Podbit · The Charlie Kirk Show

Jeff Metcalf on Enduring the Unendurable

Explore episode Jul 6, 2026

Health & Fitness

Jeff Metcalf: Forgiveness Is For Me, Not the Killer

Jeff Metcalf on Enduring the Unendurable · Jul 6, 2026 Health & Fitness

Jeff Metcalf, whose 17-year-old son Austin was stabbed to death, explains that his public act of forgiveness was never about excusing the killer — it was about protecting his own mental health. Carrying hate and desire for revenge is like cancer, he says; it will eat you from the inside. He draws the same parallel for Erica Kirk and invokes scripture: 'Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord.'

Where this was said

Jeff Metcalf Introduction: Sitting in the Courtroom With Your Child's Killer

At 30:30 · chapter starts 30:00

Andrew frames the Jeff Metcalf interview with warmth and precision: there are very few people in the world who understand what Erica Kirk, Rob Kirk, and Catherine Kirk are enduring as they sit across a courtroom from a person accused of murdering their loved one. Jeff Metcalf — whose son Austin, 17, was murdered and whose case also became a high-profile media event — is one of them. He joins the show as someone who has sat in that exact chair and survived it. Andrew hands the floor entirely to Jeff, inviting him to speak directly to the Kirk family.

Society & Culture

The Two Wolves Inside Every Grieving Person

Jeff Metcalf on Enduring the Unendurable · Jul 6, 2026 Society & Culture

Jeff Metcalf tells the Native American 'two wolves' parable to explain the internal war that happens when you sit in a courtroom facing your child's killer. One wolf is hate, anger, and fear. The other is love, compassion, and kindness. The one that wins is the one you choose to feed. It's the framework he used to stay sane through the worst experience of his life.

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