriving to attend a memorial service for slain conservative commentator Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona
A woman cries during the opening ceremony of the memorial service for conservative activist Charlie Kirk on September 21, 2025
On September 10, Kirk, 31, was assassinated while holding an event on a university campus in Utah.
‘I was devastated,’ Sandmann said. ‘I probably found out within the first 10 minutes of there being reports online.
‘There was a lot of shock and I was just kind of glued to social media while he was hospitalized. It was so out of the blue and shocking.
‘I think that he was definitely an embodiment of American values.’
Sandmann described how he had been part of a speech and debate club at school, which he believed was trying to accomplish similar goals as Kirk.
‘The whole idea was to bring together liberals and conservatives and people with different viewpoints to talk about these issues in the same way that he would.
‘I just kind of see him as the embodiment of the values we’re supposed to have.’
Writing on X, Sandmann thanked Kirk for offering him ‘friendship and comfort’ in 2019.
President Donald Trump stands with Erika Kirk, during a memorial service for her husband
Attendees hold up a wooden cross ahead of the public memorial service for Charlie Kirk in Glendale, Arizona, on September, 21, 2025
Over the weekend, President Donald Trump praised Kirk as a ‘great American hero’ as 200,000 people gathered in Arizona to mourn the conservative activist.
‘He’s a martyr now for America’s freedom,’ Trump said in his tribute. ‘I know I speak for everyone here today when I say that none of us will ever forget Charlie. And neither now will history.’
Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, said in her own address: ‘My husband, Charlie, he wanted to save young men just like the one who took his life.’
Tyler Robinson, 22, has been charged with killing Kirk and faces the death penalty if convicted of the most serious charges.
‘I forgive him,’ Erika said.
